Anthony Grant

From Bhamwiki
Jump to navigation Jump to search
Anthony Grant

Anthony Grant (born April 15, 1966 in Miami, Florida) was the head coach of the University of Alabama's Crimson Tide men's basketball program from 2009 to 2015. Before accepting the job at Alabama, Grant served for three years as the head coach of the Virginia Commonwealth Rams.

Early life

After graduating from Miami Senior High School in Florida, Grant became an All-City first-team selection and Player-of-the-Year played at the University of Dayton from 1983 to 1987 guiding the Flyers to a 70-49 (.588) overall mark. As a freshman in 1983-84, Grant was part of a Dayton squad that advanced all the way to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament before bowing out to eventual national champion Georgetown. As a sophomore, Grant averaged 10.7 points a game and 6.5 rebounds a game and the Flyers again made it to the NCAA Tournament. As a junior, Grant moved from power forward to small forward and averaged 7.1 points a game and 4.8 rebounds a contest while the team advanced to the National Invitation Tournament. As a senior, Grant was named a team captain and team MVP, and awarded the Sharpenter Memorial Rebounding Award after leading the squad in scoring and rebounding, averaging 13.0 and 6.0 respectively. In his 105 appearances, Grant registered 11.6 points and 6.7 rebounds each time out. In 1987, Grant spent a year playing for the Miami Tropics of the United States Basketball League.

Coaching career

In 1987, Grant became an assistant coach and math teacher at Miami Senior High School under Marcos "Shaky" Rodriguez and in 1992, he was promoted to head coach. At the high school level, Grant's teams captured three state titles, five straight national rankings in USA Today and an overall record of 172-11.

Grant also served as an assistant coach during the 1993-94 season at Stetson University in Orlando, Florida. In 1995 he was hired as an assistant to Billy Donovan at Marshall University. helping them to a 35-20 record. When Donovan took over the men's basketball program at the University of Florida in 1997, Grant came with him to Gainesville.

Grant was an assistant for 10 years at the University of Florida. The 1999 and 2000 teams made the first back-to-back Sweet 16 appearances in school history and the 2000 squad marked the Gators' first appearance in the National Championship game, where they lost to Michigan State. In the spring of 2002, Grant was elevated to the title of Associate Head Coach after serving as an assistant for his first six seasons. Grant played a key role in helping the Gators to the 2006 NCAA title, the 2005 and 2006 Southeastern Conference Tournament titles, three SEC Eastern Division titles and back-to-back SEC Championships in 2000 and 2001. The Gators reached eight straight NCAA Tournaments, capped by the national title in 2006 in which Florida became the first team since the 1968 UCLA Bruins to win both the national semifinal and the final by 15+ points. The Gators were 226-98 (.698) during Grant's 10-year stint in Gainesville.

In 2006 Grant took his first head-coaching job at Virginia Commonwealth University. He led the Rams to a 79-77 upset of 6th seeded Duke to reach the 2nd round of the 2007 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament. On March 27, 2009 Grant agreed in principle to become the twentieth head men's basketball coach at the University of Alabama.

In six seasons at Alabama, Grant's teams went a combined 116-83 with a 53-47 conference record and one NCAA tournament appearance. A losing record in 2013-14 placed him under increasing pressure. When the Crimson Tide finished the 2014-15 season with a 7-9 conference record and no NCAA bid, athletics director Bill Battle made the decision to release him.

Grant is currently married to the former Christina Harrell of Miami. They have four children: Anthony, Preston, Jayda Danielle, and Makai.

Head coaching record

  • 2006-07: VCU Rams. 28-7 (16-2, 1st place in Colonial Athletic Association), defeated in NCAA tournament, 2nd round
  • 2007-08: VCU Rams. 24-8 (15-3, 1st place in Colonial Athletic Association), defeated in NIT tournament, 1st round
  • 2008-09: VCU Rams. 24-10 (14-4, 1st place in Colonial Athletic Association), defeated in NCAA tournament, 1st round
  • 2009-10: Alabama Crimson Tide. 17-15 (6-10, tied for 4th place in the SEC West)
  • 2010-11: Alabama Crimson Tide. 25-12 (12-4, 1st place in the SEC West), defeated in National Invitational Tournament, finals
  • 2011-12: Alabama Crimson Tide. 21-12 (9-7, 5th place in the SEC), defeated in NCAA tournament, 1st round
  • 2012-13: Alabama Crimson Tide. 23-13 (12-6, tied for 2nd place in the SEC), defeated in National Invitational Tournament, quarterfinals
  • 2013-14: Alabama Crimson Tide. 13-19 (7-11, tied for 10th place place in the SEC)
  • 2014-15: Alabama Crimson Tide. 17-12 (7-9)
Preceded by:
Mark Gottfried
Alabama Crimson Tide men's basketball coach
20092015
Succeeded by:
Avery Johnson

References

  • "Florida Assistant Grant Hired At VCU". (April 14, 2006) Associated Press
  • "No. 11 VCU shocks sixth seed Duke in final seconds" (March 15, 2007) Associated Press.
  • Deas, Tommy and Hurt, Cecil (March 27, 2009). "Anthony Grant : 'We have agreed in principle'". Tuscaloosa News
  • "Anthony Grant (basketball)." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 28 Mar 2009, 07:03 UTC. 28 Mar 2009 [1].
  • Rapoport, Ian R. (March 28, 2009) "VCU coach Grant agrees to take over as Alabama basketball coach." The Birmingham News
  • Kausler, Jr, Don (November 3, 2009) "Anthony Grant's first game as Alabama's coach will tip off at 1 p.m. on Nov. 14." The Birmingham News
  • Casagrande, Michael (March 15, 2015) "Anthony Grant fired by Alabama after 6 seasons." The Birmingham News

External links