Kevin Grimmer began his accomplished career at the State University of New York College of Technology, located in the old Globe Mill building on Court St, in 1984 as a part-time intramural assistant and assistant men's basketball coach. Thirty-seven years later, after contributing to significant upgrades to the Wildcat Athletic program at SUNY Poly, Grimmer announced his retirement effective in July.
A stand-out basketball player at Notre Dame High School and at Hamilton College where he was named an NCAA III All-American in 1981, Grimmer played professionally in the English National Basketball Association from 1981-82 and helped coach the club's junior league team.
"That experience, along with the mentoring of Tom Murphy, shaped my career path," said Grimmer. Murphy, Hamilton College's highly successful men's basketball coach and director of athletics, remains fully engaged with college sports as Northeastern University's men's assistant basketball coach under Bill Coen, a former teammate of Grimmer's.
Grimmer was hired as the full-time assistant director of athletics in 1985 under Jim Klein. Grimmer took over as director of athletics in 2000 and continued to coach basketball until 2014.
"I've been privileged to play many formative roles in the Wildcat sports program almost from its inception and I'm proud of the many accomplishments and improvements made during my tenure," said Grimmer. "We've built a tremendous college sports program with enviable athletics facilities where we have outstanding success in competition, and our student-athletes also shine in the classroom."
Grimmer assisted Klein with the men's basketball program for five seasons before taking over a women's basketball program which had compiled a 39-118 record, quickly building a winning program over six seasons while the college became a member of the challenging State University of New York Athletic Conference. The women's basketball team became the first Wildcat team to qualify for the SUNYAC postseason championships.
Grimmer returned to the men's basketball program as head coach in 1994 and established it as a force in the SUNYAC, piloting the program to six conference championship berths and three Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) championship tournaments.
After Grimmer guided the college's move from the SUNYAC to the North East Athletic Conference in 2008, SUNY Poly won the NEAC President's Cup for best overall sports program in three consecutive years. The 2008-09 men's basketball team won the college's first conference championship and became the first to ever qualify for an NCAA championship berth.
Grimmer enjoyed his finest basketball season in 2009-10 after leading the Wildcats to their second straight NEAC championship with a program-best 26-5 record and the team's second consecutive appearance in the NCAA III men's basketball championship, where they advanced to the Sweet 16. That marks the furthest any SUNY Poly team has advanced in NCAA postseason play. Grimmer was named to four coach of the year honors after that season, including the NCAA III East Region Men's Basketball Coach of the Year.
Both of Grimmer's sons played integral roles in those championship teams: Nick (SUNY Poly '05), an outstanding former Wildcat basketball player, served as assistant coach while Alex (SUNY Poly '12) played on the best team in Wildcat basketball history. Daughter Megan (Nazareth '08) was an All-American field hockey player for the Golden Flyers. In August, Grimmer and his wife Sheila will celebrate 39 years of marriage.
"I couldn't have achieved any success without my family," said Grimmer. "College coaching and administration is a non-stop commitment and the time challenges required the all-in engagement of my supportive wife and family."
In addition to coaching both Wildcat basketball teams, Grimmer also started and coached the women's volleyball program for six years and served as the sports information director for 14 years. He is responsible for adding the sports of men's and women's volleyball, women's lacrosse and women's soccer while shaping the SUNY Poly athletics program to its current roster of 12 NCAA sports. Grimmer served as president of the SUNYAC and the NEAC Board of Athletic Directors and spent years on the executive committee for both conferences.
In 2020, Grimmer shepherded the SUNY Poly sports program to membership in the North Atlantic Conference, where the Wildcats quickly established themselves with a conference championship and NCAA tournament berth for men's lacrosse this spring.
"The strength of the NAC is only as good as the people and institutions who make up the conference and Kevin is one of those great people who has had a huge impact" said North Atlantic Conference Commissioner Marcella Zalot. "His ability to see how SUNY Poly could fit into the vision of the conference was critical to our growth. His knowledge and experience paved a clear path forward and helped us build a number of critical pieces we needed to realize our vision. Through this process I got to know a man who is incredibly smart and competitive, compassionate and caring, all mixed with a wry sense of humor. It is easy to see why his basketball teams were so successful and the athletic program at Poly is so successful. The conference will miss him and I personally will miss him."
Grimmer oversaw the planning and construction of the $20 million Wildcat Field House, turf field with lights, new baseball field and improved softball field. He continues to assist with planning for an approved $25 million renovation project for the Campus Center athletic facilities, which opened early in Grimmer's tenure with the college in 1987.
"The upcoming renovation of the Campus Center sports complex completes my career in Wildcat Athletics," said Grimmer. "SUNY Poly will have some of the finest athletic facilities in the nation. It's been wonderful working with such a great staff for so many years, including my long-time associate AD Kevin Edick. They, along with so many tremendous student-athletes, have made the years of service very rewarding."
In 2012, Grimmer received the SUNY Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Professional Service. Grimmer's overall accomplishments in athletics have landed him in both the Greater Utica Area Sports Hall of Fame and the Notre Dame Juggler Hall of Fame. Additionally, his Hamilton College jersey was raised to the rafters of the Margaret Bundy Scott Field House in a ceremony celebrating Continental Basketball All-Americans.
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SUNY Polytechnic Institute (SUNY Poly) is New York's globally recognized, high-tech educational ecosystem, formed from the merger of the SUNY College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering and SUNY Institute of Technology. SUNY Poly offers undergraduate and graduate degrees in the emerging disciplines of nanoscience and nanoengineering, as well as cutting-edge nanobioscience and nanoeconomics programs at its Albany location and undergraduate and graduate degrees in technology, including engineering, cybersecurity, computer science, and the engineering technologies; professional studies, including business, communication, and nursing; and arts and sciences, including natural sciences, mathematics, humanities, and social sciences at its Utica/Rome location. Thriving athletic, recreational, and cultural programs, events, and activities complement the campus experience. As the world's most advanced, university-driven research enterprise, SUNY Poly boasts billions of dollars in high-tech investments and over 300 corporate partners since its inception. For information visit www.sunypoly.edu.
