Granato has been an assistant coach for Franciscan since the 2020-21 season, but it is not his first year coaching. Granato comes to Franciscan with 38 years of high school coaching experience. Granato stepped down from his position as Weir High School basketball head coach in the summer of 2020. A position he proudly held for 21 years. He finished his Weir coaching career with 241 varsity wins second most all-time, 6 state tournament appearances, and 3 OVAC titles. For all of his career achievements, he was awarded the 2022 Earl Haberfield Award from the OVAC. Granato still teaches at Weir High.
Before his time in Weirton, Granato coached and taught at Bishop Donahue. His girls’ basketball team won the OVAC championship during the 1984-85 school year. That same year, he helped guide the Bishop boys to the Class A state championship. He was also the Donahue head baseball coach for eight years and was cast in the role of athletic director for three years. He coached many good players over the years, including Franciscan Head Coach Joe Wallace while at Bishop Donahue.
After graduating Weir High, Granato went on to Bethany College. He served as student-assistant coach to Jim Dafler in the 1981-82 campaign. The Bison won the PAC championship that year and advanced to the NCAA Regional Tournament.
