Harvey Grant is entering his second year as assistant coach with the Hampton University men’s basketball program, bringing with him a wealth of college basketball experience. Grant is primarily responsible for player development within the program.
Grant was instrumental in developing the Pirates’ big men in the 2010-11 season, particularly senior forward Charles Funches and junior transfer Danny Agbelese. Agbelese finished the season eighth in the country in blocked shots with 3.1 per game, while Funches ranked fifth in the MEAC in rebounding with 7.7 boards per contest.
After a stellar career at the University of Oklahoma, Grant – identical twin brother to Horace Grant – was drafted 12th overall in 1988 by the Washington Bullets (now Wizards) of the NBA. As a rookie, Grant averaged 5.6 points and 2.3 rebounds per game in 1988-89, before he improved to averages of 8.2 points, 4.2 rebounds and 1.6 assists during the 1989-90 season.
In 1990-91, after averaging 18.2 points, 7.2 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.2 steals per game, Grant was runner-up for the NBA’s Most Improved Player of the Year Award to Orlando’s Scott Skiles. Grant would then average 18.0 points per game during the 1991-92 season, before turning his best scoring performance in 1992-93, going for a career-best 18.6 points per game.
After five years in Washington, Grant was traded to the Portland Trail Blazers, before returning to Washington in another trade. After seeing the Bullets reinvent themselves as the Wizards, Grant went on to close out his professional career with the Philadelphia 76ers in the lockout-shortened 1999 season.
For his NBA career, Grant averaged 9.9 points and 4.4 rebounds per game. He scored a career-high 41 points against the Charlotte Bobcats in 1992, while twice pulling down a career-high 16 rebounds in his professional career. In his career, Grant played with such NBA stars as Allen Iverson, Theo Ratliff, Eric Snow and former Hampton University great Rick Mahorn.
After earning First Team All-Big 8 honors as a junior at Oklahoma, Grant was named an All-American as a senior.
Grant, a native of Augusta, Ga., is married and has five children: Jerai (22), Jerian (19), Jerami (17), Jalin (15) and Mikayla (6). In his spare time, Grant likes to watch movies and television, as well as listen to music.
