Daniel Borunda

El Paso Times

A former UTEP basketball player once considered one of the most promising young coaches in the nation was arrested Monday after allegedly threatening to blow up an elementary school in Utah.

Chris Craig, 35, who has struggled with mental illness, sent a rambling email to the El Paso Times before the incident began and in the email threatened to take explosives to Eagle Valley Elementary School in the town of Eagle Mountain, about 30 miles west of Provo, Utah.

"This is an American tragedy," said Rus Bradburd, a former assistant basketball coach at UTEP, who was in contact with the FBI in case they needed him to talk to Craig during the standoff Monday afternoon in Utah.

“I offered to talk to him today because I was really worried that it would not end well," Bradburd said. "I’m really relieved and I congratulate the police in Utah for using discretion. I don’t think Chris is dangerous. He just needs help. It’s heartbreaking.”

The school was evacuated during the incident, which took place after a weekend of terrorist activity in Minnesota, New York and New Jersey.

Craig, who was wearing a light-green tunic and a ski mask, surrendered after telling negotiators that he wanted to share a message, Utah officials said.

He was arrested on a felony charge of threat of terrorism and misdemeanor charges of interference with an arresting officer, failure to disclose identity, disruption of operation of a school and disorderly conduct.

Sgt. Spencer Cannon, a spokesman for the Utah County Sheriff’s Office, said there were no reported injuries and no explosives or weapons were found at the school and after investigators served a search warrant at Craig's home in Eagle Mountain.

A sheriff's office news release stated that Craig was "known to have mental health related issues, but we do not know if he is currently receiving treatment."

Deputies had a prior run-in with Craig in January when he allegedly cursed and threatened a deputy during a minor traffic stop, officials said.

Craig was a guard on the University of Texas at El Paso basketball team from 2002 to 2004 and played in the NCAA tournament during one of UTEP's runs under Billy Gillispie.

After playing at UTEP, Craig began a promising career as a college basketball coach that eventually fizzled into bizarre behavior and run-ins with the law.

In a 2014 article, Sports Illustrated reported that Craig has a history of hospitalization for mental illness. His family told the magazine that he had been diagnosed with schizophrenia.

The Provo Daily Herald reported that Eagle Valley Elementary School was evacuated after a masked man entered the campus and said "evacuate the kids and no one will get hurt," according to a text message sent out to parents.

Shortly before the incident began, the El Paso Times and other media received an email from Craig stating that he "will call 911 with a threat of an explosive and drive onto my 9yr olds elementary school, Eagle Valley Elementary, with a True Explosive."

In the email, Craig said he "was born into this world under the slave name of Christopher Craig. Currently, I am known as The Radical Islamic Jihadist Muhammad Allah Al-Khidr."

"My reason for writing Today is because of my pending arrest and hunger strike which begins when I press send on this Discourse of Truth. In 2 hours, call Eagle Mountain PD in Eagle Mountain, UT if you think I am bluffing. Ask them," he added.

The email goes on to make a number of rambling statements that include racist comments, references to religious scripture and criticism of sports stars and political figures.

At one point he wrote, "Racism is the reason for my hunger strike, to take this conversation deeper, to The Truth, Core, and roots."

The email is posted on Craig's blog with the title "In Honor of Skylar Dore," the white police chief of Jonesville, La., who was asked to resign as chief of a town with an African-American majority after a controversial, profane Facebook post against President Barack Obama regarding the killing of police officers.

At 2:13 p.m. Monday, Craig called dispatchers and claimed to have explosives in the trunk of his car, the Utah County Sheriff's Office reported.

Craig entered the school, told staff to evacuate and walked outside. After Craig walked out the front door, staffers locked the doors, implemented a security lockdown and evacuated the 250 children from the school.

By 5:15 p.m., Craig had surrendered after speaking with negotiators and telling them that he wanted to share a message. A bomb squad checked and cleared his car.

According to an 2014 Sports Illustrated article titled "A Coach Unbalanced," Craig struggled with mental illness throughout his basketball career. In the article it stated he has been treated at state mental health hospitals in Colorado and Utah, and his brother said Craig has been diagnosed with schizophrenia.

After he left UTEP, Craig went into coaching. He coached in Ireland, Mexico and Switzerland. He coached at what is now Utah State University Eastern, followed by a stint as assistant coach at the University of Northern Colorado before being hired as head coach at Midland College in 2011.

He was one of the youngest coaches in the nation and was rising rapidly.

"I got Chris to take my place as coach in Ireland," Bradburd said. "He was a player-coach and the players loved him. He was the youngest guy out there at 23 and he ran practice like boot camp but all those guys would run through a wall for him. He was Coach of the Year and Player of the Year.

“I thought this guy is going to be the new Rick Pitino, the new Nolan Richardson," Bradburd said. "He was really sharp, really driven. He was on the fast track in a coaching career. He had this tremendous charisma. I thought he would be a Division 1 head coach by the time he was 30."

Craig had been on a path to eventually coach major college basketball, said Steve Yellen, former UTEP player and a color commentator on UTEP basketball on radio.

“Chris was on a meteoric rise in the coaching circles and would have become a Division 1 head coach very soon," Yellen said. “This whole situation is just so sad. I hope they can get Chris the proper medical help that he needs. We all just want to do anything we can to help Chris get better.”

In March 2013, Craig resigned from Midland College and began making end-of-the-world comments on his blog and Twitter. He was reportedly arrested after traveling to Israel.

According to El Paso Times archives, Craig had several run-ins with law enforcement.

On July 10, 2013, Craig allegedly entered a classroom at Eastern Arizona College and began yelling obscenities after asking an instructor if he was Mormon.

On July 23, 2013, police in Steamboat Springs, Colo., encountered Craig while he was driving around filming himself with a white shirt around his head and a bandanna covering his face. The Fort Collins Coloradoan reported police said Craig claimed to be an "Islamic jihadist" and that everyone would know who he was in a couple of weeks. He was not arrested,

On July 26, 2013, Fort Collins police sent a memo to local churches to keep an eye out for a man who had threatened that Mormons and Catholics "would be destroyed." The man was later identified as Craig, the Coloradoan reported.

Later that year, he was arrested in Price, Utah, on marijuana charges after raising law enforcement concerns because of bizarre behavior, threats and a self-description as an "Islamist jihadist."

"Chris was always such a good guy. This is sadly just one of those things you can’t foresee," said Roy Smallwood, a former teammate at UTEP and Ireland and now a middle school math teacher in Houston.

“We roomed together and played together at UTEP and we played together out there in Ireland in 2004," Smallwood said. "We had a good time together. It was great to get out of the country with someone you know and enjoy a new place. Chris was always emotional, just like anyone else.

“He visited me here in Houston about a year and a half ago," Smallwood recalled. "He came in and spent the night, stayed a day and a half or so. He would go on a rant, then snap back and we would talk basketball and different things and it would be just like old times. Then he would snap back and go on a rant. Then, the next day, he just got in his car and drove away. I wish I could do more for Chris, but ...”

Daniel Borunda may be reached at 546-6102; dborunda@elpasotimes.com; @BorundaDaniel on Twitter. Reporter Bill Knight contributed to this report.