Pipe Dream’s Sports Desk sat down with Binghamton University’s first-year women’s basketball head coach Mary Grimes for an introductory Q&A on Wednesday afternoon, accompanied by her daughter and David O’Brian, amanager of athletics communications. Grimes joins BU following a 2023-24 campaign where she was named the Northeast Conference Coach of the Year after leading Le Moyne to a 15-win season. This interview has been lightly edited for clarity.
Q: What was your first impression of Binghamton?
A: The town itself was actually welcoming and easy to get around. That’s what I like. I don’t live too far from the school, but I think everything you need is within like, 10 to 15 minutes, which is awesome. Kind of reminds me of Detroit a little bit because I’m from there — you can get to a lot of things really easily. But I love that you can go 30 minutes and be someplace else, be in the woods and see nature. So I like the diversity of that, that piece of Binghamton.
Q: What is your favorite food spot in Binghamton?
A: I would say Nirchi’s. Actually, my son’s still in Syracuse, and I brought a whole half-sheet to him, I liked it so much. So it’s been good pizza.
Q: Do you have a go-to topping?
A: I’m a cheese person, or a white garlic pizza. Just plain.
Q: Lebron or Michael Jordan?
A: I’m gonna say MJ, even though I’m from Detroit. That’s the bad boys era, so it’s a little touchy, but I gotta go with somebody who wasn’t an Ohio person.
Q: What’s your WNBA Mount Rushmore?
A: I would say Lisa Leslie, Cynthia Cooper, Sheryl Swoopes and Ruthie Bolton-Holifield, those are my favorites. But of course, Caitlin Clark is tearing it up and putting the WNBA in the forefront of a lot of news.
Q: What’s your favorite sport, besides basketball?
A: Favorite sport is tennis. I actually started off playing tennis first, in Detroit, in Rec Park and everything like that. I was in one tournament. I was a runner-up. And then [O’Brian] knows I like to say I lost to Serena Williams because she was born in Michigan. I didn’t lose to Serena, but it makes for a good story.
Q: What’s your favorite way to relax or destress?
A: I got a little Candy Crush-type game on my phone. I play that a little bit, and [my daughter] knows I play it a lot, but I usually am just watching basketball of some sort. You know, we have the ability to watch the NBA, WNBA, so it’s a de-stressor not to watch Binghamton basketball. I watch other basketball, and that’s kind of a de-stressor for me.
Q: What’s your go-to snack when traveling with the team on the road?
A: OK, so I’m always looking forward to road wins. We get ice cream after road wins, and I can’t have dairy, but I get a Diet Coke. Diet Coke, whether it’s Wendy’s, whether it’s McDonald’s — that’s my go-to, so I think we’re going to do a little bit more Wendy’s for wins this year. But that’s my go-to. Yeah, that’s what makes me happy. Diet Cokes after games.
Q: What are you most looking forward to this season?
A: I’m excited to have games in the Events Center. I know when I coached at UAlbany, it was a tough place to play, and the fans and the band were rowdy, and it was a tough place to play. I’m just happy I’m on this side now, so I’m looking forward to the games and just having the people in the stands. I mean, everybody’s been so welcoming, not only on campus but in the community. I go to the park with my daughter, and they see me in a Binghamton shirt, and they’re like, “Hey, you go to Binghamton?” I’m like, “Well, I’m actually the coach.” And they were like, “Oh, yeah, we’ve got tickets. We sit in this row.” I’m very excited about, you know, just being in the Events Center.
The women’s basketball team will open its season against the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown on Monday, Nov. 4. Tip-off is set for 6:07 p.m. at the Dr. Bai Lee Court in Vestal, New York.