TheGoodBits Posted March 28, 2009 Share Posted March 28, 2009 TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- Virginia Commonwealth's Anthony Grant has been hired at Alabama.Grant confirmed to ESPN he has accepted the job on Friday. A formal agreement is expected to be signed later in the night. he 42-year-old Grant, a former Florida assistant, led VCU to two NCAA tournaments in three seasons. He becomes the most prominent black coach hired at Alabama and the first in the two major sports, football and men's basketball. Alabama was criticized by some after hiring Mike Shula over the more experienced Sylvester Croom before the 2003 football season, though neither had been a head coach. This time, the Crimson Tide targeted Grant early, and no other candidates were known to be interviewed. Grant informed his team and VCU officials of his decision Friday. "We have been given the opportunity to create a very special situation for men's basketball at the University of Alabama and we look forward to getting started," said Grant, who played at Dayton. "There's a commitment throughout the athletic department to make sure that we have the resources necessary to compete for championships." Moore and executive athletic director Dave Hart interviewed Grant in Richmond last weekend. He spent Wednesday touring Alabama's campus and meeting with other university officials, then took nearly two days to weigh his options. Grant spoke to football coach Nick Saban before coming to Tuscaloosa and met with him while in town. Saban has spoken about the importance of a strong basketball program to complement football, since recruits often go to hoops games on official visits. But the six-time national champion football program has long been king at the Southeastern Conference school, where Paul "Bear" Bryant once roamed the sidelines in his trademark houndstooth hat. Grant replaces Mark Gottfried, who resigned under pressure from his alma mater in midseason with the team on its way to missing the postseason for the third straight year. Gottfried had led the team to its most successful NCAA tournament, making it to the final eight in 2004. The Tide had won its first SEC title since 1987 two years earlier, the type of drought that would be intolerable to 'Bama fans in football. Grant has been an instant success -- and hot commodity -- as a head coach. After helping Billy Donovan win a national championship with the Gators during a 10-season stay at Florida, he guided VCU to three straight Colonial Athletic Association regular-season titles. His first season was highlighted by a victory over Duke in the NCAA tournament. The Rams nearly pulled off a second-round encore before losing to Pittsburgh in overtime. Grant was targeted by Florida to return after that debut season when Donovan left for the NBA's Orlando Magic, but Donovan changed his mind and came back. Grant accepted the Alabama job a few hours after Donovan issued a statement saying he was staying put amid rumors that he would replace the ousted Billy Gillispie at Kentucky. Grant will receive a salary in the $2 million range, according to several reports. That would nearly double what Gottfried was making, though it's only half of Saban's compensation. VCU was paying Grant a base salary of $400,000, with bonuses and incentives that boosted his pay to about $850,000. The Rams' season ended with a 65-64 loss to UCLA in the opening round of the NCAA tournament. Alabama finished 18-14 after losing to Tennessee in the second round of the Southeastern conference tournament. Grant also has a proven track record of bringing in top talent. He recruited and coached nine McDonald's All-Americans and seven NBA first-round draft picks at Florida. Can't say I'm surprised. As a Mason student/fan, this makes me happy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ixcuincle Posted March 28, 2009 Share Posted March 28, 2009 Good luck to him. He did a fine job with the VCU program, and with Maynor and Grant now gone from VCU I am curious as to how they will do next year. Is Larry Sanders or whatever his name is still around? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGoodBits Posted March 28, 2009 Author Share Posted March 28, 2009 Good luck to him. He did a fine job with the VCU program, and with Maynor and Grant now gone from VCU I am curious as to how they will do next year. Is Larry Sanders or whatever his name is still around? Larry Sanders will be a Junior next year, and he's the only really good thing VCU has left going for them now. He is an absolute beast defensively. On the offensive end, however, most of his baskets were created by Maynor drawing defenders and hitting him for a wide open alley-oop. Without Maynor, Sanders will see his offensive production fall substantially next season. VCU will likely finish middle of the pack in the CAA next season. I'm calling 5th in the regular season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elessar78 Posted March 28, 2009 Share Posted March 28, 2009 See I don't like this. Another coach jumping ship for bigger ponds and paydays. I can't really fault him, but as a fan I'd like to see the small schools take it to the big ones. I'm glad Mark Few stayed at Gonzaga and Larranaga stayed at Mason. It kinda ticks me off that Urban Meyer took the job at Florida and ditto with the Boise State coach (whatsisname?) I don't even know if you can replicate success down there. He doesn't have a recruiting network like he does in VA. It'll take years to develop that and are the tide willing to wait? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cskin Posted March 30, 2009 Share Posted March 30, 2009 Anthony Grant lives on my street... probably 8 houses up from me. Although I hate to see him go, I've grown to start following VCU basketball in a cursory fashion, I'm even more disappointed he's leaving our neighborhood. We have a block party in our cul-de-sac every spring and he brings his family down. Just a terrific guy... his wife is incredibly nice and their kids are amazingly polite and well behaved. Basketball wise, this was bound to happen. He's one of the top tier coaches and it was just a matter of time before a big program nabbed him. If he had stayed and taken VCU back to the tournament next year...he would have moved on then as well. VCU might as well find a new "up and comer" and start adding to the program they have already established. Finally, it's funny... the Grants live up the street from me and .. before my wife and I built this house... we almost bought Jeff Capel's (Duke player and former VCU coach) house. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skinz4Life12 Posted March 30, 2009 Share Posted March 30, 2009 i just found out that guy is like 41 years old? he looks 25... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGoodBits Posted March 30, 2009 Author Share Posted March 30, 2009 i just found out that guy is like 41 years old?he looks 25... I thought he was mid 30s Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry Brown #43 Posted March 30, 2009 Share Posted March 30, 2009 As a Mason alum and fan, I'm glad to see Maynor and Grant both move on. I really respect Grant though...he did a heck of a job at VCU in a short amount of time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.