Binghamton University Athletics

Mary Grimes on Wake Up Call With Dan Tortora 4/27/24

Mary Grimes begins her third year as the head coach at Binghamton University in 2026-27. During her first two seasons, she has transformed the Bearcats into one of the top programs in the America East Conference. Her 35 wins in her first two seasons as Binghamton coach are the most over two years in the program's Division I history. 

Last season, Binghamton recorded its first 20-win season since 2019-20 and advanced to the second round of the WNIT. It was just the second time in program history to reach the postseason during the Division I era. Grimes and the Bearcats were picked to finish sixth in the America East last year but instead placed third and advanced to the tournament semifinals. 

Excluding the two seasons affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, Grimes has won 71.0% of the games she has coached since the start of the 2011-12 season (264-108), including 78.5% of conference games coached. 

Bella Pucci and Kendall Bennett earned second-team all-conference honors last year while Carletta Bennett was named to the All-Rookie Team. In addition, Kendall Bennett was chosen to the America East All-Defensive Team last year, as was Pucci the season before.

Before Binghamton, Grimes found success quickly during her first two seasons at the helm of LeMoyne, posting a 38-15 record in the Northeast 10 Conference. Competing at the NCAA Division II level, the Dolphins won two Northeast-10 Conference regular-season titles and made a pair of appearances in the NCAA Tournament. After the 2022-23 campaign, in which the Dolphins went 21-7 and won 16 of their final 17 regular-season contests, Grimes was named Northeast-10 Conference Coach of the Year.

The 2023-24 season was the Dolphins’ first at the NCAA Division I level, and Grimes guided the transition seamlessly. After being picked to finish eighth in their first season in the NEC, the Dolphins outperformed expectations by claiming six regular-season sweeps and defeating every team in the conference at least once. The squad finished 18–15, including a 14-2 conference record, an appearance in the NEC title game, and the Northeast Conference (NEC) Coach of the Year honor. Le Moyne capped off its inaugural Division I campaign with an appearance in the WNIT.  

Grimes is no stranger to the America East as she was part of the coaching staff at UAlbany from 2010-16. The Great Danes won five consecutive America East Conference Championships from 2012-16 and earned berths in the NCAA Championships each of those five seasons. Along with a first-round win against Florida in the 2016 NCAA Tournament. UAlbany went 146-47 in the six years that Grimes was on the staff, including a mark of 107-23 over the final four seasons.

Before her three years as the Dolphins head coach, Grimes was an assistant coach at LeMoyne under Jeanne Dupree from 2003-05 and Gina Castelli from 2017-19. In her two-year stint alongside Castelli, she helped the Dolphins to a 43-17 overall record, including a mark of 27-13 in Northeast-10 Conference play, a regular-season and conference championship, along with an NCAA DII Sweet 16 appearance. At the time of her departure, both marks were the best in two years in the program’s 23 years in the conference.

Grimes was an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Syracuse University from 2005-10. As recruiting coordinator, Grimes was responsible for recruiting the Collegiate Girls Basketball Report's eighth-ranked class in 2009. The Orange posted a 16-win improvement from Grimes' first season on the staff (nine wins) to her final season under head coach Quentin Hillsman (25 wins). The Orange earned a berth in the NCAA Tournament in 2008 after going 22-8 prior to the announcement of the tournament field. The Orange appeared in the WNIT in 2009 and advanced to the 2010 WNIT quarterfinals.

Grimes is a 2003 graduate of Siena College, where she earned a Bachelor of Science degree in marketing and management. Grimes was a four-year member and a two-time captain of the Saints' women's basketball team.

Grimes started 93 of 119 games played as a Saint, scored 770 points, grabbed 288 rebounds, dished out 220 assists, posted 123 steals, and was part of an 82-39 record in her four years. The Saints were the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) regular-season champions in 2001, 2002, and 2003 and captured the MAAC Tournament Championship in 2001 to earn a berth in the NCAA Tournament. The Saints appeared in the WNIT in 2002 and 2003, advancing to the second round in 2003.

THE GRIMES FILE
2024-present: Head Coach, Binghamton University
2021-24: Head Coach, Le Moyne College
2019-22: Assistant Coach, Xavier University
2017-19: Associate Head Coach, LeMoyne College
2010-16: Assistant Coach, UAlbany
2005-10: Assistant Coach, Syracuse University
2003-05: Assistant Coach, Le Moyne College