Ryan Grandits will be the seventh head coach for the Daemen University men’s basketball program, Vice President for Athletics Traci Murphy announced on Thursday morning following a short search.
“Given the recent success of our men’s basketball program, this was not an ordinary coaching search. And after speaking with several very qualified coaches, Ryan’s name quickly rose to the surface as the best person to lead this program,” Murphy said. “What set Ryan apart in this process was his sophisticated understanding of the Division II landscape.”
“Coach Grandits is the right coach at the right time for Daemen. He understands our history, he defines our culture, and he has the vision to lead us to the next level of national prominence,” Murphy said.
Grandits’ hire comes after longtime head coach Mike MacDonald announced he was stepping down to accept the head coaching position at St. Bonaventure earlier this week.
No stranger to the Daemen program, Grandits spent a decade on Main Street, first as a player in his graduate season in 2015-16, and from 2016-2025 on the men’s basketball coaching staff under MacDonald. Grandits started his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Daemen before rising to become the program’s top assistant and associate head coach.
In his time as an assistant for the Wildcats, Grandits helped Daemen to a 192-50 overall record, including five berths in the NCAA Tournament (2019, 2020, 2021, 2024, 2025), one East Coast Conference Championship (2025), and one East Region Championship (2021). Grandits also coached the Wildcats to a 118-27 record in ECC play over nine years. During his tenure, the Wildcats led the conference in defense and were ranked nationally during five of those seasons.
“First off, I want to thank Scott Swain, President Brussalis, and everyone at Point Park for giving me my first opportunity to be a head coach last year,” Grandits said. “This season didn’t go how we wanted it to but the experience I gained was something you can’t imagine or recreate.
“I’d also like to thank Traci Murphy and Dr. Olson for the opportunity to return home to Daemen. This place has been a huge part of my life for the last decade, and it truly is my dream job to lead this program.
“I also want to thank Coach MacDonald for giving me my start in coaching and I look forward to doing everything in my power to maintain the standards he set for the program in his time here. I can’t wait to get back to work with these guys, I have such great relationships with them from my time as an assistant am looking forward to leading them now!” Grandits said.
In his final season at Daemen in 2024-25, Grandits was a part of the Wildcats’ historic 28-1 campaign that saw Daemen with the program’s first No. 1 ranking in the NABC national poll, an undefeated regular season (25-0), the ECC regular season championship (16-0) and the program’s first ECC tournament title.
In his time on Main Street, Grandits played many roles ranging from on-court coaching to recruiting to scouting of opponents to play schematics. In 2019, he was named to the Under Armour National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) 30-Under-30 Team, a collection of the most outstanding men’s college basketball coaches under the age of 30.
He also helped recruit 31 all-conference players, six all-regional selections and four All-Americans while at Daemen.
After helping lead the Wildcats to almost a decade of success, in April of 2025 Grandits stepped into a new role, accepting the head coaching position at Point Park University in Pittsburgh, Pa. marking his first job as the man in charge. Taking over a Pioneers team that was in its’ second season as a provisional NCAA Division II member, Grandits hit the ground running recruiting, turning over a brand-new roster after only returning four student athletes that saw playing time during the 2024-25 campaign. It was a tough first season for Grandits and the Pioneers, finishing 8-19 overall and 5-15 in Mountain East Conference action, but a good learning opportunity for the first-year head coach whose team finished higher in the MEC standings than preseason rankings predicted and totaled more wins than projected at the beginning of the season. Point Park’s leading scorer Aidan Anderson also earned First Team all-conference honors, marking the first all-MEC honoree for the Pioneers in program history.
A native of Kenmore, N.Y., Grandits played collegiate basketball for four years in Western New York. He spent three seasons at Division III Medaille College, including two playing for MacDonald. The two reunited at Daemen for the 2015-16 season with Grandits utilizing his final year of eligibility as a graduate transfer. In his one season playing for the Wildcats, Grandits helped the team to a 19-10 overall record by appearing in 27 games and averaging 7.8 points and 4.1 rebounds. Including his time at Medaille, Grandits played in 107 college games, including 53 as a starter, and totaled 902 points and 421 rebounds. He is a 2015 graduate of Medaille where he earned a bachelors degree in sport management. He added a masters degree in international business from Daemen in 2017.
Grandits inherits a winning program coming off a program-best 33-2 overall record that won the 2026 NCAA Division II East Region Championship, 2026 ECC Tournament title, 2025-26 ECC regular season title, and played in the 2026 Elite Eight. The Wildcats posted a perfect 16-0 record in conference play for the second straight season, becoming the first team to have back-to-back unbeaten conference records since Philadelphia Textile (1992-93, 1993-94). The Wildcats were led by consensus All-American Zach Philipkoski (New Hartford, N.Y.) who averaged 17.8 points per game. Four players earned All-ECC honors, with Philipkoski being named the ECC Player of the Year, Justin Hemphill (Buffalo, N.Y.) earning ECC Defensive Player of the Year, Benjamin Bill (Hamburg, N.Y.) earning First Team All-ECC honors and Justin Glover (Buffalo, N.Y.) taking home Second Team All-ECC honors.
