Tirelessly building his basketball resume for the past two decades, Stuart Pradia’s basketball journey has taken him all over the United States, including assistant coaching jobs at a pair of New Jersey Athletic Conference schools. He now has a NJAC program to call his own.
Recently hired as the Head Men’s Basketball Coach at Rutgers-Camden, Pradia will look to build the Scarlet Raptors’ program into a strong NJAC contender. “Camden was a draw for me very early on,” said Pradia, who served as an assistant coach at NJAC opponent Kean University last season. “I knew the program had the potential to be competitive and, given time, a special place. Combine a degree from a prestigious institution with an area with rich basketball tradition in both New Jersey and Philadelphia and it really is a winning combination.”
As an accomplished athlete, Pradia played his scholastic basketball in Houston before taking his talents to Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts. He dished out 203 assists from 2002-04, a total that ranks 19th on the program’s career list. During the 2003-04 campaign, he posted 119 assists for the Judges, tying for 16th among the program’s single-season marks.
Graduating from Brandeis in 2005 with a Bachelor’s in Sociology and double minor in Business and Legal Studies, Pradia’s first foray in coaching came during the 2006-07 season as an Assistant Coach at Washington and Lee University. He spent two seasons as an assistant at Washington College, securing a Master’s Degree in History in 2009.
Continuing to build upon his basketball IQ and acumen, Pradia spent the next three seasons at Gettysburg College before an NBA opportunity brought him back to his hometown Houston Rockets. During the 2012-13 campaign, Pradia served as the Basketball Operations Assistant for the Rockets. He was responsible for a myriad of tasks, from assisting players with on-court skill workouts, to producing statistical analysis reports and compiling college and international player evaluations in advance of the NBA draft.
During the 2013-14 season, Pradia served as the Director of Basketball Operations and an Assistant Coach for the Rio Grande Valley Vipers of the NBA G League before spending the next two years as a Game Review and Global Strategy analyst with the NBA. During his second season in that position, he also was introduced to the NJAC, serving the first of his two seasons as an Assistant Coach at Montclair State University.
Pradia spent the 2017-18 season assisting at Millersville University before returning to the NJAC last season as Associate Head Coach at Kean University.
Pradia, whose goal is to mold Rutgers-Camden into one of the many premier programs in the NJAC, summons all his experiences and leadership to chart his team on a path to success. “I’m humbled and grateful for the opportunity and look forward to the work that lies ahead.”
Pradia hired as Rutgers-Camden men’s basketball head coach
Photo Courtesy Rutgers Camden Athletics
