Slippery Rock University has removed the “acting” tag from men’s basketball head coach Ian Grady, as announced Tuesday by Paul Lueken, SRU director of athletics.
Grady has been installed as the full-time head coach of the men’s basketball program and will continue in that role next season.
“Ian has done a tremendous job this season under some difficult circumstances and without an assistant coach,” said Lueken. “He has earned this opportunity and we’re excited to move forward with him as our head coach.”
Lueken also announced that a national search will take place in the coming months to hire a full-time assistant coach for the program.
Grady, who was named the acting head coach back in November, has led Slippery Rock to a 16-7 overall record and a 13-3 mark in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference games this winter. Included in that overall record was a 12-game winning streak, which tied for the third longest in program history, and an upset victory over No. 3 Indiana (Pa.). The Rock have already locked up at least one home game in the upcoming PSAC playoffs and can finish no lower than fourth in the PSAC West standings.
Grady is in his 10th overall season at Slippery Rock and becomes the 19th head coach of The Rock men’s basketball program. He came to SRU in 2009 as a graduate assistant after finishing a successful playing career at Fairmont State, where he earned a degree in business and marketing. Grady completed his master’s degree in sport management at Slippery Rock in 2011 before accepting a full-time position as an assistant coach prior to the 2011-12 season. He served as the top assistant until being named acting head coach in November of 2018.
“I’m excited for this opportunity and I want to thank Paul Lueken and president Behre for giving me the chance to fulfill my goal of becoming a head coach,” said Grady. “We’ve done some good things this season and I am very proud of our team. We’ve already started working hard to recruit players for next year that can help us continue to strengthen our program on and off the court.”
Slippery Rock has five games remaining in the regular season before the PSAC tournament begins. The first of those is Wednesday night when Mercyhurst visits Morrow Field House for a 7:30 p.m. tip.
Acting tag removed; Grady named Head Basketball Coach at Slippery Rock U.
