Tommy Brakel
Head Coach Tommy Brakel has been married for 26 years to his wife Debra. They have two children; a daughter Ashley (23), and son TJ (20). He graduated from Sul Ross State University in 1993 where he played college basketball and was vote a two-time NAIA All-American. In 2004, he was inducted into the Sul Ross Sports Hall of Fame. Coach Brakel is going into his 24th season as the head coach at North Crowley High School. He came to North Crowley after a short 4 year stint coaching sub-varsity teams at Crowley High School where his teams went a combined 163-9. During the last 23 seasons, Brakel's Panther teams have compiled a 669-136 record, with 22 playoff appearances, 22 years with 20+ wins and 23 straight years of being state ranked. Brakel highlighted his coaching career with a magical 2007-2008 season that saw his Panthers accumulate a 38-1 overall record, win a Texas State Championship and a Consensus Public School National Championship on the school's 10th anniversary. he has been voted his district's Coach of the Year on 12 different occasions and in 2007-2008 was the 5A Coach of the Year for the State of Texas. In the summer of 2010, Brakel was selected to coach the USA 17U National Team (West), which consisted of top high school players from around the nation, in the Nike Global Games. Brakel has also been asked to speak at coaches' clinics internationally lecturing in 5 different countries on 3 different continents. Brakel was signed by Nike in 2001 as one of their National-Nike Elite HS Coaches and has been under a Nike contract ever since. There have been 17 district championships, 14 invitational tournament championships, a 66 game (6 1/2 years) home winning streak and a 77-game district winning streak along the way. The Panthers have been dominant at home as they are 233-15 all-time through their 1st 23 years in Panther Field House. They have been almost equally as dominant in district play posting an all-time district record of 301-25. With all of the team accolades, the individual accolades of Brakel's players were to follow. The Panthers have had 11 All-State selections, 21 Academic All-State players, and 92 student athletes who have signed letters of intent to play basketball at the collegiate level. The 2 most notable players of the 89 were bookends to Coach Brakel's 1st decade at North Crowley. Keith Langford was a sophomore in 1998 when North Crowley first opened its' doors. He was 1st Team All-State his senior year, played in 2 NCAA Final Fours while at the University of Kansas and played for the San Antonio Spurs in 2008 and is currently still playing professionally overseas. Willie Warren was a graduate of the Class of 2008. Willie was named Mr. Basketball for the State of Texas, McDonald's All-American, Parade All-American, Jordan Brand All-American and the MVP of the 2007-2008 5A State Tournament. He won Big 12 Freshman of the Year in his first season at the University of Oklahoma and was a 2nd round draft pick of the NBA's Los Angeles Clippers in the summer of 2010.