GRACE SELECTED FOR INDUCTION TO USF ATHLETIC HALL OF FAME

BY C.S. HOWARD

Shantia Grace has been selected for induction in the University of South Florida’s Athletic Hall of Fame for women’s basketball. She was selected along with Sara Nevins, softball, and George Silvie, football. The 2019 Hall of Fame induction ceremony will take place on Friday, Nov. 15 at the Marshall Student Center on the USF campus. Grace was a basketball standout at Riverview High School where she was the school’s career scoring leader – boys and girls – with 2,446. She was named most valuable player each year and was rated as one of the top 75 players in the country following her senior year. She graduated from Riverview in 2005 and went on to USF where she was the Bulls’ career assists leader and No. 2 all-time scorer, helping guide the Bulls to their first NCAA Tournament appearance. She averaged 10.4 points and a teambest 5.0 assists. She was also named All-Big East three times in her career, earning first-team honors as a senior in 2009. Her 610 career assists are nearly 200 more than any other Bull, and her 1,941 points are second only to one other player. She went on to earn a bachelors degree in Communications from USF and played a stint in Poland for professional basketball. Grace is the third student-athlete from the women’s basketball program to be inducted to the Hall of Fame, joining Wanda Guyton (Class of 2009) and Jessica Dickson (Class of 2012). She was a three-time All-BIG EAST selection who earned firstteam honors during the 2008-09 season. She was named the most valuable player of the 2009 WNIT after leading the Bulls to the championship title. The guard led USF in assists for four straight seasons and in scoring for two seasons while setting program career records for assists (610) and starts (129). Grace stands third all-time in scoring (1,941), seventh in steals (194), fifth in three-point percentage (.356) and third in games played (132) at USF. She went on to play professionally in Poland. The USF Athletic Hall of Fame, which inducted its first class in 2009, currently has 22 individuals and one team among its honored members of outstanding contributors to Bulls athletics. The 2019 class will be the first to be inducted to the Hall of Fame since 2013. The first USF Athletic Hall of Fame class was inducted in 2009.