Casey Apetrei joins Baton Rouge Community College Men’s Basketball Staff, as the Associate Head Coach after an impressive four-season tenure as an assistant coach at Lee College, where he compiled an overall record of 93-41. During his time there, he helped the team secure two Region XIV regular-season titles and make an appearance at the national tournament. In 2014, he was named the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches Junior College Assistant Coach of the Year. In his first season, the Navigators achieved their first-ever Region XIV regular-season championship in school history. The team advanced to the conference championship game twice during his four seasons. Additionally, in two of those seasons, the head coach was honored as the Region XIV South Zone Coach of the Year. Coach Apetrei was instrumental in recruiting standout players, including All-American De’Vion Lavergne, first-team selections DaCannon Wickware and Josh Smith, and honorable mention players Takoreyn Lawson and Jayden Thomas.
Before joining Lee College, Coach Casey spent a year at Louisiana Christian University. In his lone season there, the team reached the Conference Tournament Championship game in its first season as an NAIA member after transitioning from NCAA Division III. During that season, he coached Kae’Ron Baker, who led all of NAIA in points per game and was named the Red River Athletic Conference Player of the Year as well as an All-American. Coach Apetrei also recruited all-conference guard Jordan Adebutu to the Wildcats that season.
His coaching career also includes a season at Lindsey Wilson College in Columbia, KY, where he joined Coach Chris Starks during his first year. In a COVID-shortened season, the Blue Raiders managed to defeat two nationally ranked NAIA programs. Unfortunately, the team was unable to participate in the conference tournament due to health and safety protocols.
In his initial stint in Region XIV, Casey spent three years at Lamar State College-Port Arthur as the Associate Head Coach. During his time there, the Seahawks improved their win total from 15 to 20 between his first and second seasons. Apetrei played a key role in the recruitment of Nathan Bailey (first team), Devaughn Thomas (second team), and Terrance Minor (honorable mention) for the 2018-2019 All-Region 14 team. The following season, Thomas was a first-team selection, while Jamyus Jones earned a second-team spot, and Darrell Jones received honorable mention.
Apetrei also spent three seasons at LSU-Alexandria, where he served as the associate head coach, head junior varsity coach, and recruiting coordinator. During his time at LSUA, the Generals achieved an impressive overall record of 86-9, including a final season mark of 34-1 and a spot in the NAIA Final Four. He was responsible for recruiting several NAIA All-Americans, including William Claiborne, Brandon Moss, Chris Vickers, and Gilbert Talbot. For three consecutive seasons, LSUA’s head coach, Larry Cordaro, was recognized with an NAIA National Coach of the Year award.
Before joining LSUA, Apetrei spent a year as an assistant coach at Frank Phillips Junior College in Texas, where the team recorded a 15-14 record—the best in head coach Chris Hackett’s tenure at that time. He was instrumental in recruiting Alize Johnson, an NJCAA All-American who later went on to Missouri State University. At Missouri State, Johnson was named the Ohio Valley Conference Newcomer of the Year and received first-team All-Conference honors. After graduating, he was selected by the Indiana Pacers as the 50th pick in the 2018 NBA Draft.
Previously, Apetrei spent two years as a graduate assistant at Southern University in Baton Rouge. While at Southern, he assisted head coach Roman Banks in transforming a team that had finished last in RPI the previous season into the 2013 SWAC Tournament Champions and NCAA Tournament participants. In the NCAA Tournament, the No. 16 seed Jaguars narrowly lost to top-ranked Gonzaga by just six points in the first round.
Prior to his time at Southern, he was a student assistant for four years at Southeastern Louisiana University in Hammond, under head coach Jim Yarbrough, current Southern University Athletic Director Roman Banks, and former LSUA head coach Larry Cordaro.
In addition to his college accomplishments, Apetrei served as the head coach of the Louisiana Team Shockaz (AAU) 17U team from 2010 until July 2012. In 2011, his team won the Louisiana 17U AAU State Championship Tournament. During his tenure with the program, he coached and developed multiple players who went on to play college basketball, many at the NCAA Division I level. Some of these players are currently playing professionally, including Damian Jones, formerly of the Golden State Warriors, as well as Jared Sam, Tre’Lun Banks, and Travin Thibodeaux, who have all played in the NBA G League.
Additionally, Apetrei participated in a foreign tour for 10 days, coaching a team of current American college basketball players in Croatia with the Global Sports Academy, alongside former Southern University Head Coach Morris Scott. The team achieved a record of 3-1 against professional basketball clubs in the Split, Croatia area.
In December 2018, Apetrei hosted a free basketball clinic at the Boys and Girls Club in Covington, LA, which is just a few miles from his hometown of Mandeville.
Apetrei holds a bachelor’s degree in General Studies from Southeastern Louisiana University with a minor in Athletic Coaching, a Physical Education teaching certificate from Southern University, and a Master’s degree in Teacher Leadership from Lamar University.
https://www.brccathletics.com/sports/mbkb/coaches/Casey_Apetrei
