Anthony Grant Named 2020 Naismith National Coach of the Year
The Dayton Flyers head coach Anthony Grant was named the 2020 Naismith National Coach of the Year earlier this afternoon – Grant becomes the first Flyers head coach to be named National Coach of the Year in program history.
Press Release Below:
ATLANTA – The Atlanta Tip-Off Club has announced that University of Dayton men’s basketball coach Anthony Grant has been named the 2020 Werner Ladder Naismith Men’s Basketball National Coach of the Year. He shared the day with South Carolina’s Dawn Staley, who was named the Naismith Women’s Coach of the Year.
Grant, a 1987 Dayton grad, is the first coach to win Naismith Coach of the Year while coaching at his alma mater since Jim Boeheim in 2010.
“Anthony and Dawn had remarkable coaching efforts, which was evident in how their teams performed throughout the entire regular season, culminating with conference championships and top-tier national rankings,” said Eric Oberman, executive director of the Atlanta Tipoff Club. “We’re honored to have Dawn and Anthony join a long history of impressive coaches who have been named the Werner Ladder Naismith Coach of the Year.”
Grant had already been named Men’s College Coach of the Year by the NABC, the USBWA, the Associated Press, The Sporting News, Fox Sports and CBSsports.com. He is also a finalist for the Wooden Coach of the Year Award.
Dayton went 29-2 this year, setting UD’s record for wins in a season despite not having the benefit of post-season play. Both of UD’s losses were in overtime on neutral courts to teams expected to be in the NCAA tournament field – No. 1-ranked Kansas and Colorado.
The Flyers earned a No. 3 ranking in both the Associated Press and USA Today Coaches polls. After being picked to finish third in the Atlantic 10 Conference’s preseason poll, UD was the first team to go 18-0 in the conference in 35 years.
Dayton finished 2019-20 on a 20-game win streak, the longest active winning streak in Division I. The 20-game streak matches the longest in the same season in Flyer basketball history, matching the 20-gamer in 1951-52.
In the modern era of UD basketball (Post-World War II), Grant is just the second Dayton grad to coach the Flyers. The first was his coach, College BB Hall of Famer Don Donoher (1964-89).
