FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 17, 2013
Courtesy of New Haven Athletics Communications
WEST HAVEN, Conn. –
Ty Grace '99 has been named the head
coach of the University of New Haven women's basketball team, as
announced today by Associate Vice President, Director of Athletics
and Recreation Deborah Chin. Grace brings
13 seasons of Division I coaching experience to the Chargers'
sideline.
"The chance to coach at my alma mater is a once in a lifetime
opportunity," said Grace. "I'm proud to be an alum of the
University of New Haven and proud to be the head coach of Charger
women's basketball."
Most recently the top assistant coach and recruiting
coordinator at Seton Hall University, Grace was instrumental in
assembling recruiting classes ranked as high as 25th in all of
Division I as a member of the prestigious Big East Conference,
including the signing of two McDonald's All-America nominees. The
Pirates' roster included an All-Big East Rookie Team member and two
Second Team All-Big East performers during Grace's tenure in South
Orange from 2009-2013. She coached alongside Anne Donovan, an
Olympic gold medalist as both a coach and player and member of the
Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame who is currently the head coach of
the WNBA's Connecticut Sun.
"Ty is an up and coming star in the coaching world," said
Donovan. "She will do great things for the program at New
Haven."
Previously, Grace was an assistant coach at the United States
Military Academy from 2006-09. The Black Knights recorded a
program-best 24 victories in the 2006-07 campaign, including a
record 12-game winning streak, and featured a Patriot League Player
of the Year, two Rookies of the Year and a Scholar-Athlete of the
Year in her four-year run at West Point.
Grace collected prior head coaching experience at Ramapo
College of New Jersey from 2004-06 and served as a Division I
assistant coach at Fairleigh Dickinson University from 1999-2004.
She began her coaching career as a graduate assistant at the
University of Hartford from 1998-99.
The 16th head coach in program history, Grace was inducted
into the New Haven Athletics Hall of Fame in 2010 for her
performance as a student-athlete. She is one of only two Chargers
to record 1,000 points and 1,000 rebounds for her career, totaling
1,347 points and 1,047 boards with 47 double-doubles from
1994-98.
"The Chargers are very excited to welcome Ty back to the
University of New Haven," said Chin. "Ty's experience at the
highest level of college basketball and with one of the nation's
most respected coaches makes her a perfect fit for our program. As
an alumnus and Hall of Fame inductee, her passion for New Haven is
unmatched and we believe the future is very bright for New Haven
women's basketball."
Grace graduated from the University in 1999 with a B.S. in
the Management of Sports Industries and later earned a Master's of
Administrative Science from Fairleigh Dickinson in 2001.
Grace will officially assume the duties of head women's
basketball coach on July 22, 2013.