Grant returns to Richmond

TUSCALOOSA | Anthony Grant returns to Richmond, Va., Wednesday night after spending nearly 10 hours with University of Alabama officials, being courted for the vacant UA basketball coaching job.

Grant departed from Tuscaloosa Municipal airport at approximately 7:40 p.m. There was no indication that he had either accepted or rejected an offer from Alabama.

The Virginia Commonwealth head basketball coach landed at Tuscaloosa Municipal Airport this morning just after 10 a.m. on a private plane. He was greeted at the airport by a delegation of University of Alabama officials, including Moore, Executive Athletic Director Dave Hart, UA head women’s head basketball coach Wendell Hudson and Board of Trustees members Paul W. Bryant, Jr. and Judge John England, among others.

After meeting briefly in a hangar in the airport, the delegation departed for the UA campus.

Alabama is prepared to offer to either upgrade the current basketball practice facility at Coleman Coliseum or build a new basketball-only practice facility if Grant accepts the job, a source familiar with the situation said, and is willing to put that pledge into Grant’s contract. The current practice facility is also used by the UA volleyball team for practices and games, and is shared with the women’s basketball team and cheerleaders.

Grant’s tour will also include a look at the inside of Coleman Coliseum, with the arena lit up and laid out as it is for Crimson Tide home basketball games. He is also expected to look at the men’s basketball coaching offices on the upper level of the coliseum.

Grant is expected to get an offer from Alabama today, and UA officials are hopeful that he will accept before getting on the plane to return to Richmond, Va.

Grant met with Moore and Hart last Sunday in Richmond, Va., to discuss the job opening, according to a report by the Richmond Times-Dispatch.

Grant’s contract at VCU pays him a salary package of $700,000 per year with bonuses and incentives that made his 2008-09 salary around $850,000, according to the Richmond paper.

The contract has a buyout clause of $240,000 payable to VCU if Grant leaves for another job by the end of the month. The buyout is reduced to $200,000 by April 1.

The 42-year-old Grant coached VCU to a 28-7 record in 2006-07, went 24-8 in 2007-08 and posted a 24-10 mark this season. VCU earned an 11th seed in the NCAA Tournament and lost 65-64 to UCLA in the first round.