Grady A. Wallace (January 20, 1934 – August 17, 2006) was an

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...

n basketball player for the

South Carolina Gamecocks The South Carolina Gamecocks represent the University of South Carolina in the NCAA Division I. The University of South Carolina uses "Gamecocks" as its official nickname and mascot. While the men's teams were traditionally known as the Fighti ...

in 1955–56 and 1956–57. As a

senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...

in 1957, Wallace led the

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

(NCAA) in scoring with 31.3 points per game (ppg), which edged out future

Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame is an American history museum and hall of fame, located at 1000 Hall of Fame Avenue in Springfield, Massachusetts. It serves as basketball's most complete library, in addition to promoting and prese ...

Elgin Baylor Elgin Gay Baylor ( ; September 16, 1934 – March 22, 2021) was an American professional basketball player, coach, and executive. He played 14 seasons as a forward in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for the Minneapolis/Los Angeles Lake ...

(29.7) and

Wilt Chamberlain Wilton Norman Chamberlain (; August 21, 1936 – October 12, 1999) was an American professional basketball player who played as a Center (basketball), center. Standing at tall, he played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for 14 yea ...

(29.6). Wallace was born in Mare Creek (now called Stanville), Kentucky, the son of Rufus and Sudie (Smith) Wallace. He was raised in Betsy Layne in Floyd County and attended Betsy Layne High School from 1949 to 1953. He spent two years at Pikeville Junior College in his home state of

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

before enrolling at the University of South Carolina. In Wallace's

junior Junior or Juniors may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * ''Junior'' (Junior Mance album), 1959 * ''Junior'' (Röyksopp album), 2009 * ''Junior'' (Kaki King album), 2010 * ''Junior'' (LaFontaines album), 2019 Films * ''Junior'' (1994 ...

season of college, his first with the Gamecocks, he averaged 23.9 ppg. He scored a school record 54 points against

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

on December 21, 1956 ( John Roche would later score 56 in 1971) and owns four of the top six single-game scoring outputs in USC history. His career average of 28.0 ppg is the highest in school history, and his career rebound average of over 12 per game is the second highest. Wallace was selected by the

Boston Celtics The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. Founded in 1946 as one of t ...

in the

1957 NBA Draft The 1957 NBA draft was the 11th annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The draft was held on April 17, 1957, before the 1957–58 season. In this draft, eight NBA teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball play ...

in the fifth round (40th pick overall) but never played professionally. After college, he played two seasons with the industrial league

Phillips 66ers The Phillips 66ers (also known as the Oilers) were an amateur basketball team located in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, and sponsored and run by the Phillips Petroleum Company. The 66ers were a national phenomenon that grew from a small-town team to an ...

. He later coached at Cardinal Newman High School in South Carolina for nine seasons, leading the team to two state titles. He would later become the first men's basketball player in USC history to have his jersey number retired. Wallace died of

heart failure Heart failure (HF), also known as congestive heart failure (CHF), is a syndrome, a group of signs and symptoms caused by an impairment of the heart's blood pumping function. Symptoms typically include shortness of breath, excessive fatigue, a ...

Columbia, South Carolina Columbia is the capital of the U.S. state of South Carolina. With a population of 136,632 at the 2020 census, it is the second-largest city in South Carolina. The city serves as the county seat of Richland County, and a portion of the city ...

on August 17, 2006 at the age of 72. Survivors included his wife, Janet, children Leigh Ann and Thomas, and three grandchildren.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wallace, Grady 1934 births 2006 deaths All-American college men's basketball players American men's basketball players Basketball players from Kentucky Boston Celtics draft picks Forwards (basketball) High school basketball coaches in the United States Junior college men's basketball players in the United States People from Floyd County, Kentucky Phillips 66ers players Pikeville Bears men's basketball players South Carolina Gamecocks men's basketball players

See also

References