Ricky Ray Grace (born 20 August 1966) is an American-Australian former professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player who spent the majority of his career in the Australian National Basketball League with the

Perth Wildcats The Perth Wildcats are an Australian professional basketball team based in Perth, Western Australia. The Wildcats compete in the National Basketball League (Australia), National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games at Perth Arena, ...

Early life

Grace attended Wilmer-Hutchins High School in

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

College career

Grace played

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

Midland College Midland College (MC) is a Public college, public community college in Midland, Texas. It was established as an independent junior college in 1972 and held its first classes on campus in 1975. Since that time, the campus has expanded to a main ...

between 1984 and 1986. In 1985–86, he averaged 15.8 points and 10.7 assists per game in leading Midland to a 33–1 record. His 363 assists broke

Spud Webb Anthony Jerome "Spud" Webb (born July 13, 1963) is an American former professional basketball player. A point guard, Webb played college basketball at Midland College and at North Carolina State University. He then played for four teams in the N ...

's former school record of 355 set in 1982–83. With two years of eligibility remaining, Grace transferred to the

University of Oklahoma The University of Oklahoma (OU) is a Public university, public research university in Norman, Oklahoma, United States. Founded in 1890, it had existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two territories became the ...

in 1986 alongside future NBA player

Mookie Blaylock Daron Oshay "Mookie" Blaylock (born March 20, 1967) is an American former professional basketball player. He spent 13 years in the National Basketball Association (NBA) with the New Jersey Nets, Atlanta Hawks, and the Golden State Warriors. C ...

. He helped the

Sooners Sooners is the name given to settlers who entered the Unassigned Lands illegally in what is now the state of Oklahoma before the official start of the Land Rush of 1889. The Unassigned Lands were a part of Indian Territory that, after a lobbyi ...

reach the championship game of the

1988 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament The 1988 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament involved 64 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. The 50th annual edition of the tournament began on March ...

, where they were defeated by the

Kansas Jayhawks The Kansas Jayhawks, commonly referred to as simply KU or Kansas, are the athletic teams that represent the University of Kansas. KU is one of three schools List of college athletic programs in Kansas, in the state of Kansas that participate in ...

. He averaged 14.3 points and 7.4 assists per game in 1987–88.

Playing career

Grace was selected by the

Utah Jazz The Utah Jazz are an American professional basketball team based in Salt Lake City. The Jazz compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Division of the Western Conference. Since the 1991–92 season, the ...

in the third round (67th overall) of the

1988 NBA draft The 1988 NBA draft took place on June 28, 1988, in New York City, New York. The length was reduced from seven rounds in the previous year to three rounds. This was also the first draft for the Charlotte Hornets and Miami Heat, prior to their i ...

and went on to play for the

Topeka Sizzlers The Topeka Sizzlers, originally the Kansas City Sizzlers, were a professional basketball team based in Kansas City, Missouri from 1985 to 1986 until they relocated to Topeka, Kansas where they played from 1986 to 1990. The Sizzlers were members of ...

of the

Continental Basketball Association The Continental Basketball Association (CBA), originally known as the Eastern Pennsylvania Basketball League, and later as the Eastern Professional Basketball League and the Eastern Basketball Association, was a men's professional basketball m ...

in 1988–89. Grace joined the

of the Australian National Basketball League in 1990. He helped the Wildcats win the NBL championship in 1990 with grand final MVP honours. The team won back-to-back championships in 1991. He was also named All-NBL First Team in 1991. The Wildcats returned to the grand final in 1993, where they lost to the

Melbourne Tigers Melbourne United is an Australian professional basketball team based in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria. United compete in the National Basketball League (Australia), National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games at Joh ...

. Despite the loss, Grace was named grand final MVP for the second time. To begin the

1993–94 NBA season The 1993–94 NBA season was the 48th season of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The season ended with the Houston Rockets defeating the New York Knicks 4 games to 3 in the 1994 NBA Finals, NBA Finals to win the franchise's first champ ...

, Grace had a three-game stint with the

Atlanta Hawks The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta. The Hawks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division (NBA), Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), Easte ...

, where he was reunited with college teammate Mookie Blaylock. Perth Wildcats Champions 1995

In 1995, Grace helped the Wildcats win their third NBL championship. The Wildcats were subsequently invited to participate in the 1995

McDonald's Championship The McDonald's Championship (sometimes called the McDonald's Open) was an international men's basketball competition that featured a representative of the National Basketball Association (representing North America) against champion club teams ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. The Wildcats lost to

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

champions the

Houston Rockets The Houston Rockets are an American professional basketball team based in Houston. The Rockets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division (NBA), Southwest Division of the Western Conference (NBA) ...

before defeating

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

in their second match. In 2000, Grace helped the Wildcats win their fourth NBL championship. He was named All-NBL First Team every year between 2001 and 2003. He helped them reach the 2003 grand final series, where they lost to the

Sydney Kings The Sydney Kings are an Australian men's professional basketball team competing in the National Basketball League (Australia), National Basketball League (NBL). The team is based in Sydney, New South Wales, and play their home games at Qudos Ba ...

. That year, Grace was selected to the NBL's 25th Anniversary Team. He retired after two more seasons, with his last game coming in a loss in an elimination final against the Melbourne Tigers on 24 February 2005. In August 2010, Grace was inducted into the

Australian Basketball Hall of Fame The Australian Basketball Hall of Fame was instituted by the National Basketball League (NBL) in 1998 as the ''NBL Hall of Fame'' as part of their 20th season celebrations. The NBL initiated the Hall of Fame to recognise the outstanding players ...

. He was named to the Perth Wildcats' 30th Anniversary All-Star team and 40th Anniversary All-Star team. In July 2024, he was inducted into the Basketball WA Hall of Fame. Grace held the Wildcats' all-time games played record of 482 until November 2024, when

Jesse Wagstaff Jesse Kendall James Wagstaff (born 30 April 1986) is an Australian professional basketball player for the Perth Wildcats of the National Basketball League (Australia), National Basketball League (NBL). After playing college basketball for the M ...

broke the record.

National team

In late 1994, Grace became

naturalised Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-national of a country acquires the nationality of that country after birth. The definition of naturalization by the International Organization for Migration of the ...

as an Australian citizen and in March 1995 made his international debut when he was selected for the Australian Boomers in their five-game series against the touring

Magic Johnson Earvin "Magic" Johnson Jr. (born August 14, 1959) is an American businessman and former professional basketball player. Often regarded as the greatest point guard of all time, Johnson List of NBA players who have spent their entire career w ...

All-Stars. Grace played for the Australian Boomers at the Sydney Olympic Games in

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

Post playing career

Grace was previously the

director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...

for the Role Models WA organisation. Role Models WA offers sport and development programs for indigenous communities in

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

. Other role models that work alongside Grace include numerous football players from the Fremantle Dockers and

West Coast Eagles The West Coast Eagles are a professional Australian rules football club based in Perth, Western Australia. The club was founded in 1986 and first competed in 1987 as one of two expansion teams in the Australian Football League (AFL), then known ...

including Chris Lewis, David Wirrpanda,

Des Headland Desmond John Headland, Jr (born 21 January 1981) is a retired Australian rules footballer, Following on from his AFL career he continued on finishing his playing career for Subiaco in the West Australian Football League. He was also a former c ...

and Daniel Kerr. Grace coached the

Curtin University Curtin University (previously Curtin University of Technology and Western Australian Institute of Technology) is an Australian public university, public research university based in Bentley, Western Australia, Bentley, Perth, Western Australia. ...

men's team in the University Basketball League (UBL) in 2022 and 2023, returning again in 2024.

Oklahoma Sooners team records

* First in three-point field goal percentage in a season - 1986/87 (.441) * First in assists in a season - 1987/88 (280) * Equal First in steals in an NCAA Tournament game - vs Iowa, 20 March 1987 (7)

Perth Wildcats team records

* First in points (8802) * First in assists (3470) * First in steals (734)

NBL records

* First in assists per game in 2003 (8.0/27 games) * First in assists per game in 2004 (7.3/23 games)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Grace, Ricky 1966 births Living people American emigrants to Australia American expatriate basketball people in Australia American men's basketball players Atlanta Hawks players Australian men's basketball players Basketball players at the 2000 Summer Olympics Basketball players from Dallas Members of the Order of Australia Midland Chaps basketball players Oklahoma Sooners men's basketball players Olympic basketball players for Australia Perth Wildcats players Point guards Topeka Sizzlers players Utah Jazz draft picks United States Basketball League players Naturalised basketball players 20th-century American sportsmen 20th-century Australian sportsmen