Former national championship-winning coach Casey McGraw was selected from a nationwide search to lead the EC men's basketball program prior to the 2021-22 season. McGraw became the eighth head coach of the Soaring Eagles and enters his fourth season at the helm during the 2024-25 academic year.
During the 2023-24 season, McGraw continued to see Elmira's win total increase in his third season after leading Elmira to a 9-16 (5-11 E8) record. Finishing just one victory shy of the Empire 8 tournament for the second year in a row, the Soaring Eagles picked up conference wins over Russell Sage (2x), Hartwick (2x), and Houghton. McGraw mentored Tyler Cardello '26 to a Third Team All-Conference selection from the Empire 8, the first time an Elmira College Men's Basketball member collected All-Conference honors since Justin Porrett '19 was named to the All-Empire 8 Second Team in 2019.
During the 2022-23 season, McGraw led Elmira to a 7-18 record, coming just one win shy of qualifying for the Empire 8 Tournament after posting a 6-12 record in conference, the most E8 wins for the program since the 2014-15 season when posting seven. In his first season, McGraw helped lead the Purple & Gold to a 6-19 overall record.
Originally from the Albany suburb of Delmar, New York, McGraw returns to the East Coast after spending four years as an assistant at one of the most successful programs in all of Division III, Nebraska Wesleyan University. His tenure in Lincoln, Nebraska, included three NCAA tournament appearances and a magical run to the team's first-ever national championship in 2018. In his four seasons, the Prairie Wolves posted a superb 85-12 overall record, an 8-2 mark in NCAA tournament games, and swept American Rivers Conference regular-season and tournament championships in 2018, 2019, and 2020.
While working alongside former Division III National Coach of the Year, Dale Wellman, McGraw helped Nebraska Wesleyan finish among the best in the country statistically. From 2017-20, the Prairie Wolves were no worse than fifth nationally in field-goal percentage, and in back-to-back seasons from 2017-19, they ranked inside the top 5 in assists per game, assist-to-turnover ratio, and scoring margin.
Success off the court was also vital to McGraw and the staff at Nebraska Wesleyan. Numerous Prairie Wolves were rewarded for outstanding academic achievement, highlighted by the 2018 CoSIDA Academic All-American® of the Year and Elite 90 Award winner, Cooper Cook. In 2018-19, the Prairie Wolves were tied for the lead among all divisions of college basketball with 10 student-athletes on the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Honors Court. In October of 2020, College Athletic Advisor included Nebraska Wesleyan on its list of the "Top 20 Men's Basketball Programs That Inspire," a recognition measured in part by strong academic performance and the institution's holistic development of student-athletes.
Before relocating to the Great Plains, McGraw began his coaching career at New England College in Henniker, New Hampshire, during the 2016-17 academic year. A four-year letter winner at Castleton University in Castleton, Vermont, McGraw was a stretch four who routinely contributed from 3-point range. He was elected team captain and, as a senior, he ranked among team leaders in assists (44), 3-pointers (32), and blocked shots (13).
McGraw graduated from Castleton in 2016 with a bachelor's in Sports Administration and a minor in Coaching.
