Men's Basketball
Grunkemeyer, Jason
Jason Grunkemeyer
- Title:
- Associate Head Coach
- Email:
- jdgrunkemeye@bsu.edu
- Alma Mater:
- Miami University, 2001
- Phone:
- 765-285-8142
- Years at Ball State:
- 7th season in 2019-20
Jason Grunkemeyer completed his seventh season on the Ball State men’s basketball staff in 2019-20 and his sixth as James Whitford’s associate head coach.
Grunkemeyer oversees the Cardinals’ scheduling, academics, budget and camps. He also serves as co-defensive coordinator, scouting upcoming opponent offenses. His efforts in that area helped the Cardinals lead the MAC in scoring defense in the 2019-20 season. Working with the Cardinals' frontcourt players, he also helped Tahjai Teague develop into a first-team All-MAC performer in 2019-20.
Grunkemeyer has served for the entire tenure of Whitford, the third-winningest coach in Ball State history. During that time, he has helped to rejuvenate the program. The Cardinals registered the fourth-largest turnaround in the nation in 2015-16, culminating with 21 wins and a quarterfinal appearance in the CIT, as BSU returned to the postseason for the first time in 14 years.
Starting with that season, Grunkemeyer has helped guide the Cardinals to an average of 19 wins over the past five years, three MAC West Division championships (2016, 2017, 2020) and two postseason appearances. The Cardinals were primed for another run in 2020, entering the MAC Tournament as the No. 3 seed, before the tournament was canceled because of COVID-19.
With Grunkemeyer on the bench, Ball State won 21 games in both the 2015-16 and 2016-17 seasons, the first 20-win campaigns for the program since 2001-02. The Cardinals have won 95 games over the past five years, and their 33-17 record against fellow MAC West opponents during that stretch is the best of any team in the division by five games.
Grunkemeyer has also helped the Cardinals to a pair of marquee road wins over ACC opponents – an 80-77 victory over No. 9/8 Notre Dame in December 2017 for BSU’s first true road win over a top-10 team in program history and a 65-47 thrashing of Georgia Tech in December 2019.
Grunkemeyer was named to the Ball State staff as an assistant coach on April 26, 2013. He was promoted to the Cardinals’ associate head coach prior to the 2014-15 season. A former player at Miami University, Grunkemeyer spent time as an assistant coach at both his alma mater and Saint Louis University before coming to Ball State.
“I helped recruit Jason, and I have coached him and known him for 17 years,” Ball State head coach James Whitford said upon his hiring. “He is one of the most high-character young men I have ever been around, and he had a very successful playing career at Miami University. At each of the places he has been, he has done an exceptional job."
Grunkemeyer worked as an assistant coach at Miami University from 2007-12. He served under his former college mentor Charlie Coles, where he had responsibilities in coaching, recruiting and oversight of scheduling. After Coles retired in 2012, Grunkemeyer spent the 2012-13 year as athletic director at Talawanda High School in Oxford, Ohio.
Before joining the staff at his alma mater, Grunkemeyer spent six seasons at Saint Louis, working under head coaches Lorenzo Romar and Brad Soderberg. He was the director of basketball operations for one season and an assistant coach for five, helping the Billikens to the second round of the NIT in both 2003 and 2004. He also played a role in the program’s first 20-win season in nine years during the 2006-07 campaign.
Grunkemeyer played at Miami University while Whitford was an assistant coach on the staff. He was a part of the RedHawks’ 1998-99 team that went 24-8, won the MAC championship and advanced to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament.
“I am very familiar with Ball State, both as an opposing player and coach,” Grunkemeyer said when he arrived in Muncie in 2013. “I have always thought it was a great basketball situation. I loved playing at Worthen Arena and thought they always had great fans. For me to be a part of that is exciting.
“I was really only looking to return to coaching right now if it was the right opportunity with the right guy. Ball State is the right opportunity, and Coach Whitford is that guy. He really does care about his players and wants to have relationships with them that go beyond their four years in college.”
Grunkemeyer ranks among the top 10 in Miami University history in 3-point field goals, 3-point percentage and free throw percentage. He played in three straight MAC Tournament championship games with the RedHawks after spending his freshman year at Ohio.
Grunkemeyer is a native of Cincinnati and a former all-state player at Moeller High School. He earned a bachelor's degree in physical education from Miami University in 2001.
He and his wife Angie have two sons, Joshua and Nathan, and one daughter, Evelyn Faith.
Grunkemeyer oversees the Cardinals’ scheduling, academics, budget and camps. He also serves as co-defensive coordinator, scouting upcoming opponent offenses. His efforts in that area helped the Cardinals lead the MAC in scoring defense in the 2019-20 season. Working with the Cardinals' frontcourt players, he also helped Tahjai Teague develop into a first-team All-MAC performer in 2019-20.
Grunkemeyer has served for the entire tenure of Whitford, the third-winningest coach in Ball State history. During that time, he has helped to rejuvenate the program. The Cardinals registered the fourth-largest turnaround in the nation in 2015-16, culminating with 21 wins and a quarterfinal appearance in the CIT, as BSU returned to the postseason for the first time in 14 years.
Starting with that season, Grunkemeyer has helped guide the Cardinals to an average of 19 wins over the past five years, three MAC West Division championships (2016, 2017, 2020) and two postseason appearances. The Cardinals were primed for another run in 2020, entering the MAC Tournament as the No. 3 seed, before the tournament was canceled because of COVID-19.
With Grunkemeyer on the bench, Ball State won 21 games in both the 2015-16 and 2016-17 seasons, the first 20-win campaigns for the program since 2001-02. The Cardinals have won 95 games over the past five years, and their 33-17 record against fellow MAC West opponents during that stretch is the best of any team in the division by five games.
Grunkemeyer has also helped the Cardinals to a pair of marquee road wins over ACC opponents – an 80-77 victory over No. 9/8 Notre Dame in December 2017 for BSU’s first true road win over a top-10 team in program history and a 65-47 thrashing of Georgia Tech in December 2019.
Grunkemeyer was named to the Ball State staff as an assistant coach on April 26, 2013. He was promoted to the Cardinals’ associate head coach prior to the 2014-15 season. A former player at Miami University, Grunkemeyer spent time as an assistant coach at both his alma mater and Saint Louis University before coming to Ball State.
“I helped recruit Jason, and I have coached him and known him for 17 years,” Ball State head coach James Whitford said upon his hiring. “He is one of the most high-character young men I have ever been around, and he had a very successful playing career at Miami University. At each of the places he has been, he has done an exceptional job."
Grunkemeyer worked as an assistant coach at Miami University from 2007-12. He served under his former college mentor Charlie Coles, where he had responsibilities in coaching, recruiting and oversight of scheduling. After Coles retired in 2012, Grunkemeyer spent the 2012-13 year as athletic director at Talawanda High School in Oxford, Ohio.
Before joining the staff at his alma mater, Grunkemeyer spent six seasons at Saint Louis, working under head coaches Lorenzo Romar and Brad Soderberg. He was the director of basketball operations for one season and an assistant coach for five, helping the Billikens to the second round of the NIT in both 2003 and 2004. He also played a role in the program’s first 20-win season in nine years during the 2006-07 campaign.
Grunkemeyer played at Miami University while Whitford was an assistant coach on the staff. He was a part of the RedHawks’ 1998-99 team that went 24-8, won the MAC championship and advanced to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament.
“I am very familiar with Ball State, both as an opposing player and coach,” Grunkemeyer said when he arrived in Muncie in 2013. “I have always thought it was a great basketball situation. I loved playing at Worthen Arena and thought they always had great fans. For me to be a part of that is exciting.
“I was really only looking to return to coaching right now if it was the right opportunity with the right guy. Ball State is the right opportunity, and Coach Whitford is that guy. He really does care about his players and wants to have relationships with them that go beyond their four years in college.”
Grunkemeyer ranks among the top 10 in Miami University history in 3-point field goals, 3-point percentage and free throw percentage. He played in three straight MAC Tournament championship games with the RedHawks after spending his freshman year at Ohio.
Grunkemeyer is a native of Cincinnati and a former all-state player at Moeller High School. He earned a bachelor's degree in physical education from Miami University in 2001.
He and his wife Angie have two sons, Joshua and Nathan, and one daughter, Evelyn Faith.
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