1995 HALL OF FAME INDUCTEE | PERCY GRANT
Percy Grant of Soddy-Daisy, Tennessee, will be inducted into the Milligan College Athletics Hall of Fame on October 28. The hall of fame was established several years ago to honor outstanding athletes, coaches, and other significant participants in the athletics program of Milligan College.
Raised on Mowbray Mountain in Hamilton County, Tennessee, Grant played championship basketball in high school, often walking long miles home in the dark following practice. He arrived on the Milligan campus in the fall of 1931, following in the footsteps of brothers Jake and Archie who "helped bring Milligan basketball to its place on the map."
Grant played varsity basketball all four years, was team captain his junior and senior years, and was listed on the All Smoky Mountain Conference team in 1933 and 1934.
Acknowledging his skills and interest, Coach Clement Eyler assigned Grant the job of teaching physical education to the male students during his sophomore year. The Johnson City Chronicle of 1934-35 praised Grant's talent and reported on the victorious wins over Carson-Newman College and State Teachers College (now East Tennessee State University).
Following graduation in 1935, Percy coached basketball, football and baseball for two years in Portland, Tennessee. His teams broke long standing records. While there, he also played on two independent teams and was invited to play in a tournament on the Carter Shoe Company winning team in Nashville.
In 1937, Grant returned to Hamilton County as assistant football and basketball coach for a year at Tyner and then moved on to coach at Soddy-Daisy High School. Next, he became principal at Daisy Grammar and Junior High School where he served for 10 years. During this time he played with independent basketball teams, one in Ooltewah and one in Daisy, which he founded. He was 50 years old when he played his last full game of basketball.
Grant left Daisy School to become principal at the Gann's-Middle Valley Grammar School where he retired after 21 years. While there he organized intramural teams and encouraged other local schools to do likewise. The new library at the school is named in his honor.
In the community, Grant was director of the Orange Grove Camp for disabled children at the Double G Ranch for 10 years, teaching them to play ball and swim. He has remained active in professional circles, maintaining membership in the Retired Teachers Association and the Hamilton County Retired Principals Association.
Grant has been a member of the Daisy United Methodist Church for 57 years. He teaches a men's Sunday School class, sings in the choir and is chairman of the Administrative Board. He is active in a variety of programs at the church.
Grant and his wife, Myrtle Burns, have four children, Beth, Elsie, Charles and Edwin.