A10 Basketball

Atlantic 10 Weekly Spotlight: Anthony Grant, Dayton Head Coach

By Dustyn Green

Posted on July 15, 2020

For decades the Atlantic Ten (A-10) conference has been considered to be a mid-major major conference, especially when it comes to basketball. Although the program does not have high regard like a power five conference it has certainly made leaps and bounds in the respect it has gained. Many experts have begun to refer to the A-10 as a high major conference. However, it was not until the 2019-2020 campaign commenced and developed that the A-10 solidified the fact that they were on the rise. One of the men that is largely responsible for solidifying that fact into the stat sheet comes in the form of Dayton Flyers’ boss Anthony Grant.

Grant is a graduate of Miami Senior High School and Dayton. While at Miami High he was a first-team all city-selection as well as player of the year. The Miami native played power forward for two years and followed that up with two years at small forward for the UD Flyers. He was able to dance twice in the NCAA Tournament, as well as the NIT.

Upon graduation from Dayton, the mastermind behind the Flyers returned to his Alma Matter where he took a chance on a math teacher position and undertook the adventure of an assistant coach of the hoops squad. His bio states “The Miami native served 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. “One of the strongest characteristics shown in this portion of the bio is the experience and versatility that Grant possesses in his career.

Anthony Grant will forever go down as one of the biggest underdogs in the history of the NCAA; he has the tools on the sidelines, but the tools he has on the hardwood remain unknown. NGSC Sports will continue to follow this campaign as it unfolds.