May 8, 2000

University of Memphis basketball coach John Calipari announced Monday the Tigers have signed Shelby State Community College forward John Grice to a national letter of intent.

Grice (6-6, 205) averaged 17 points and 8.1 rebounds and was named first-team All-American by the National Junior College Athletic Association as a sophomore. He helped lead Shelby State to a 31-5 record, an NJCAA Division 7 Regional Championship and a third-place finish at the NJCAA national tournament.

In the third-place game of the NJCAA tournament, Grice scored 41 points, knocking down 6-of-10 three-pointers to go with 15 rebounds as Shelby State came back from a nine-point halftime deficit to defeat Kankakee Community College 119-111 in double overtime. Grice was named to the NJCAA all-tournament team after averaging 25 points in four games.

He was a third-team All-America pick as a freshman, averaging 24 points an outing at Shelby State.

Grice, who prepped at Central High School in Memphis, is the Tigers' fifth signee this year and third of the spring signing period.

Grice joins high school seniors Arthur Barclay and Modibo Diarra who signed with the U of M last month along with Scooter McFadgon and Lou Wright who signed with the Tigers during the early signing period in November. Barclay prepped at Camden, N.J., High School while Diarra signed with the Tigers out of Notre Dame Prep School in Fitchburg, Mass. McFadgon and Wright were high school teammates at Memphis's Raleigh-Egypt High School.