Basketball player set her goals, and earned a full scholarship to Providence College
We congratulate one of our girl's basketball players, who has been awarded a full scholarship to attend Providence College next fall.
Yesterday morning, senior Grace Efosa accepted a four-year basketball scholarship to Providence College, a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division 1 school that is awarding only two full scholarships this year.
“It’s still unbelievable that I got a scholarship for Division 1, especially since I haven’t played for that long,” Efosa said. “It’s a great feeling.”
Efosa signed her acceptance letter yesterday morning at a signing event in the gymnasium, while sitting at a scoreboard table in front of a crowd of her peers. Sitting beside her was her mom, Esosa Omorodion, brothers Angel, 11, Yuki, 15, Junior, 16, and sister Ebe, 12. After signing, Efosa flipped a Providence College banner over the scoreboard and put a Providence College cap on her head.
“That’s like hitting the lottery,” said Athletic Director and Girl's Basketball Coach Kevin Bradley. “It’s the hard work she put in with her academics, and the summers she spent playing Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) ball up and down the East Coast and in Las Vegas against the best players in the country.” Her GPA is 3.58.
A coach from Providence College first noticed Grace, a point guard, during a game her sophomore year when she scored 42 points, had 12 rebounds and 11 assists.
“I’ll never forget the day their coach pulled me aside and said they were considering offering her a scholarship,” Coach Bradley said. “She was only a sophomore so they could not approach her yet.”
Grace , who studies Culinary Arts, tore her ACL during a summer league game before her junior year, and was unable to participate in last year’s basketball season. This school year, however, she has played on the volleyball team and is healthy and eager to return to the basketball court.
She first handled a basketball in seventh grade, where she mostly sat on the bench as a player for Consentino Middle School in Haverhill. In eighth grade, she improved her skills on defense but still did not play often in games, she said. Heading into high school, she knew she wanted to make the varsity team, and she set some goals for herself.
She spent the summer playing basketball everyday at a park near her aunt’s home in Bradford with her brother Yuki, 15, sometimes helping with rebounds.
“I made a goal to get a Division 1 scholarship and score 20 more points a game,” Grace said.
Her game average is 23 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists. Her strengths as a player include creating space to sink an outside shot, sharing the ball and getting to the boards for rebounds.
“You’ll see her on ESPN Sports Center and NECN,” Coach Bradley said. “She’ll be playing at Madison Square Garden. This truly is a historic moment for all of us.”
