| Biographical details | |
|---|---|
| Born | May 11, 1980 Syosset, New York, U.S. |
| Playing career | |
| 1998–2002 | Quinnipiac |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 2002–2003 | Hofstra (assistant) |
| 2003–2005 | Hartford (assistant) |
| 2005–2006 | Quinnipiac (assistant) |
| 2006–2009 | Fordham (assistant) |
| 2009–2010 | Fordham (interim HC) |
| 2010–2011 | Iona (assistant) |
| 2011–2018 | Iona (associate HC) |
| 2018–2023 | Bryant |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 79–67 (.541) |
| Tournaments | 0–1 (NCAA Division I) 0–1 (CBI) |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Championships | |
| NEC Regular Season (2022) NEC Tournament (2022) | |
| Awards | |
| NEC Coach of the Year (2022) | |
Jared Keith Grasso (born May 11, 1980) is an American college basketball coach. He was most recently the head coach of the Bryant Bulldogs men's basketball team from 2018 to 2023. In just his fourth season, he led Bryant to the 2022 NCAA Tournament, the first in program history for the school. Grasso was named USBWA Coach of the Year following one of the nations fastest turnarounds.
Grasso was a four year starter and two time captain at Quinnipiac, where he ranks fifth all-time in assists, and fourth all-time in three-point field goals.[1][2] He graduated in 2002 as Quinnipiac's second 1,000-point scorer in its Division I era and was inducted into the university's Athletics Hall of Fame in 2014.[3]
After graduation, Grasso joined the coaching staff at Hofstra, where he was a graduate assistant for the 2002–03 season before moving on to Hartford for a two-year assistant coaching stint. He returned to his alma mater Quinnipiac for a season as an assistant coach before becoming an assistant coach under Dereck Whittenburg at Fordham.[4][5]
When Whittenburg was fired on December 3, 2009, Grasso took over head coaching duties on an interim basis for the Rams for the remainder of the season. At 29 years old Grasso was then the youngest Division 1 coach in the country.[4][6]
Grasso then joined Tim Cluess's staff at Iona as the Associate Head Men’s Basketball coach for the 2010-2011 season . During his 8 years at Iona the Gaels appeared in five NCAA tournaments, and 3 NIT’s. In addition Iona won four MAAC conference tournament titles, along with four MAAC regular season titles.[1]
On April 2, 2018, Grasso was named the 8th head coach in Bryant men's basketball history, and the second in the Division I era, replacing Tim O'Shea.[7]
Grasso led the Bulldogs to one of the nation's biggest turnarounds. The Bulldogs were the only team in the nation to triple its win total. Grasso was recognized as a finalist for the Joe B. Hall Award as the nation's top first year head coach.
In the 2020–21 season Grasso was named the USBWA District 1 Coach of the Year, while leading Bryant to its best record in the program's D1 history.
In the 2021–2022 season Grasso was named NEC Coach of the Year, while leading Bryant to its best season in program history, winning 22 games and winning the regular season and conference tournament titles.
On September 29, 2023, Grasso took an FMLA leave from Bryant University.[8][9] On October 1, 2023, Grasso was charged with a hit-and-run.[10] Criminal charges were shortly dropped, Grasso resigned as the Bryant head coach on November 13.
| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fordham Rams (Atlantic 10 Conference) (2009–2010) | |||||||||
| 2009–10 | Fordham* | ||||||||
| Fordham: | – (–) | – (–) | |||||||
| Bryant Bulldogs (Northeast Conference) (2018–2022) | |||||||||
| 2018–19 | Bryant | 10–20 | 7–11 | 8th | |||||
| 2019–20 | Bryant | 15–17 | 7–11 | T–7th | |||||
| 2020–21 | Bryant | 15–7 | 10–4 | 2nd | CBI Quarterfinals | ||||
| 2021–22 | Bryant | 22–10 | 16–2 | 1st | NCAA Division I First Four | ||||
| Bryant Bulldogs (America East Conference) (2022–2023) | |||||||||
| 2022–23 | Bryant | 17–13 | 8–8 | T–4th | |||||
| Bryant: | 79–67 (.541) | 48–36 (.571) | |||||||
| Total: | 79–67 (.541) | ||||||||
|
National champion
Postseason invitational champion
| |||||||||
*Denotes interim head coach