BUTLER TWP — Elevating a basketball program is nothing new to Tony Grenek.

The 1990 Butler graduate went on to play at Butler County Community College, helping the team post a 25-5 record and win a state championship his freshman year.

He returned to the Pioneers years later as men’s head basketball coach, taking a team that finished 5-25 the year before and winning the Region XX title in his first season.

Three years ago, Grenek took over a Point Park University women’s basketball team coming off successive 14-13 seasons — the program’s first consecutive winning campaigns in 25 years.

Now 42, he’s produced 77 wins in 96 games for Point Park since, including consecutive conference titles, three straight NAIA national playoff appearances and a school-record 29 wins in a season.

“Our ultimate goal is to win a national championship here,” Grenek said. “I feel like we’re moving in that direction.”

His 2014 recruiting class indicates as much. Grenek is putting a virtual WPIAL all-star team on the floor these days.

Returning center Sam Weir (14.4 ppg.) hails from Riverside, forward Carly Forse (10.5 ppg., 8.8 rpg.) is from Bishop Canevin, shooting guard Alexa Aenakis (9.9 ppg., 50 treys) from Keystone Oaks. Forward Ja’Nia McPhatter (15.0 ppg., 8.8 rpg. in 2012-13) is from New Castle and missed most of last year with a foot injury.

Add to those returnees an incoming class that includes Mt. Lebanon product and Clarion University transfer Kelly Johnson at point guard, East Allegheny product and Alderson-Broaddus transfer Leah Hurst at guard, guard Liz Neal from Bethel Park, center Baylee Buleca from Franklin Regional and guard Shaniya Rivers from Hopewell and the foundation is there for a powerhouse.

“Those girls wouldn’t have even looked at this program a couple of years ago,” Grenek admitted. “Now they are. Success breeds success.

“Point Park wasn’t exactly known for women’s basketball. The program’s lifetime record is probably 200 to 300 games below .500. It was considered a last resort if a girl really wanted to play in college.”

Grenek built the program on hard-working, scrappy players who did the little things to help win games. Butler graduate Katresa Savisky “was probably the poster girl for the type of player we built with and won with,” Grenek said.

“She’s like an icon in our school now.”

Savisky graduated with a 3.95 grade point average and as an Academic All-American. As a team, Point Park’s GPA ranked 11th in all of NAIA at 3.46. Karns City product Ashley Campbell, who also graduated from Point Park this year, joined Savisky in attaining NAIA academic honors.

“We were the first team to go to nationals with every player being above a 3.0,” Grenek said. “We want these girls to be basketball players for two hours a day. — the rest of the time, they’re college students.”

More than half of the former WPIAL players on Point Park’s roster played on prep teams that won WPIAL titles. Johnson won three WPIAL and three PIAA crowns at Mt. Lebanon.

“I like players who know how to win,” Grenek said. “I’d rather recruit a solid role player averaging 8 to 12 points per game for an outstanding program than someone averaging 25 points per game for a team that doesn’t make the playoffs.”

It would take a special job to get Grenek to leave Point Park.

“This is one of my favorite places in the world,” Grenek said. “I love the Pittsburgh area. If I was being considered as women’s coach at Pitt, Duquesne or Robert Morris, sure, I’d have to look at it.

“Coaching on the men’s side is something I’d consider, too. But I like what we have in place here. I think we can go a long way.”

And he has alumni like Savisky to thank for it.

“I think of her and I can’t help but smile,” Grenek said. “She was the sixth player as a sophomore, then started the last two years. She did all of the dirty work, rebounding, guarding the other team’s best player, etc. She did whatever it took.

“Without Katresa and other players like her, this program isn’t where it is today ... not even close.”