Dayton Flyers announce hiring of Anthony Grant

Former player is second UD grad to become Flyers coach

The University of Dayton announced the hiring of Anthony Grant as the next head men’s basketball coach Thursday. Grant has spent the last two seasons in the NBA as an assistant coach with the Oklahoma City Thunder.

ARCHDEACON: Anthony Grant a ‘natural fit’ for Flyers

Grant succeeds Archie Miller, who was the head coach for six seasons before leaving for Indiana on Saturday. Grant is the 19th head coach in UD history and the seventh in the last 70 years. He is the second UD grad of the modern era to coach the Flyers. The first was his former coach, Don Donoher.

RELATED: UD will introduce Grant on Saturday

"I am honored and humbled to be the head coach at the University of Dayton," Grant said in a press release. "It's a great responsibility to take over at an institution that is so well-respected. Anyone you talk to in college basketball would say our program is a successful one, but the potential is here for so much more."

RELATED: Flyer fans grade the Grant hiring

Grant, 50, was a head coach at Virginia Commonwealth (2006-09, 76-25) and Alabama (2009-15, 117-85) earlier in his career. He was an assistant coach under current Thunder head coach Billy Donovan at Florida from 1996-2006. Grant played for the Flyers from 1983-87, scoring 902 points.

ARCHDEACON: Final Four coach an admirer of Anthony Grant

“Anthony Grant is a proven winner with the highest integrity,” Sullivan said. “He has successful experience in coaching, recruiting and playing basketball at an elite level. I welcome Anthony to our staff and look forward to partnering with him as we continue to aggressively pursue graduating student-athletes, winning conference championships and advancing in the NCAA Tournament. He is absolutely the right coach.”

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