Grady Wallace

Who was Grady Wallace?

Grady A. Wallace was an All-American basketball player for the South Carolina Gamecocks in 1955–56 and 1956–57. As a senior in 1957, Wallace led the National Collegiate Athletic Association scoring at 31.3 points per game, which edged out future Naismith Basketball Hall of Famers Elgin Baylor and Wilt Chamberlain for the scoring title. Prior to attending the University of South Carolina, Wallace spent two years at Pikeville Junior College in his home state of Kentucky. Born in Mare Creek and raised in Betsy Layne in Floyd County, Wallace attended Betsy Layne High School from 1949 to 1953.

In Wallace's junior season of college, his first with the Gamecocks, he averaged 23.9 points per game . When he then led the nation in scoring as a senior, he did so without the benefit of a three-point line because that rule had not yet been implemented in basketball. He scored a then-school record 54 points against Georgia on December 21, 1956 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.