William Theodore Grier (born October 19, 1963) is an American

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

coach. He is currently an assistant coach at the

University of Colorado The University of Colorado (CU) is a system of public universities in Colorado. It consists of four institutions: the University of Colorado Boulder, the University of Colorado Colorado Springs, the University of Colorado Denver, and the U ...

and was formerly the head men's basketball coach at the

University of San Diego The University of San Diego (USD) is a Private university, private Catholic Church, Catholic research university in San Diego, California, United States. Chartered in 1949 as the independent San Diego College for Women and San Diego University ...

Early career

Grier was born in

Silverton, Oregon Silverton is a city in Marion County, Oregon, United States. The city is situated along the 45th parallel north, 45th parallel about northeast of Salem, Oregon, Salem, in the eastern margins of the broad alluvial plain of the Willamette Valley. ...

, and he attended Cottage Grove High School in Cottage Grove, Oregon. He began coaching freshman basketball at his alma mater in 1986. He left to attend Central Oregon Community College and Southwestern Oregon Community College, where he played basketball, before earning a Bachelor of Science degree from the

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a Public university, public research university in Eugene, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1876, the university is organized into nine colleges and schools and offers 420 undergraduate and gra ...

in 1990.

College coaching career

Grier coached at Creswell High School in

Creswell, Oregon Creswell is a city in the Willamette Valley of Lane County, Oregon, United States, located south of Eugene, Oregon. The population at the 2010 census was 5,031. History The first store opened at Creswell in 1872, and a town sprang up around i ...

before becoming an assistant college coach at

Gonzaga University Gonzaga University (GU) ( ) is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit university in Spokane, Washington, United States. It is Higher education accreditation in the United States, accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges ...

in 1992. He remained at Gonzaga until 2007, when he was hired to coach at USD. In his first season, Grier coached the Toreros to an upset of Gonzaga in the finals of the WCC tournament. The Toreros received a #13 seed in the 2008 NCAA men's basketball tournament and upset #4 seed Connecticut in the first round. In April 2008, Grier explored the opening at Oregon State but decided to remain at San Diego. On March 16, 2015, the University of San Diego announced they parted ways with Grier. On August 24, 2015, Grier was announced as an assistant at Oklahoma State University, pending approved by the board of trustees. On March 28, 2016, Grier was hired as an assistant coach for the University of Colorado under Buffaloes head coach Tad Boyle.

Head coaching record

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Grier, Bill 1963 births Living people American men's basketball coaches American men's basketball players Basketball coaches from Oregon Basketball players from Oregon Gonzaga Bulldogs men's basketball coaches High school basketball coaches in Oregon Junior college men's basketball players in the United States People from Cottage Grove, Oregon People from Creswell, Oregon People from Silverton, Oregon San Diego Toreros men's basketball coaches University of Oregon alumni 20th-century American sportsmen