Bernie Graziano will be heading west instead of east when he commutes to work this fall.
Graziano, 52, officially accepted the Granger High boys basketball coaching job on Wednesday, replacing former coach Kurt Schneider, who resigned at the end of the 2010-2011 season.
Graziano had been the head coach at Skyline the past two seasons, leading the Eagles to the 5A state tournament both years and finishing with a combined 22-24 record.
"I love the kids at Skyline. I met with them this morning. We get along real well. But there's more to it than that," said Graziano. "Professionally for me, it's a really good move as far as coaching and teaching. In the long run, it's better for me. That's basically why I made the move."
Granger and Skyline are currently both in Region 2 in Class 5A, but when Utah High School Activities Association realignment takes effect next school year, Skyline will drop into Region 7 in Class 4A.
"His leadership qualities are great, and the experience factor he brings to the program is great," said Granger assistant principal Jeff Murdock. "He knows the community and he knows basketball."
Graziano spent eight years as the head coach at Hunter and led the Wolverines to the state tournament in seven of eight years before moving on to Fremont in 2000.
During his nine years at Fremont, Graziano enjoyed tremendous success as well, guiding the Silver Wolves to the 5A state championship in 2005 and a pair of region titles.
The veteran coach, who also won a state championship at Snowflake High in Arizona in 1989, is inheriting a quality team at Granger.
"I'm excited to go to Granger and work with those kids and coach them. We're in the kid business; whatever school you go to there's going to be challenges. There are good kids at Granger," said Graziano, a 1977 graduate of Kearns.
Even though the Lancers finished with a 9-13 record this year, their two leading scorers were both juniors. Deng Deng, an athletic 6-foot-5 guard/forward, led the team with 16.2 points per game and was named a Deseret News Third Team all-stater, while 6-foot-5 forward Isaiah Tademy averaged 14.4 points.
email: jedward@desnews.com