Recognition: JJ Grant

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The Snow College Athletic Department and Alumni Association are proud to introduce a celebration of the rich athletic legacies of former student-athletes who have helped bring recognition, honor, distinction, and excellence to Snow College. The Snow College Athletic Hall of Fame is established to honor, pay tribute to, and perpetuate the legacy of former athletes, coaches, teams, and supporters who, either through participation, devotion and/or interest, have made outstanding contributions to intercollegiate athletics.
Nearly a century of Badger athletic history has been reviewed by a committee of faculty, staff, alumni, and community members. They have reviewed the accomplishments of hundreds of athletes who have proudly worn Snow College uniforms. The committee’s vital task was to identify deserving athletes who will be recognized in the inaugural group of the Snow College Athletic Hall of Fame. The first induction class recognizes 19 individuals and one team, representing excellence from nine sports and every decade of Badger athletics.
J.J. is from Castle Dale, and played forward and center for Snow College. He started at forward and would play the post when needed. While at Snow, J.J. played 61 out of 64 games in his two years. He scored 15.3 points per game while shooting the ball efficiently at 57.8 percent, and he was also a decent free throw shooter, shooting 70 percent from the stripe. While J.J. played on the basketball team here at Snow, the team posted an impressive two-year record of 44-18.
J.J. will be inducted into the hall of fame on Oct 11. His children, Robert Grant and Cheryl Maughan will represent J.J. at the award presentation. Robert is also a graduate of Snow College.
J.J. played Forward and Center for Snow College. He started at forward and would play the post when needed. He had several moves in the post and could go outside and hit the 15 to 20 foot jump shot. He could score from the field and from the free throw line and many times led the team in rebounds per game. In 1970-71 and 1971-72 each year qualified for the Region I (Utah, Colorado, Nevada, and Eastern California) NJCAA Tournament.
The 1971-72 Snow College basketball team started with a 30 day pre-season tour to “Old” Mexico during the summer of 1971 to compete against 11 of Mexico’s best major universities. The tour proved to be very educational both culturally and socially along with the experience of playing International Rules Basketball. J.J. contributed to winning seven of the 12 games played during the tour of Mexico.
Second year at Snow College was all region basketball for NJCAA region one. He was recruited to Wake Forest University. Because of severe ankle injury at Wake Forest he was sidelined most of the pre and early season but still ended up playing games during the season. When he left Wake Forest for personal reasons he got a call from Coach Harkins of Eastern Montana College asking him to play for his last year of eligibility.
Personal statement from JJ: “I had an opportunity to travel extensively due to my basketball skills. In September of 1971 while playing ball at Snow Junior College I had the opportunity to spend threeweeks touring the country of Mexico. We traveled from Ephraim south to Mexico City and then returned home. While attending E.M.C. in 1974, September through October, I was given a chance to travel to Europe. We played ball in Italy, Yugoslavia, Turkey, and Spain.”
He graduated from Snow College in 1972, attended Wake Forest University from 1972-1972, graduated from Eastern Montana College in 1976 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Health, Physical Education and Heath, graduated with honors (3.85 GPA,) member Phi Kappa Phi from University of Utah in June 1991.
JJ married Cynthia (Graham) Grant from Manti, Utah. Their children are Robert, Stephen, Geoffrey, Kenneth, Eric, Cheryl.
J.J. is a 1970 graduate from Emery High and is a long time educator in Emery County. He taught at Green River High from 1978-1981. He taught at San Rafael Junior High from 1981-1991 and served as principal from 1991-1997. He was the Supervisor of Secondary Education, Emery County School District from 1997-2008. J.J. is currently the Executive Director of the Southeast Education Service Center.