Vinnie Granato walks on the sideline during St. Andrews’ season opener on Nov. 1 against Morris at Harris Court in Laurinburg. Granato stepped down as St. Andrews’ head women’s basketball coach on Nov. 16 The Laurinburg Exchange learned on Saturday.
File photo
Editor’s note: The previous report of Granato resigning earlier this week was inaccurate.
LAURINBURG — Vinnie Granato stepped down as head coach of the St. Andrews Knights women’s basketball program on Nov. 16 The Laurinburg Exchange learned on Saturday.
Following their game at Bluefield on Nov. 14, the Lady Knights had two weeks off before playing at Brenau in Gainesville, Georgia, on Tuesday.
“St. Andrews is a wonderful place with quality administration and wonderful coaches and people,” Granato said in a written statement to The Laurinburg Exchange. “Due to personal reasons, I unfortunately had to step aside at this time and wish the program success going forward. Thank you.”
St. Andrews Athletics did not release a written statement, and St. Andrews athletic director Elizabeth Burris declined to speak on the matter.
Granato was hired in July to replace Shareka Maner, St. Andrews’ head women’s basketball coach for two seasons. He coached four games, leading the Lady Knights to a 3-1 start this season — their best since the 2014-15 season.
Granato came to St. Andrews with nine years of collegiate coaching experience, with his last stop being Goshen College, an NAIA school in Indiana. As Goshen’s associate head women’s basketball coach, Granato helped lead the 2016 squad to the NAIA national semifinals. With Granato on staff, Goshen secured its second NAIA national tournament berth in program history and had the most consecutive playoff appearances (three) ever. The Maple Leafs ranked eighth in both total-scoring offense and field-goal percentage in NAIA Division II and also achieved a graduation rate of 100% that season.
Mary Cross, the St. Andrews housing director, was the Lady Knights’ interim head coach for Tuesday’s game; Ben Twigger, St. Andrews’ head men’s volleyball coach, coached St. Andrews’ game at Montreat Thursday; and Burris stepped in for the Lady Knights’ contest against Columbia (SC) on Saturday in Laurinburg.
St. Andrews is 0-3 since Granato’s last game coached.
Brandon Hodge is the sports editor for The Laurinburg Exchange. He can be reached at 910-506-3171 or by email at bhodge@laurinburgexchange.com. Follow him on X/Twitter at @BrandonHSports.