FMU’s Grayson Named Finalist for McLendon Scholarship

FLORENCE, S.C. – Former Francis Marion University women’s basketball player Rita Grayson has been named one of 10 finalists for the 2008-09 John McLendon Postgraduate Scholarships.

The five scholarship recipients will be announced in October,

In addition to Grayson, the other nine finalists are Keenan Blalark (Northern Illinois), Alejandra Diaz-Calderon (Notre Dame), Hiroki Kosugi (Slippery Rock), Jenna Mape (Buffalo), Keunta Miles (North Florida), Araceli Ortiz (Stanford), Carl Pendleton II (Oklahoma), Jasmine Rogers (Delaware State), and Lakesha Tolliver (South Carolina).

The winners will each receive a $10,000 grant to be used towards postgraduate studies in athletics administration. Funding for the scholarship program has been provided in part by the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA); the Cleveland Cavaliers; Major League Baseball (MLB); the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC); the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA); the National Basketball Association (NBA); the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA); and Sears, Roebuck and Co.

Minorities who intend to pursue a postgraduate degree in athletics administration are eligible for these scholarships. Students were required to have a minimum grade point average of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale and have demonstrated leadership qualities on an institutional or community level.

John McLendon, a member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, served as one of basketball’s leading ambassadors for more than 60 years.

Grayson, a native of New Orleans, La., transferred to FMU for her senior year from the State University of West Georgia. This past year, the 5-10 forward appeared in all 30 games, starting eight times, and averaged 12.8 minutes, 4.2 points, 2.6 rebounds, 0.6 assists, and 0.6 steals per game. She connected on 34.3 percent of her field goal attempts and 75.0 percent of her free throws.

She helped lead Francis Marion to the eighth-biggest single-season turn-around in NCAA Division II history. A year removed from a 6-22 campaign, the Patriots were 21-9, shared the Peach Belt Conference regular-season championship, and earned a bid to the NCAA Division II national tournament.

In April this year, Grayson was selected to participate in the sixth-annual Nike So You Want To Be A Coach program in Tampa Bay, Fla. That program was held in conjunction with the WBCA National Convention and the Division I Final Four in Tampa Bay.

Grayson is a product of John Ehret High School, where she was an All-District performer.