By John McCarthy, jmccarthy@naia.org
NAIA Director of the Buffalo Funds-NAIA Division I Men's Basketball National Championship
Special contributor for PlayNAIA blog
The NAIA is excited to induct a very prestigious Hall of Fame Class at the 2011 Buffalo Funds-NAIA National Championship in Kansas City this March. The class consists of Terry Porter (Wisconsin-Stevens Point), Scottie Pippen (Central Arkansas), Travis Grant (Kentucky State) and Bill Odell (Azusa Pacific).
Let me take a little time to write about Travis Grant and his incredible accomplishments! Sometimes we get wrapped up in the hype or try to generate hype…..and then there are times when the facts just speak for themselves. What's great about Travis is that he has all of the statistics, awards, facts, etc., yet is just a genuinely humble and all around good guy.
He was raised in Alabama by his mother and as he describes it poor. He literally nailed the milk carton to the barn so that he could shoot. The court was the dirt. That's how he honed a jump shot that would become one of the very best in the game. At any level, at anytime.
After high school in Alabama, he followed Coach Lucius Mitchell to Kentucky State University in Frankfort, Kentucky. As a freshman, he averaged an astounding 26.6 points, 9.3 rebounds, 2.6 assists while shooting an astounding 61.9% from the field. You read those numbers correctly: 26.6 points while shooting 61.9% from the field – as a freshman. Incredible!
During his sophomore year, the Thorobreds went 29-3, and won the NAIA National Championship. Travis averaged 35.4 points and 9.0 rebounds while shooting an astounding 70% from the field. During the NAIA Tournament in Kansas City, he averaged 27.4 points. How about this fact: during his sophomore year, he dropped 75 points in one regular season game. Incredible!
During his junior year, he led his team to a 31-2 record and a second straight NAIA National Championship appearance. For the season, he averaged 31.2 points, 9.1 rebounds and shot 64.8% from the field. During the NAIA Tournament, he averaged 33.6 points and was named Chuck Taylor Most Valuable Player. Incredible!
His senior year was memorable in so many ways. In an epic showdown against Eastern Michigan and their star George “The Iceman” Gervin, Travis dropped Eastern from the ranks of the unbeatens with a blowout victory while Travis scored 68 points on Gervin. To hear Gervin tell the story is great. They heard Kentucky State was good, but they had no idea. Gervin mentioned that they “held” Travis to about 18 at the half, and then he exploded for 50 in the second half alone, while the Thorobreds ran away with the game “by about 50”, according to “The Iceman”.
By the time his senior year was complete, Travis led his team to a third-straight NAIA National Championship, this time with overall 28-5 record, a season average of 39.5 points, 9.9 rebounds and shooting 62% from the field. Again, he was named MVP while averaging 42.6 points per game, a tournament record that still stands today. He set the scoring record for a single game with 60 points against Minot State (SD), while also setting the record for the most points in the tournament and the aforementioned tournament scoring average, all records that still stand today. Incredible!
When it was all said and done for his senior year, Travis won three consecutive National Championships and scored 4,045 points in his college career. As he walked off the court at Municipal Auditorium for the last time in 1972, no player in college basketball history had scored more points than Travis. None. He was given the Lapchick Award for the top player in all of college basketball, at any level. This was the first time that the award was ever given to a small college player.
Travis is a member of the Kentucky State University Hall of Fame, the Kentucky Hall of Fame and the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame.
The numbers, awards and honors are staggering, yet deserved. Travis will tell you that it's the National Championships that are important to him, not the individual awards and numbers. It's about the degree that he received from Kentucky State University. It's about the Master's degree he earned from West Georgia University. It's his wife, Sharon and it's his children and grandchildren. That's what he wants to talk about….championships, degrees and family.
Okay, maybe we should toss golf in there too. After his professional basketball career (he was a first round NBA draft choice of the Los Angeles Lakers), Travis worked in education for 29 years, as a teacher, coach and administrator, before retiring following the 2009-10 school year. So now he enjoys golf and some well-deserved free-time.
Around Kentucky State, and for those that know the history of the game, they refer to Travis Grant as a “legend”. But now that “legend” just wants to do in golf as he did in basketball so well: score.
And one more really cool thing…when Travis got his first check from the Los Angeles Lakers, he took that money back to Alabama, picked up his mother and bought her a house. His mother sacrificed and loved him, and the kid from Alabama returned home take care of his mom. Today, almost 39 years later, she stills lives in that house that her son bought for her.
Thanks Travis for all that you do on and off the court. We look forward to seeing you in Kansas City this March!
On Tuesday, March 15, at the Grand Ballroom in the Kansas City Convention Center, Travis Grant will be inducted into the NAIA Hall of Fame. For additional information about tickets to the NAIA Hall of Fame Induction ceremony, please visit www.naiahoops.com or call Ryan Anthony at 816-595-8141.
