UTICA, NY – SUNYIT Athletics Director and head men's basketball coach Kevin Grimmer has been selected to receive the Honorary Alumnus Award, which recognizes a non-alumnus of SUNYIT who has made outstanding contributions to benefit the Alumni Association and its members.
Grimmer will be honored this Saturday following the annual alumni basketball game, which is scheduled to begin at 5:30 pm after the men's basketball team takes on conference rival SUNY Cobleskill. The reception, which will be sponsored by SUNYIT's Alumni Association, will be held in the Campus Center's 'Cats' Den at 6:45 pm. The night's guests will feature SUNYIT alumni, faculty & staff, parents and supporters, as well as Grimmer's close family and friends. Registration for the event has closed.
Grimmer was chosen for benefitting alumni in three ways: enhancing outreach to Wildcat alumni through alumni games and special events, holding numerous athletics positions at SUNYIT over the past 27 years that have touched the lives of thousands of students, and creating an athletics program in which all SUNYIT alumni can take pride.
Grimmer joined SUNYIT before the campus existed, starting in 1984 as an assistant basketball coach and intramurals director. During his 27 years here since then, Grimmer has held numerous positions throughout the athletic department, including a 14-year stint as the school's sports information director and two separate six-year stints as the head coach for both women's basketball and women's volleyball, with the latter being a program he began in 1987. He has currently served as the school's Athletics Director for the past 11 years after a 15-year stint as the assistant AD, and has been the men's basketball coach for 15 years after serving as an assistant coach for five years.
Under Grimmer's leadership, SUNYIT Athletics had its greatest year ever in 2009-10 and capped it off by winning the North Eastern Athletic Conference President's Cup, which is awarded to the top overall athletics program in the 11-member conference. He also had his finest season as a coach, guiding the men's basketball team to its second consecutive NEAC championship and the program's first-ever trip to the NCAA Sweet 16 while finishing the year a program-best 26-5 overall and winning four Coach of the Year awards. His squad entered this season ranked No. 19 in the nation and are currently 11-10 overall.