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Anthony Grant (basketball)

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For other people named Anthony Grant (disambiguation), see Anthony Grant (disambiguation) (disambiguation).
Anthony Grant

Anthony Grant (born April 15, 1966) is an American college basketball coach and the current head coach of the University of Alabama's Alabama Crimson Tide men's basketball program.[1] Before accepting the job at Alabama, Grant served for three years as the head coach of Virginia Commonwealth University's Rams men's basketball program.[2]

Biography

Early life

After graduating from Miami Senior High School, Grant became an All-City first-team selection and Player-of-the-Year played at the University of Dayton from 1983 to 1987 guiding them 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, the 6'5" 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, named 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.

In 1987, Grant became an assistant coach and math teacher at Miami Senior High School under Marcos "Shaky" Rodriguez.

Coaching career

Assistant coach

A native of Miami, Florida, Grant came to VCU after serving for ten years as an assistant to Billy Donovan at the University of Florida (UF). The 1999 and 2000 teams made the first back-to-back Sweet 16 appearances in school history and the 2000 squad made UF's 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 have 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 at least 15 points. The Gators were 226–98 (.698) during Grant's 10-year stint in Gainesville. Prior to the University of Florida, Grant served as an assistant to Donovan for two years at Marshall University helping them to a 35–20 record. Grant also served as an assistant coach during the 1993–94 season at Stetson.

Virginia Commonwealth

Grant led VCU to a 79–77 upset of 6th seeded Duke to reach the 2nd round of the 2007 NCAA Tournament.[3] Two of Grant's VCU players were drafted as first round drafts picks in the 2009 (Eric Maynor) and 2010 NBA drafts (Larry Sanders), strong evidence of his ability to develop players to their potential.

Grant being welcomed to Tuscaloosa by Alabama fans at Tuscaloosa Regional Airport

Alabama

On March 27, 2009 Grant agreed in principle to become the twentieth head men's basketball coach at the University of Alabama.[1]

Though Grant's first season at Alabama was average at best, the Crimson Tide did win their last two regular season games against South Carolina and Auburn to clinch a winning record and jump Auburn for the 4th seed from the west in the 2010 SEC Men's Basketball Tournament. The Tide defeated South Carolina 68-63 in the 1st round, coming back from a 18 point deficit. Injuries to key players such as Steele prevented them from reaching their full potential. Earlier in the season without the loss of Steele, they beat a top-20 ranked Baylor team that lost to Duke in the NCAA South Region final. They almost beat a good Purdue team (ranked #4 in the country at the time) as well.

Personal life

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

Head coaching record

Statistics overview
Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
Virginia Commonwealth (Colonial Athletic Association) (2006–2009)
2006–2007 Virginia Commonwealth 28–7 16–2 1st NCAA 2nd Round
2007–2008 Virginia Commonwealth 24–8 15–3 1st NIT 1st Round
2008–2009 Virginia Commonwealth 24–10 14–4 1st NCAA 1st Round
Virginia Commonwealth: 76–25 45–9
Alabama (SEC West) (2009–present)
2009–2010 Alabama 17-15 6-10 T-4th (West)
2010–2011 Alabama 10-6 2-0
Alabama: 27-21 8-10
Total: 103–46

      National champion         Postseason invitational champion  
      Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
      Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion
      Conference tournament champion

References

  1. ^ a b Deas, Tommy and Hurt, Cecil (2009-03-27). "Anthony Grant : 'We have agreed in principle'". The Tuscaloosa News. Retrieved 2009-03-27. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  2. ^ "Florida Assistant Grant Hired At VCU". Associated Press. cstv.com. 2006-04-18. Retrieved 2009-03-27.
  3. ^ "No. 11 VCU shocks sixth seed Duke in final seconds". Associated Press. ESPN. 2007-03-15. Retrieved 2009-03-27.

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