Atlantic 10 Basketball: Top 10 head coaches of the century (2000-20)

7. Anthony Grant – Dayton (2017-2020)

Born in Miami, Grant rose to basketball promise as a high school coach and later a longtime assistant under Billy Donovan. Grant has spent nearly two decades with Donovan, helping him build two titles teams at Florida and also spending time on his staff with the Oklahoma City Thunder. As a head coach, Grant did great things with VCU (then in the CAA), before stalling at Alabama, though his alma mater was more than willing to give him another chance.

Since rejoining the Flyers, this time as head coach, Grant has done phenomenal work. His first two seasons were slow, though a 3rd place finish and NIT bid in 2019 is nothing too horrendous. What stands out is this past season’s team, led by Obi Toppin, that finished the season 29-2 and would have nabbed a 1-seed had the NCAA Tournament not been canceled. There’s no telling how far Grant’s team could have gone.

With Grant doing incredible work at his alma mater, it’s likely that he’ll stick around and try to build that great success again. There’s no guarantee he can bring a talent like Toppin to Dayton on a regular basis, but he’ll have the Flyers as a top program in the Atlantic 10 for years to come. Fantastic things could have happened in 2020 for Dayton, but instead, Grant will have to look towards the future.