Maureen Lynch, Superintendent
115 Amesbury Line Road
Haverhill, MA 01830
For Immediate Release
Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2019
Contact: Kelsey Bode
Phone: 617-993-0003
Email: kelsey@jgpr.net
Whittier Tech Girls Basketball Star Awarded Full Scholarship to Providence College
HAVERHILL — Superintendent Maureen Lynch and the Whittier Tech community wish to congratulate one of their girl’s basketball players, who has been awarded a full scholarship to attend Providence College next fall.
This morning, Whittier Tech 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 on Wednesday morning at a signing event in Whittier Tech’s 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 Whittier’s 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.”
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.
Her GPA is 3.58.
“I’ll never forget the day their coach pulled me aside and said they were considering offer her a scholarship,” Coach Bradley said. “She was only a sophomore so they could not approach her yet.”
Efosa tore her ACL during a summer league game before her junior year, and was unable to participate in Whittier Tech’s basketball season last year. This school year, however, she is healthy and eager to return to the 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. 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,” Efosa said.
Efosa’s 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.
She studies Culinary Arts at Whittier.
“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.”
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