Charlie Ward finalizing deal to be next head men's basketball coach at Florida A&M

The 11-year NBA veteran spent the previous seven seasons coaching at Florida State University High School where he led the Seminoles to the Class 3A state championship in 2022.

From left to right: Jordan Gregory, Anthony Robinson Sr., Charlie Ward, Beverly Burnett and Daniel Grusky celebrate with the District 1-3A championship trophy following a 65-58 win over Maclay on Friday, Feb. 14, 2020. Fhs / Rory Sharrock/Tallahassee Democrat, Tallahassee Democrat via Imagn Content Services, LLC

According to ESPN's Pete Thamel, Florida A&M University is finalizing a deal to hire 11-year NBA veteran Charlie Ward as the next head men's basketball coach.

Sources: FAMU is finalizing a deal to hire Charlie Ward as the next men's basketball coach. The deal is pending final board approval at 3 p.m. today. Ward is a former Heisman Trophy winner at Florida State and star basketball player at FSU and in the NBA. pic.twitter.com/VoMOnIIUJs

— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) April 16, 2025

Ward spent the previous seven seasons coaching in the greater-Tallahassee area at Florida State University High School where he led the Seminoles to a state championship back in 2022 which was the program's first state title 1963.

Ward was recently an assistant coach on Team USA at last weekend's Nike Hoop Summit which was led by five-star power forwards Cameron Boozer and AJ Dybantsa. Team USA outlasted Team World, 127-117 in overtime at the event.

The 54-year-old coach was also a key member of the Florida State University football team where he won the Heisman Trophy in 1993 where he completed 70% of his passes for 3,032 passing yards, 27 touchdowns, and just four interceptions where they won the National Championship that year.

Ward ended up choosing basketball over football where he was the 26th overall pick in the 1994 NBA Draft by the New York Knicks where he spent the first nine seasons of his career as well as making a run into the 1999 NBA Finals before coming up just short against the San Antonio Spurs.

In 580 career games in the National Basketball Association (NBA), Ward averaged 6.5 points per game and shot 41% from the field.

Ward comes to Florida A&M following the departure of head coach Patrick Crarey who left to take the Grambling State head coaching position following a 14-17 season with the Rattlers in 2024-2025 which is an eight game improvement after finishing 6-23 in 2023-2024.

Ward will look to lead Florida A&M back to the NCAA Tournament where they haven't been since 2007 when they were a 16-seed before losing to Niagara and haven't won a tournament game since 2004 where they defeated Lehigh.