GrantFanTT
08-04-2002, 05:29 PM
This Is an article someone found on The LR Message Board. This Girl is one of the reasons I fill Tech is going to win the Big 12. She doesn't look like much but she sure can play. She see's the court and makes her teamates look good. I fill she will be FOY this year in the conference if not Nation. She has a refuse to lose attitude. I have watched her play games were she carried her team on her back to a victory. I am excited to see what she is going to accomplish this year and then the years to follow that. Watch out for her she is fast and quick even though she doesn't seem like she may be a scoring threat She all ways is the one to step up when the team is down and hit the big shots. Watch her this upcoming season you are in for a GREAT Suprise. as someone said at the Texas Tech board DINAMITE COMES IN SMALL PACKAGES!
Point guard Grant directs another Mansfield title run
Four-year starter contributes in way that transcends numbers
02/19/2002
By RACHEL COHEN / The Dallas Morning News
ARLINGTON – The little boy couldn't believe it.
"You let a girl beat you?" he grilled another boy who had lost in a game of one-on-one basketball. "That shouldn't be."
Mansfield (30-3) vs. Euless Trinity (32-4): 7 p.m., at Arlington Lamar
So he decided he would have to restore his gender's pride. At least he thought so, until the girl beat him, too.
Then he had a new take on the matter: "She's just good. There was nothing I could do."
Texas girls basketball players take heart: You're not the only ones to lose to Erin Grant, Mansfield's star senior point guard.
Erin was 10 when she humbled those boys before a church league game in Dallas. Her father, Eric, proudly recalls that day, along with many other basketball feats.
The ages change, but the stories remain the same. Eight-year-old Erin hitting a game-winning jumper in a YMCA game. Fourteen-year-old Erin scoring 25 points to beat the nation's top-ranked high school team.
Now can 17-year-old Erin lead Mansfield to a fourth straight state championship?
The next hurdle comes Tuesday night, when No. 1 Mansfield (30-3) faces No. 6 Euless Trinity (32-4) in a regional quarterfinal between two state-ranked teams.
To understand why Erin can, why she was The News' player of the year last season and why Texas Tech signed her, look past the usual basketball numbers – the height (5-8), the points per game (12.0). Squint and try to discern that power called instinct.
"She has a feel for the game you can't actually teach," Eric said
Did that instinct come from being around the game her whole life? Or does that instinct explain why she's been good her whole life?
Answering that is like trying to decide who deserves credit for the two points when Erin whips a no-look pass to a teammate for an easy lay-up.
For sure, the Grants are a basketball family. Eric, a church administrator, played college ball at Western Texas College and Trinity University. Wife Rynae, a school librarian, was a volleyball player, but both her parents played basketball. Isaac, 14, is a guard on the Mansfield freshman team.
The Grants used to play guys vs. girls games in the backyard – usually won by the girls, Erin said.
A natural
Eric once encouraged Erin to play tennis, but she didn't want anything to do with it. Basketball was her game.
"That didn't make us mad at all," Eric said with a laugh.
As a child, Erin probably saw more basketball in a week than some scouts.
Start with all the games on TV. Eric says that even when Erin was 3, she could sit still on the couch and take in a sporting event.
And don't forget all the games she saw in person. If there was a great high school holiday tournament, the Grants were there.
Erin remembers all the thrilling games at the West Side Lions boys tournament in Fort Worth. She recalls watching future Tennessee star Tamika Catchings at the Sandra Meadows SWAAU girls tournament in Duncanville.
But the player she watched the most was Dad. Eric would play three or four games a week in church and recreation leagues. She almost always tagged along.
Every timeout, every halftime, she and Isaac raced onto the court to shoot baskets.
Erin took the court at other times as well. Eric's team huddles would include a bunch of grown men – and one little girl. Erin was about 6 or 7, Eric said, "and she pops up right in the middle of it like she's part of the team."
Erin soon became part of her own teams. She almost always played up an age group. She was almost always the littlest player on the court.
But always one of the best.
Mansfield sophomore Joslyn Greenard, now a high school teammate, remembers playing with Erin in a YMCA youth league.
"Even back then," Greenard said, "she was the team captain and everyone looked up to her on the court."
One difference, though. These days, Erin is a pure point guard, a pass-first, shoot-second type who reserves her scoring for crucial moments.
But back then, Erin said, "I shot the ball all the time."
"I can't believe it," Mansfield coach Samantha Morrow responded.
But it's true. Erin had her reasons.
Most 10-year-olds in YMCA leagues don't expect to see no-look passes sailing their way. Not until Erin started playing AAU ball at age 12 did the shooter become the passer.
Future star
In the meantime, her basketball reputation spread. Morrow first heard about Erin from a parent who told her she needed to check out this fifth-grader at Cross Timbers Intermediate School. "Oh, right," the coach thought.
Still, Morrow headed to the school one day to catch a pickup game. The only girl in the gym was wearing baggy beige shorts and didn't really stand out.
"Until I saw her with the ball in her hands," Morrow said.
Morrow started thinking about a season four years in the future. Erin made fans think that way, too.
"I remember people saying, 'Just wait till you get that Erin Grant as y'all's point guard,' " said Brie Madden, a former standout center at Mansfield who was a year ahead of Grant.
Erin attended her first girls state tournament in Austin as an eighth-grader. Rynae reminded Erin, "That's when you said, 'We'll be on that floor next year.' "
She was right. Erin started at point guard as a freshman. Mansfield went 38-0 and won the Class 5A state championship.
She played like she'd been playing forever. In a way, she had been.
And she kept on playing the same way. Erin's record as a starter is 140-6. She didn't lose a district game in high school.
That's not surprising considering her early success. Or is it? The athletic world is littered with former prodigies who peaked too soon.
"It's kind of sad," Morrow said. "All their life, they're the superstar. But then everyone else grows and improves, and they're still a 5-7 post."
So what's different about Erin? Her competitiveness for starters, Morrow said.
The same fiery gaze that Erin takes onto the court appears when she plays Ping-Pong against her brother, Eric said.
Erin the player may be intense, but Erin the teenager is goofy. That's the word used by both Mansfield teammate Ashley Purgason, a fellow senior, and longtime friend Ebony Jackson, an Arlington Sam Houston guard and AAU teammate.
Erin loves to sing along with the radio, Jackson said. But ...
"She should stick to basketball."
That shouldn't be a problem for Erin Grant.
Point guard Grant directs another Mansfield title run
Four-year starter contributes in way that transcends numbers
02/19/2002
By RACHEL COHEN / The Dallas Morning News
ARLINGTON – The little boy couldn't believe it.
"You let a girl beat you?" he grilled another boy who had lost in a game of one-on-one basketball. "That shouldn't be."
Mansfield (30-3) vs. Euless Trinity (32-4): 7 p.m., at Arlington Lamar
So he decided he would have to restore his gender's pride. At least he thought so, until the girl beat him, too.
Then he had a new take on the matter: "She's just good. There was nothing I could do."
Texas girls basketball players take heart: You're not the only ones to lose to Erin Grant, Mansfield's star senior point guard.
Erin was 10 when she humbled those boys before a church league game in Dallas. Her father, Eric, proudly recalls that day, along with many other basketball feats.
The ages change, but the stories remain the same. Eight-year-old Erin hitting a game-winning jumper in a YMCA game. Fourteen-year-old Erin scoring 25 points to beat the nation's top-ranked high school team.
Now can 17-year-old Erin lead Mansfield to a fourth straight state championship?
The next hurdle comes Tuesday night, when No. 1 Mansfield (30-3) faces No. 6 Euless Trinity (32-4) in a regional quarterfinal between two state-ranked teams.
To understand why Erin can, why she was The News' player of the year last season and why Texas Tech signed her, look past the usual basketball numbers – the height (5-8), the points per game (12.0). Squint and try to discern that power called instinct.
"She has a feel for the game you can't actually teach," Eric said
Did that instinct come from being around the game her whole life? Or does that instinct explain why she's been good her whole life?
Answering that is like trying to decide who deserves credit for the two points when Erin whips a no-look pass to a teammate for an easy lay-up.
For sure, the Grants are a basketball family. Eric, a church administrator, played college ball at Western Texas College and Trinity University. Wife Rynae, a school librarian, was a volleyball player, but both her parents played basketball. Isaac, 14, is a guard on the Mansfield freshman team.
The Grants used to play guys vs. girls games in the backyard – usually won by the girls, Erin said.
A natural
Eric once encouraged Erin to play tennis, but she didn't want anything to do with it. Basketball was her game.
"That didn't make us mad at all," Eric said with a laugh.
As a child, Erin probably saw more basketball in a week than some scouts.
Start with all the games on TV. Eric says that even when Erin was 3, she could sit still on the couch and take in a sporting event.
And don't forget all the games she saw in person. If there was a great high school holiday tournament, the Grants were there.
Erin remembers all the thrilling games at the West Side Lions boys tournament in Fort Worth. She recalls watching future Tennessee star Tamika Catchings at the Sandra Meadows SWAAU girls tournament in Duncanville.
But the player she watched the most was Dad. Eric would play three or four games a week in church and recreation leagues. She almost always tagged along.
Every timeout, every halftime, she and Isaac raced onto the court to shoot baskets.
Erin took the court at other times as well. Eric's team huddles would include a bunch of grown men – and one little girl. Erin was about 6 or 7, Eric said, "and she pops up right in the middle of it like she's part of the team."
Erin soon became part of her own teams. She almost always played up an age group. She was almost always the littlest player on the court.
But always one of the best.
Mansfield sophomore Joslyn Greenard, now a high school teammate, remembers playing with Erin in a YMCA youth league.
"Even back then," Greenard said, "she was the team captain and everyone looked up to her on the court."
One difference, though. These days, Erin is a pure point guard, a pass-first, shoot-second type who reserves her scoring for crucial moments.
But back then, Erin said, "I shot the ball all the time."
"I can't believe it," Mansfield coach Samantha Morrow responded.
But it's true. Erin had her reasons.
Most 10-year-olds in YMCA leagues don't expect to see no-look passes sailing their way. Not until Erin started playing AAU ball at age 12 did the shooter become the passer.
Future star
In the meantime, her basketball reputation spread. Morrow first heard about Erin from a parent who told her she needed to check out this fifth-grader at Cross Timbers Intermediate School. "Oh, right," the coach thought.
Still, Morrow headed to the school one day to catch a pickup game. The only girl in the gym was wearing baggy beige shorts and didn't really stand out.
"Until I saw her with the ball in her hands," Morrow said.
Morrow started thinking about a season four years in the future. Erin made fans think that way, too.
"I remember people saying, 'Just wait till you get that Erin Grant as y'all's point guard,' " said Brie Madden, a former standout center at Mansfield who was a year ahead of Grant.
Erin attended her first girls state tournament in Austin as an eighth-grader. Rynae reminded Erin, "That's when you said, 'We'll be on that floor next year.' "
She was right. Erin started at point guard as a freshman. Mansfield went 38-0 and won the Class 5A state championship.
She played like she'd been playing forever. In a way, she had been.
And she kept on playing the same way. Erin's record as a starter is 140-6. She didn't lose a district game in high school.
That's not surprising considering her early success. Or is it? The athletic world is littered with former prodigies who peaked too soon.
"It's kind of sad," Morrow said. "All their life, they're the superstar. But then everyone else grows and improves, and they're still a 5-7 post."
So what's different about Erin? Her competitiveness for starters, Morrow said.
The same fiery gaze that Erin takes onto the court appears when she plays Ping-Pong against her brother, Eric said.
Erin the player may be intense, but Erin the teenager is goofy. That's the word used by both Mansfield teammate Ashley Purgason, a fellow senior, and longtime friend Ebony Jackson, an Arlington Sam Houston guard and AAU teammate.
Erin loves to sing along with the radio, Jackson said. But ...
"She should stick to basketball."
That shouldn't be a problem for Erin Grant.