When College of Charleston athletic director Matt Roberts looked at the caller ID on his phone, he knew it was only a matter of time before he lost the Cougars’ head basketball coach.
It was the spring of 2021 and former Boston College athletic director Pat Kraft was searching for a new men’s basketball coach.
Kraft’ reaching out to Roberts was a professional courtesy. He wanted permission to talk with Cougars head coach Earl Grant — a former Stall High School standout — about possibly moving on from the Lowcountry to the Northeast and the ACC.
“I told Pat that if he got Earl for an in person interview, he was going to fall in love with him,” Roberts said with a chuckle. “I knew that Pat was going to love Earl, his president was going to love him, the boosters were going to love him and the fanbase was going to love him. He can connect with anyone.
“I always tell people if you have a problem with Earl Grant, it’s not him, it’s you. I’ve never met an individual that has a bad word to say about Earl as a human being. It’s amazing. That just shows you the kind of person, the kind of husband and father and the kind of coach he is.”
Boston College basketball coach Earl Grant returns to TD Arena as the Eagles will play in the Charleston Classic. Provided/BC Athletics
Roberts’ words proved to be prophetic. Grant was hired as the Eagles‘ head coach just a few weeks after Kraft’s phone call.
“When you are at a mid-major school you want to provide the coaches an opportunity to hone their craft,” Roberts said. “If the right opportunity comes up for them and their families, then you want to support them and wish them nothing but the best and that was my feeling when Earl took the Boston College job.”
Grant will make his return to TD Arena this weekend as Boston College takes part in this year’s Charleston Classic starting Friday afternoon. The Eagles (3-2) will take on Davidson (4-0) in the Lowcountry bracket beginning at 3:30 p.m.
It’s been five years since Grant, 48, was on the bench at TD Arena. He isn’t sure how he’s going to feel when he steps back onto the court on Meeting Street.
“I haven’t thought about it a lot,” said Grant, who was 127-89 at College of Charleston and led the Cougars to three straight 20-win seasons. “I’m not sure I can put it into words. I think it’s going to be unbelievable to think about the seven years I spent at College of Charleston and I’ve been gone for the last five years, which has been a blur.
“We had so much success at TD Arena. I’m sure I’ll see a lot of familiar faces. It might be overwhelming. I’ll probably get emotional. I try to treat the next game as the most important game of the season, but it’s going to be different, but in a good way.”
How different? Grant’s joked that he’s might stroll into the wrong locker room or sit on the wrong bench.
“I’m not sure if we’re going to be the home team or the visiting team,” Grant said with a laugh, “so that could happen.”
Not only was Grant born in Charleston, he also spent nearly a decade in the area coaching.
Grant’s first Division I coaching job came at The Citadel (2002-04) under former Bulldogs coach Pat Dennis.
After stints at Winthrop, Wichita State and Clemson, Grant returned to the Lowcountry to become the head coach at College of Charleston; leading the Cougars back to the NCAA Tournament in 2018 for the first time in nearly two decades.
“What he did to resurrect our program from where it had been was phenomenal,” Roberts said. “If it wasn’t for Earl Grant and what he did, we don’t attract Pat Kelsey and have the success we had under Pat. We’re not able to attract Chris Mack.
“Earl put College of Charleston back on the map and did it the right way. We had success after coach (John) Kresse left, but we’d not been able to crack the seal and get back to the NCAA Tournament. He’s the kind of coach you’d want your son to play for.”
One of Grant’s favorite game-day rituals while at College of Charleston was to go for a short run around the Battery during his lunch break. An Achilles tendon injury he suffered a couple of years ago kept him in his hotel room when the Eagles played at The Citadel in 2023.
“I still run on game days, although sometimes I run on the treadmill,” said Grant, whose wife Jacci graduated from College of Charleston. “I’m not sure where I’ll run (Friday).”
