NEWARK, NJ - After help the Maryland men's basketball team reach the second round of the 2023 NCAA Tournament, Grant Billmeier was named the new men's basketball head coach at NJIT as announced on Thursday.

Billmeier, a native of Pennington, New Jersey, and graduate of St. Patrick High School and Seton Hall University, will be the 12^th head coach in program history. He will be formally introduced at a press conference in NJIT's Wellness and Events Center on Thursday, April 20, at 12pm. 

"This is a terrific opportunity for Grant who is so highly deserving of leading his own program," said Maryland head coach Kevin Willard. "We've worked together for over a decade and he's been instrumental in so much of the success our programs have had. Grant cares deeply about his players and is a tireless worker to ensure they develop their full potential on and off the court."

Billmeier takes over in Newark after one season on the staff at Maryland, where he followed Kevin Willard from Seton Hall in April 2022. The Terrapins were 22-13 in 2022-23, and finished 16-1 at home and 11-9 in Big Ten play earning an at-large berth into the NCAA Tournament where they defeated West Virginia in the first round, before bowing out to Alabama, the top overall seed. In his time with the Terps, Billmeier was instrumental in the development of Julian Reese who grew into one of the best big men in the Big Ten earning All-Big Ten Honorable Mention accolades.

Prior to Maryland, Billmeier served on Willard's staff at Seton Hall for seven seasons, culminating with the 2021-22 season when he was promoted to Associate Head Coach. Billmeier helped lead the Pirates to the 2016 Big East Tournament Championship and 2020 Big East Regular Season Championship during his second stint on the coaching staff in South Orange.

Billmeier's first collegiate coaching experience also came at Seton Hall from 2010-14 when served as the director of basketball operations. He then spent one season as an assistant coach at Fairleigh Dickinson before returning to Seton Hall as an assistant coach prior to the 2015-16 campaign.

During his successful tenure coaching at Seton Hall, Billmeier played a large role in developing the Pirates' post players. Billmeier mentored 2018 Kareem Abdul-Jabaar National Center of the Year Award Winner Angel Delgado, who led the nation in rebounding (13.1 rpg) and earned a great deal of other accolades including All-America recognition in addition to being unanimously voted to the All-Big East team and named the MBWA Player of the Year.

Billmeier also helped develop Sandro Mamukelashvili, who went from playing less than 10 minutes per game as a freshman to being the Big East Player of the Year as a senior. Mamukelashvili was a second-round pick in the 2021 draft and currently plays for the San Antonio Spurs. Another Seton Hall big man that was molded by Billmeier is Romaro Gill, the 2020 Big East Defensive Player of the Year and Big East Most Improved Player Award winner. Gill finished third in the nation, blocking 3.2 shots per game and also was efficient offensively, shooting 63.5% from the field in league play.

The 2007 Seton Hall graduate played four seasons for the Pirates, serving as a captain twice and helping lead the team to a pair of NCAA Tournaments in 2004 and 2006. Billmeier played in 106 games during his career. Billmeier went on to play professionally in Germany and Portugal before beginning his coaching career.

Billmeier played for Kevin Boyle at St. Patrick High School, where his team won the 2003 New Jersey Tournament of Champions. Additionally, Billmeier's first coaching position came at St. Patrick where he served on Boyle's staff for the 2009-10 season.

Billmeier and his wife, Jennifer, were married in May 2017 and are parents to their daughter, Avery, born March 2018, and son, Luke, born June 2021.