Rembert Comes To Upstate As Assistant Baseball Coach
7/8/2008 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
July 8, 2008
SPARTANBURG, S.C. - USC Upstate head baseball coach Matt Fincher has announced the hiring of Grant Rembert, who served as a volunteer assistant at Southern Conference champions, Elon, during the 2008 season, as an assistant coach. Rembert's focus will be to work with the Spartan hitters, catchers and outfielders as well as to assist with recruiting.
"We feel fortunate that Grant has joined our staff," Fincher, who tops Upstate's career victories chart with 257, said. "He has outstanding experience and worked as a volunteer for an excellent coach at Elon. He comes from an outstanding program. I think that those experiences coupled with his education and other things that he's done on his own will make him an outstanding coach. I think he has a bright future in the field. He's got a lot of energy and enthusiasm and we think he is going to add a lot."
Rembert was a volunteer assistant for his alma mater in 2008, helping to lead the Phoenix to their third NCAA Tournament appearance in the past seven seasons and their ninth straight 30-win season. Working primarily with catchers and outfielders, Rembert helped Cory Harrilchak to First Team All-Southern Conference honors as an outfielder and catcher Dallas Tarleton to second team honors from the SoCon Media.
He had a standout career for the Phoenix as an outfielder, placing his name in several Elon record book categories and earning two All-Southern Conference honors. He earned two letters for the Phoenix and in 2004, he posted one of the best individual seasons ever for an Elon player. He set Elon season records with 250 at bats and 24 doubles, while his 85 hits are the second-most in school history. He added 60 RBIs, which is fourth in school history.
After a redshirt year due to an injury in 2005, he capped his career by hitting .315 with 51 runs and 44 RBIs to help lead the Phoenic to a program-record 45 wins, a SoCon regular season championship and a berth in the 2006 Clemson Regional. In the regional, Rembert helped second-seeded Elon defeat third-seeded Mississippi State, 5-4, the school's first-ever NCAA Division I tournament win.
In 2006, Rembert played for the Evansville Otters, leading the Frontier League team to a league championship, playing 34 games in the outfield. He hit .258 with eight doubles and 16 RBIs in 41 games for the Otters.
Rembert played two seasons at UNC Asheville, earning Collegiate Baseball Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American in 2002. He hit .365 with five homers, seven doubles and 40 RBIs for the Bulldogs. He earned All-Big South honors as a catcher in 2003, hitting .324 with eight homers and 51 RBIs.
Rembert, a native of Hickory, N.C., earned his degree in business administration from Elon in 2005 and his MBA from Elon in 2007. In 2008, he earned his Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) certification through the National Strength Coaches Association.
Upstate, which finished 25-29 overall and 17-16 in the Atlantic Sun, finished over .500 in conference play for the first time since then-USC Spartanburg went 12-6 in the NAIA District Six in 1990. It finished tied for fifth in the conference and would have qualified for the six-team Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament field, but it is still in the first of its four years in the provisionary process in the transition to Division I, making it ineligible for postseason play.
