Anthony Grant (basketball)

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Anthony Grant (born April 15, 1966) is a basketball coach who became the ninth head coach in the history of Virginia Commonwealth University on April 18, 2006. A native of Miami, Florida, Grant came to Virginia Commonwealth University after serving for ten years as an assistant to Billy Donovan 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 made UF's first appearance in the National Championship game. 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 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.

After graduating from Miami Senior High School, the former All-City first-team selection and Player-of-the-Year played at the University of Dayton from 1983 to 1987 guiding them 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 sophmore, 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 big 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 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 is currently married to the former Christina Harrell of Miami, Florida. They have four children: Anthony, Preston, Jayda Danielle, and Makai.

Grant led VCU to a 79-77 upset of 6th seeded Duke to reach the 2nd round of the 2007 NCAA Tournament.