Grant Wallace Named Male Athlete of the Winter

John Burroughs senior Grant Wallace broke the school scoring record this season and was named the Basketball Player of the Year in the ABC Conference.

Not bad for an athlete who will be playing football in college.

"Throughout my life I have played a lot more basketball than I have football," said Wallace, who was selected as the Ladue-Frontenac Patch male athlete of the winter season. "I started basketball at six and traveled a lot with my AAU team. If I had to pick one sport as my favorite, it would probably be basketball. I am more comfortable playing the game."

But Wallace became one of the top wide receivers in the area and will play football at Yale University, where has father was a running back. Bob Wallace was the executive vice-president of the St. Louis Rams.

It did not take long for Grant Wallace to make his impact as a high school basketball player.

"I remember that he hit a game-winning shot in his third game of his freshman season," Bomber coach Steve Wilcutt said. "He is a guy who is not afraid to fail and we wants the ball at the end of a game. He is as good of a gamer and competitor as I have ever been around."

And that is saying a lot as Wilcutt is in her 23rd year at Burroughs after spending seven years at DeSmet.

"I remember that winning shot as a freshman," Wallace said. "It came in a tie game against Ladue. Wanting the ball in a situtation like that has always been a part of me. Those are the kinds of shots that you will always remember. I know I had another one late in my freshman season and another one when I was a sophomore."

Wallace became a starter on the basketball team during his freshman season and was a go-to player the rest of the way.

He finished second in the voting for Player of the Year in the conference as a sophomore and junior and won it this year.

"It means a lot to be named Player of the Year, especially since I was close the last couple of years," Wallace said. "It really feels good to be able to win Player of the Year in both football and basketball in my senior year."

Wallace was a model of consistency in his senior season. He scored in double figures in 23 of his team's 25 games and had eight points in the other two games. He shot 52.9 percent from the field, 72.6 percent from the line and averaged 19.5 points per game, with a season high 35 in a win over Parkway Central in the Chaminade Tournament. He also led the Bombers in assists and was second in steals.

"Grant was always gifted with quickness," Wilcutt said. "But he made himself a shooter as well with a lot of hard work and that made him a tough guy to guard."

Wallace scored 21 points against Whitfield in districts in his final game as a high school player. That gave him 1,594 points for his career. That broke Chip Walther's previous record of 1,588 points.

"I knew that I was close to the record with about six games left but I did not know the exact number or that I had broken the record when I did," Wallace said.

It is just another of many athletic achievements for the two-sport star who will be long remembered at John Burroughs.