Stetson University men's basketball coach Donnie Jones has hired former Dayton Flyer Joey Gruden to serve as the Hatters' Director of Basketball Operations.
 
The son of former Washington Redskins head coach Jay Gruden and nephew of former Buccaneers and Raiders head coach Jon Gruden, Joey was a walk-on member of the Dayton basketball team from 2014-18.
 
Since receiving his degree in Communications and Media Studies in 2017, the younger Gruden served as a graduate assistant with the basketball staff at the University of Louisville, earning a Master's in Sports Administration in 2020. He has also worked for TBT: The Basketball Tournament, as a coach and general manager and, most recently, as head basketball coach for the Flyght Academy Prep School in Dayton.
 
He took the Flyght Academy team to a 23-12 record last year while playing games against junior college, NCAA Division III, NAIA and other prep school programs. The overall result was a prep national championship.
 
Since 2018 he has coached The Red Scare as part of The Basketball Tournament, an event held on ESPN each year with $1 million in prize money up for grabs. He had to fundraise to cover the team's travel and expenses and also ran the teams' social media, helping it to become one of the most popular teams in the event.
 
He has also served as head coach of the Dayton Elite AAU program for the last three years.
 
Gruden is a native of Orlando but attended high school at Sycamore High in Cincinnati, Ohio, where he played basketball, football and volleyball.
 
Gruden met his wife, Megan, at the University of Dayton. She is a native of Columbus, Ohio.
 
About Stetson University Athletics: Stetson University's Athletics Program is driven by a shared purpose. It is what inspires, motivates and binds us together. More than a task, a reason for being. THE HATTER PURPOSE is to create and provide an experience of a lifetime through teamwork and relationships to achieve excellence. This purpose is achieved through five Core Values: Communication, Integrity, Excellence, Value People and Commitment. To learn more about the HATS program and our Core Values, visit GoHatters.com/HATS. Get in on the conversation on social media by following Stetson Athletics on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. For video content, visit our YouTube channels: Stetson Hatters, Stetson Athletics and, for live events, Hatter Vision.