Perth Wildcats superstar Ricky Grace's amazing NBL career with the 'Cats will be recognised when he is inducted into the Australian Basketball Hall of Fame later this month.
Grace will become the sixth Wildcats player to enter the Australian Basketball Hall of Fame when he joins Cal Bruton, Scott Fisher, Dr Adrian Hurley, Luc Longley and Andrew Vlahov by being inducted at the dinner to be held in Melbourne on Wednesday August 18.
Over his remarkable career with the Wildcats, Grace played a club record 482 matches between 1990-2005, was part of the 'Cats first four championships in 1990, 91, 95 and 2000, won a club record six MVP Awards, and was the 1990 and 93 Grand Final MVP.
Not only that, but he became a naturalised Australian citizen and played for the Boomers at the Sydney Olympic Games in 2000.
Grace grew up in Dallas, Texas, and still gets back there as often as possible to visit his three children, but once he arrived in Perth to play with the Wildcats it immediately became the place he was likely to call home for as far into the future as he could see.
Grace arrived at the Wildcats coming off an outstanding collegiate career at the University of Oklahoma and immediately become a favourite of 'Cats fans and a superstar of not only the club and basketball, but of sport in Australia.
Immediately Grace helped lead the Wildcats to their first ever NBL championship in 1990 and he was named the Grand Final MVP. He was then a key member of the back-to-back title winning team in 1991 and claimed his first Gordon Ellis Medal as Wildcats' MVP while also being named to the NBL First Team for the first of four times.
He claimed another Grand Final MVP Medal in 1993 despite the Wildcats losing to the Melbourne Tigers. It was then onto another championship in 1995 and three straight club MVP Awards in 1997, 98 and 99 leading into the Wildcats' fourth championship in 2000.
Grace had also by that stage become a naturalised citizen and represented the Boomers at the Olympics in Sydney. His outstanding form continued right throughout until he retired at the end of the 2004/05 season as one of the all-time greats of Australian basketball.
His impact on Western Australia didn’t end there though. While still playing he started up Role Models WA to work with the youth in community.
That has now transformed into Role Models and Leaders Australia which runs programs right throughout the community and most recently includes the introduction of Girls' Academies throughout WA and into the Northern Territory at Clontarf in Perth, Broome, Bunbury, Kalgoorlie, Darwin, Jabiru and Alice Springs.
Basketball Australia chief executive Larry Sengstock was an all-time great player himself of the league and Grace won the medal named in his honour as the Grand Final MVP in 1990 and again in 93. He was in Perth to make the announcement on Wednesday and paid tribute to Grace entering the combined Australian Basketball Hall of Fame.
"What we are doing as Basketball Australia in the last 18 months is that we've reconstructed the governance and brought the NBL and the old Australian Basketball Federation together under the Basketball Australia banner. Previously we've had a Hall of Fame for Basketball Australia, for the NBL and various groups, but what we've done is consolidate all that," Sengstock said.
"This year is the first time that we will have it under one banner and today we are announcing 14 new inductees that the board has endorsed to go into the Australian Basketball Hall of Fame. The key one I want to announce is that Ricky Grace will be inducted into the Australian Basketball Hall of Fame on August 18.
"We are very proud of the achievements Ricky has made as an American coming to Australia, and his performance and contribution to our game in this country and the National Basketball League. Not only that but also as a member of our Australian basketball team in the Sydney Olympics. He's had an outstanding career and we wanted to recognise that as part of the Australian Basketball Hall of Fame and induct him on August 18."
Perth Wildcats chief executive Nick Marvin paid tribute to the career of Grace and the impact he had on West Australian and Australian basketball.
"Ricky Grace is the penultimate Perth Wildcat and until this season was the constant in all of our previous four NBL championships. His name is synonymous with success. Like Jack Bendat (owner), Scott Fisher, Cal Bruton and numerous others in our organisation he chose to call Perth home and went on to contribute in a real and meaningful way to our great state," Marvin said.
"The Perth Wildcats have acknowledged Grace's contribution of 482 games played between 1990 and 2005 by retiring his No. 15 singlet. All West Australians will be proud of this announcement and the recognition by the sport nationally of Ricky Grace's contribution on and off the court."
The other inductions into the Hall of Fame on August 18 will be:
Trish Fallon, Sandy Brondello, Shelley Gorman, Michael AhMatt, Elaine Hardwick, Karin McRobert, Julie Nykiel, Bill Wyatt, Mike Wrublewski, Sandy Blythe, Merv Emms, David Carmichael, Greg Love.
Ricky Grace's career
Born: August 20 1966 - Dallas, Texas
College: Midland College, University of Oklahoma
NBA: Atlanta Hawks, 3 games 1994
Perth Wildcats: 482 games, 1990-2005
Four NBL Championships (1990, 91, 95, 2000)
Larry Sengstock Medal winner for Grand Final MVP in 1990, 93
Club MVP six times (1991, 97, 98, 99, 2001, 02)
Club record in games played, points scored (8802), assists (3470) and steals
NBL First Team in 1991, 2001, 02, 03
NBL's 25th Anniversary Team member
Boomers representative at Sydney Olympic Games in 2000
