2016-17 Men's Basketball Media Guide

Page 23

COACHES

ASSOCIATE HEAD COACH MARCUS GRANT F OU RT H S E AS ON AT T ROY

THE GRANT FILE

Marcus Grant enters his fourth season as a coach at Troy, his second as associate head coach in 201617. In his time with the Trojans, Grant has worked primarily with the post players.

COACHING

26th year

The 2015-16 season saw the development of forward Jordon Varnado. The freshman was an immediate force on both ends of the court as he averaged 13.2 points per game while grabbing 215 rebounds and blocking 37 shots on the year. Varnado was fourth in the Sun Belt in blocks per game and eighth in both offensive and defensive rebounds.

HIRE DATE AT TROY

In 2014-15, Grant helped the development of forward Kevin Thomas, who averaged 10.3 points per game and came down with a team-high 8.3 rebounds per contest.

PERSONAL

Grant coached Kevin Thomas his two years at Troy. Grant guided Thomas as he rewrote Troy’s record book. Thomas shot 61.6 percent from the floor to rank first in Troy’s Division I history, and second all-time. For Thomas’ career, he shot 55.3 percent, which ranks first in Troy’s Division I history and fifth overall. On the glass, Thomas totaled 442 rebounds in his career, which ranks fourth in Troy’s Division I history. He averaged 7.5 boards per game in his two seasons, ranking third in Troy’s Division I history.

EXPERIENCE

April 4, 2013

HOMETOWN

Macon, Ga.

ALMA MATER

Mississippi State, 1995

Wife, Angie Children, Kendra, Kayla and Marcus II

FAMILY

COACHING RESUME

Under his guidance in 2013-14, the Trojans averaged 35.5 rebounds per contest. Thomas averaged 6.9 rebounds per game, which ranked sixth in the Sun Belt. The squad also tallied 78 blocks of the course of the season. Highlighting the season was a 85-81 win over Georgia State in Trojan Arena on ESPN2, which was the Panthers’ lone loss in Sun Belt play.

DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS

He joined the staff after spending eight seasons on staff at Mississippi State, including the last six as an assistant coach alongside current Troy head coach Phil Cunningham from 2006-12.

COLLEGE ASSISTANT COACH

Grant began his coaching career at Mississippi State in 2004 as a coordinator of operations before being promoted to assistant coach in 2006. In his eight years on staff at MSU, Grant was a part of six postseason appearances, including three NCAA Tournament appearances.

Mississippi State, 2004-06 Mississippi State, 2006-12 Troy, 2013-15

COLLEGE ASSOCIATE HEAD COACH Troy, 2015-present

PLAYING CAREER:

Mississippi State, 1991-95 Atlanta Trojans, 1995 France, 1996 Portual, 1998 Finland, 1998-2003 Germany. 2003-04

Grant was a part of six 20-win seasons in his eight years on staff at MSU, two SEC Western Division championships and one SEC Tournament championship. He was also a standout player at Mississippi State from 1991-95, helping lead the Bulldogs to the 1995 NCAA Sweet 16 in his senior season. During that season he was named third-team All-SEC and scored 23 points in the Bulldogs’ upset win at No.4 Kentucky, MSU’s first ever victory at Rupp Arena. Grant’s first connection with Cunningham came during his freshman season (1991-92) when Cunningham served as a graduate assistant coach at Mississippi State. Before starting his coaching career, Grant spent nearly a decade playing professionally in Europe, including three-times being named Eurobasket All-Finnish League Import Player of the Year. In his final year, Grant averaged 16.5 points, 6.8 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game in leading the Kouvolan Kouvot club to the 2003-04 Finnish League championship. Having also played professionally in Germany (2003), Portugal (1998) and France (1996), Grant’s professional playing career began in 1995 as a member of the Atlanta Trojans of the United States Basketball League. He also played during that first year for the Black Hills (S.D.) Posse of the International Basketball Association after participating in the Dallas Mavericks rookie/free agent camp in the fall of 1995. A three-time member of the SEC Academic Honor Roll, Grant received his bachelor’s degree in communications from Mississippi State in 1995. He and his wife Angie have two kids, Marcus II and Kayla. Marcus also has a daughter, Kendra.

22 T R O Y

men's basketball


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2016-17 Men's Basketball Media Guide by Troy University Athletics - Issuu