This is the ninth edition of a 12-part series spotlighting the new head coaches in the region penned by D2EastHoops columnist Tim McCaffrey.
New Le Moyne College Women’s Basketball Coach Mary Grimes has been a winner everywhere she has been in college basketball. However, that winning tradition didn’t start on a basketball floor; it began with some sound wisdom from her father.
“My dad gave me some advice,” recalled the new Dolphins head coach. “He told me, if you're going to be a ditch digger, be the best ditch digger you can be.”
Grimes didn’t buy a dump truck, but instead dedicated herself to tennis.
“I played one tournament and was the runner-up,” Grimes remembered. “It was my first trophy and I still have it.”
After winning a basketball District Championship at Communication and Media Arts High School in Detroit, she took her talents to Siena where she was recruited by then-future Le Moyne Head Coach Gina Castelli. While in Albany, she helped the Saints to three 1st-place finishes and one trip to the NCAA Tournament.
The 2003 Siena grad started her assistant coaching career the same place she begins her head-coaching journey, Le Moyne.
“It’s a family here,” Grimes, the youngest of seven children, said. “I love the energy on our campus and I know this place well.”
Grimes returns to the Dolphins for the third time after previous stints as an assistant under Jeanne Dupree from 2003-05, and Gina Castelli from 2017-19. In between, she helped the Albany Great Danes to five NCAAs and the Syracuse Orange to one. Most recently, Grimes was coordinating a major turnaround of Xavier, but Le Moyne is where her heart was.
“I wanted to be a head coach at the right fit and the Heights is the right place and the right time.”
What’s the biggest difference for the first-time head coach?
“More meetings,” Grimes laughed. “As an assistant, you have to execute the plan and now you’re writing the plan.”
Grimes is embracing the challenge of continued winning that her mentor and predecessor, Castelli established.
“The cupboard is not bare by any means,” Grimes noted. “We have an excellent group of seniors with a great attitude. The seniors know what Le Moyne is about and they will groom the new players.”
Maybe at some point Grimes will show her players that tennis trophy from her youth, but until then it’s a reminder of being the best at what you do!
Tim McCaffrey is an opinion and features writer for D2EastHoops. The former college athletics administrator has umpired over 1500 professional baseball games. He can be reached at tpmccaffrey@gmail.com
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