CEDAR CITY, Utah - The Southern Utah women's basketball team and head coach Tracy Sanders are proud to announce the hiring of Katie Gruys as an assistant coach ahead of the 2019-20 season.
"I am so excited to have Katie join our Thunderbird staff. Katie has been a part of three very impressive program turnarounds, both as a player at Oregon and in a coaching role at Clemson and Willamette," head coach Tracy Sanders said. "She is incredibly hard-working and embodies the culture we have here at Southern Utah University. Katie will bring a ton of enthusiasm and energy to our program and this community as well as experience in all facets of the game."
Gruys has spent the last two seasons as an assistant coach at Willamette University, a Division III institution in Oregon. During her time at WU, the Bearcats had a combined record of 28-24, including a 17-10 record in 2017-18. They would go on to finish that season as the runner-up in the Northwest Conference Tournament and clinch their first winning season since 2000-01.
Gruys spent 2016-17 as a graduate assistant at Clemson University, where she was in charge of many administrative duties for the women's basketball team. She helped with scheduling and team travel, as well as community service projects and recruiting weekends.
Prior to attending Clemson as a graduate student, Gruys earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from the University of Oregon in 2016. She competed in women's basketball as well as track and field during all four years at Oregon. She helped the Ducks reach the semifinals of the Women's National Invitational Tournament (WNIT) in 2015-16.
While at Oregon, Gruys also was a member of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee. She helped organize various volunteer and community service opportunities. She worked with 20 other student-athletes to build a sport court in Nicaragua in just one week. In addition, Gruys served as president of the University of Oregon crew in the Love Your Melon Foundation from 2014-16. Love Your Melon raised funds to support children and their families who are battling cancer. She also organized opportunities for Oregon's student-athletes to visit Doernbecher Children's Hospital in Portland, Oregon.
Gruys is originally from Annandale, Minnesota.
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