Meet Kris Grundy: MHS Athletic Director, Basketball Coach, and Owner of Grundy Hoops Academy Camp

By Melanie Zhang | March 10, 2022

Montgomery High School Boys Basketball Head Coach Kristopher “Kris” Grundy has led his team to seven conference championships and the 2010 Central IV Sectional championship. After teaching math in the district for almost 20 years, he replaced Chris Pena as Athletic Director (AD) in July.

Montgomery High School Athletic Director and Boys’ Varsity Basketball Coach Kris Grundy.

“In this job, you really have to be on call 24/7,” Grundy said in an interview with The Montgomery News. “Sporting events are at night, and you have to be here.” This busy man, who has three sons in the Montgomery School District, also owns an LLC called The Grundy Hoops Academy, which offers private and group basketball lessons as well as full day camps in the summer.

As athletic director, much of Grundy’s time is spent on administrative tasks, he says. Coaching and running the camp is what he describes as his “sanity” at times. Grundy says that overseeing all 33 sports teams at MHS, while being the best basketball coach he can be is challenging. It helps that he lives about a 10-minute drive from the high school, with his supportive wife Megan in the Bridgeport/Belle Mead section of Montgomery Township. Their sons Jack, Ryan, By Melanie Zhang and Matty are avid athletes. Megan is “amazingly supportive and crucial” to him being able to have such a demanding job, he says.

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One of his goals as AD is to build a greater sense of community. “I want our student athletes to genuinely cheer for teams that aren’t theirs, and just have that family,” he says. One step in this direction was to organize MHS’s first captain’s breakfast, during which sports captains came together to discuss leadership and inter-team support to build greater cohesion and school spirit.

Additionally, he seeks recognition for MHS’s custodial and grounds and maintenance crew, citing, in particular, people like Michael O’Neill and Wayne Robinson, he says. They aid the department tremendously behind the scenes. “To be able to connect with colleagues and with students on stuff other than what’s in the textbooks is a real treat,” he says.

Grundy grew up in Morris County, and played lacrosse, basketball, and football in high school. In particular, he says that football played a major role in his decision to teach and coach. “I always wanted to have an impact on kids, [like my] coach had on me,” he says. Follow him on Twitter at Kris Grundy@MontgomeryBB3.