The Dillard University baseball team has hired a new head coach. Get the story about coach Tennis Grant from the DU release below.
New Orleans – The Dillard University Athletics Department announced on Feb. 24, the addition of Trennis Grant as the new head baseball coach. The Dillard baseball program is scheduled to begin playing games in the spring of 2023.
“We are so proud and excited to welcome Coach Grant to our Dillard University athletics family,” Dillard athletics director Dr. Kiki Baker Barnes stated. “Coach Grant quickly established himself as our top candidate based on his strong recruiting background, enthusiasm for the job, local and national baseball ties and vision for the Dillard baseball program.”
Baseball will be the seventh sport that the program is adding over the last year. Men’s and women’s tennis were added in the spring of 2022 as was a men’s and women’s indoor track & field program in January 2022. The DU Diamonds and Cheer Devils went from support groups to competitive teams also in the spring of 2022.
“First, I have to give thanks and honor to God because without God none of this would be possible,” said Coach Grant. “I would also like to thank Dr. Barnes and the staff for welcoming me with open arms. I felt at home from the minute that I stepped on campus through the entire hiring process. I am grateful to be the Head Baseball Coach here at Dillard University. I’m excited to get started and recruit the newest Bleu Devils for our baseball program. We are going to recruit great student-athletes that represent Dillard University, the athletics department and the baseball program well. Every day will be B.L.E.U D.A.Y.S. (Better Leader Exceeding Unitedly and Dillard Advancing Yesterdays Successes). We will fully embrace the university’s motto Ex. Fide Fortis which means from faith comes strength. GeauxBleu!!!”
Grant has seven years of coaching experience at the NCAA level.
Most recently he was serving as the Assistant Coach at Southern University for the two years. At Southern, he was in charge of coaching and developing outfielders, catchers and the team’s hitters. Under his watch, the program won the 2021 Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) and made the NCAA Regional. He helped mentor a pair of All-SWAC players in Taj Porter and O’Neill Burgos during the 2021 season. He also aided five Southern players make the SWAC All-Tournament Team in Zavier Moore, Isaiah Adams, Enrique Ozoa, Colton Frank and the MVP of the Tournament O’Neill Burgos. Grant also helped the team put up a team grade—point average (GPA) of 3.0 during the spring semester of 2021.
Prior to his time at Southern, Grant spent two years working as Assistant Coach and Recruiting Coordinator at Alabama A&M from 2018-2020. Among his duties were coaching and developing outfielders, catchers, infielders and hitters. Grant spearheaded the national recruiting at Alabama A&M that saw the program recruit from 18 high schools in 10 different states. Among his accomplishments were helping the team improve their stolen base totals from the previous season and mentoring All-SWAC player Johnathan Smith II.
Coach Grant served as the Assistant Coach at the University of Arkansas – Pine Bluff from 2016-2018. In the assistant coach role he worked with the team’s catchers, outfielders and hitters. He helped improve the national recruiting footprint of UAPB by successfully bringing in 14 players from junior colleges and high schools from eight different states. In his two years with the program, Coach Grant aided the team improve in nearly every offensive statistical category including hits, home runs, triples and stolen bases. He also served as the academic liaison for the team as the team put up a cumulative GPA of 3.26 in 2016 and 3.33 in 2017.
Prior to Arkansas – Pine Bluff, Grant started his baseball coaching career at Hendrix College from 2014-2016. In his coaching role he worked directly with the outfielders and assisted with the team’s hitters. He aided the program improve offensive numbers in doubles, triples and RBIs. He also helped Drew Judson be a First Team D3.Baseball.com All-Region and First Team SAA.
The Canton, Mississippi native graduated from Arkansas Tech in 2014.
He resides in Gonzales, Louisiana with his wife Cierra and their four children.
Please follow the baseball team on Twitter at @BleuDevilBSB or contact Coach Grant directly at 504-816-4515 if you are interested in being part of his initial recruiting class.
Keep up with all the latest news and information on the Bleu Devils by following Dillard Athletics on Twitter at @GeauxDU, Facebook at Facebook.com/dillardbleudevils/ and Instagram at Instagram.com/dillardbleudevils/
Please Note: It is thought that Dillard University may have previously had a baseball program sometime in the 1960s – although no accurate records have been found as of this date – even if that is the case, the sport hasn’t been an active part of the athletic department in over 50 years. If any Dillard University alumni played or know of any person that personally played baseball for the school, please contact the athletic department directly so we can work on developing a more detailed archive for the sport.
