June 21, 2002
Lexington, KY – Kentucky women’s basketball coach Bernadette Mattox announced the hiring of assistant coach Scott Groninger to replace Rick Griffith who left in June to head the girl’s basketball program at Lexington’s Dunbar High School.
“I’m so excited that Scott is joining us,” Mattox said. “He brings so much knowledge and intensity with him. He’s coached on the men’s side and he brings a different perspective as well as a lot of energy and experience to our program. I knew he would be a great fit the moment I met him.”
Groninger, 40, has spent 13 years coaching at the collegiate level. He brings a variety of experience to the Bluegrass, including stops in North Carolina, Indiana, Georgia and Tennessee.
After a four-year basketball playing career at William Jewel College in Liberty, Mo., where he graduated with a degree in business administration (’84), he began his coaching career at Methodist College in Fayetteville, N.C. He remained there for only one season before being hired as an assistant men’s basketball coach at Greensboro College (1987-90) in Greensboro, N.C. He helped lead The Pride to a school-best 8-1 start in 1990 on the staff of Jim Tribbett, the current Director of Player Personnel for the Brevard Blue Ducks in the United States Basketball League. He also served as the head men’s tennis coach at GC.
His next stop included a two-year stint as an assistant men’s basketball coach under Coach Mike Bietzel at Hanover College, in Hanover, Ind., (1990-92). Again, he held double duties, serving as the head men’s tennis coach. Under his tutelage, the men’s basketball team advanced to the district semifinals.
In 1992 he was hired at Armstrong Atlantic State in Savannah, Ga., (1992-1995) on the staff of Griff Mills. In just three seasons, Groninger helped lead the Pirates from a seventh-place finish in the Peach Belt Conference to first place honors, the conference championship and a berth in the NCAA Division II national tournament. The Pirates were led behind the play of Heath Schroyer, current men’s basketball coach at Portland State and Johnny Galyon, the girls’ basketball coach at Morristown-Hamblen High School in Morristown, Tenn.After receiving a master’s degree in health science from Georgia Southern in Statesboro, Ga., Groninger was named head men’s basketball coach at Chattanooga State Technical Community College (1995-99).
Groninger steadily turned around a program that totaled only five wins in his first season. In his fourth year, the Tigers finished 14-11 in the Tennessee Junior College Athletic Association and achieved a national ranking.
“What an opportunity for me to be at the University of Kentucky,” Groninger said. “It’s great to be back in the coaching ranks after stepping out for a couple of years to watch my daughters grow. My entire family is excited about Lexington and being a part of Coach Mattox’s staff. I’ve always had great respect for Coach Mattox and what she stands for here at UK. I’m looking forward to getting to know the team better and learning from such an outstanding coach.”
Groninger, a native of St. Louis, Mo., lettered his junior and senior seasons at Shawnee Mission South High School in Kansas under Coach Paul Sexton.
Groninger is married to Kelly Leeper Groninger, a former tennis player at William Jewel College. They have three daughters, Megan (13), Kristen (10) and Mary Kate (7).
