Women's Basketball
- Title:
- Assistant Coach
- Email:
- memckiss@syr.edu
- Phone:
- 3761
Mary Grimes was named the team’s recruiting coordinator, head coach Quentin Hillsman announced on February 4, 2008. In her current role, Grimes is responsible for all recruiting duties for the Orange, including identifying potential prospects, analyzing their fit to the program and making contact with players.
She helped current junior Tasha Harris round out a successful season in 2008-09. Harris grabbed a career-high six rebounds and led SU in assists a team-best 20 times. She finished fifth in assists average (4.6) and in assist-turnover ratio (1.6) in the BIG EAST rankings.
Grimes joined the Orange as an assistant coach in July of 2005 after working as an assistant coach at Le Moyne College in Syracuse for two years.
ON THE HILL
Along with her recruiting responsibilities, Grimes assists with all aspects of the program, including game preparation, individual instruction and scouting. She also works with the Orange guard corps.
During the 2007-08 season Syracuse’s backcourt was a key reason for its success. Current junior Erica Morrow was named to the BIG EAST All-Freshman squad. She was second on the team with 13.9 points per game, second with 3.6 assists per outing and finished in the top-20 in scoring in the BIG EAST. Her 64 steals was first on the team and fifth in the conference.
Classmate Tasha Harris was also selected to the BIG EAST All-Freshman Team. She was first on the team and 11th in the BIG EAST with 3.9 assists per game.
In the 2006-07 season, Grimes assisted starting point guard Cintia Johnson. She was one of three players to start all 29 games. She led the Orange with 113 assists and 42 steals. Johnson ranked ninth in the BIG EAST with 3.90 assists per game and also ranked third during conference play with 4.69 assists per game.
Grimes was also part of Johnson’s success during the 2005-06 season. Johnson finished the year second on the team in steals while averaging 3.0 points and 2.7 rebounds per game.
SALT CITY EXPERIENCE
Grimes spent two seasons as an assistant coach at Le Moyne, where she was involved in all areas of the Dolphin’s program, including on-court instruction, recruiting and scouting. She also was responsible for organizing team travel and monitoring student-athlete academic progress. While there, Grimes mentored Northeast-10 All-Rookie selection Kim Wagoner.
In addition to her collegiate coaching experience, Grimes has worked several instructional camps, including those at Le Moyne, Siena College and the Rubino’s Capital District Post Players Camp.
CAPITAL CITY
Grimes graduated from Siena with a bachelor’s degree in marketing and management in 2003. She was a four-year member of the Saints’ women’s basketball team that won three consecutive Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference regular-season championships. She also played on the Saints’ NCAA-qualifying team in 2001, and in the Women’s NIT in 2002 and 2003. She was named team captain of the squad in her final two seasons and was chosen as the team’s Defensive Player of the Year following the 2001-02 campaign. Grimes made 109 3-pointers in her career, the eighth-most in school history.
In addition to her collegiate playing experience, Grimes also competed for the Adirondack team in the 2001 Empire State Games and led the squad to the gold medal.
Grimes was born in Detroit, Mich. and raised by Carl and Gretchen. She played four years of varsity basketball and earned all-city honors in softball at Communication and Media Arts High School. Grimes and her husband, Sakima, were married in August 2007. They reside in Syracuse with their son, Braylen.
