Aurora University Athletics

Grant Kimball joins the Aurora University athletic department and will lead the inaugural AU women's hockey program.

Kimball comes to AU after spending the previous seven seasons as the Associate Head Women’s Ice Hockey Coach and Recruiting Coordinator at the University of Vermont. He has a vast amount of experience coaching at the Division I and Division III level of women’s hockey, having been an assistant coach and associate head coach since 2001.

In his seven seasons with Vermont, Kimball managed recruiting, individual skill development, travel logistics and worked closely with the defenseman.

He went to Vermont after two seasons as an assistant coach with the University of North Dakota women's hockey program. While at North Dakota, Kimball helped build the Fighting Sioux into a playoff contender in the WCHA. During Kimball's time in Grand Forks, UND posted a record number of league wins and points and earned a school-best fourth-place finish in the WCHA. Kimball also helped recruit several international players to the North Dakota program, including a pair of Olympians in Susanne Fellner (Germany) and Jorid Dagfinrud (Norway).

A total of 14 players were named to the WCHA All-Academic Team and forward Cassie Hanson garnered WCHA Scholar-Athlete and ESPN The Magazine All-Academic honors in Kimball's two seasons.

Prior to his stint with the Fighting Sioux, Kimball spent four years at Wayne State University in Detroit, Mich. He spent three seasons as an assistant coach before being promoted to associate head coach for the 2006-07 campaign. Kimball also served as the recruiting coordinator for Wayne State and helped the Warriors compile 57 wins and a College Hockey America Conference Championship game appearance in 2007.

As Wayne State's recruiting coordinator, Kimball recruited the most productive freshmen class in the nation in the 2005-06 season as the newcomers scored 154 points. During his four years in Detroit, several student-athletes went on to earn various CHA honors, including three players who were named to the All-CHA First Team, six who garnered spots on the All-CHA Second Team and five who earned CHA All-Rookie accolades.

Prior to coaching at Wayne State, Kimball spent two seasons as an assistant coach at his alma mater, Lake Forest College (Illinois) of the Northern Collegiate Hockey Association (NCAA Division III). He helped lead Lake Forest to 13th in the national rankings and a fourth-place finish in the western regional rankings in the 2002-03 RPI.

Kimball has additional experience serving with several other girls' teams at various levels. He was the director of the Michigan Regional Girls Development Camp in 2005 and 2006; co-coach of the USA Hockey Girls National Select U-14 Camp in 2005; head coach of Team Michigan in the Chicago Showcase Tournament in 2004 and 2005; and head coach of Team Illinois Girls U-15 and U-19 teams from 1996-2000.

Kimball played his collegiate hockey at Lake Forest College and was a defenseman for the Foresters from 1992-95. He earned a bachelor's degree in history in 1996.
 

YEAR	OVERALL	CONFERENCE (Place)
2017-2018	5-19-1	4-14-0 (9th)
2018-2019	8-14-3	5-10-3 (8th)
2 Years	13-33-4 (.300)	9-24-3 (.292)