Aug. 20, 2008

QUEENS, N.Y. - The Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference has announced that former Red Storm shortstop Jeff Grantham, a 2008 St. John's graduate, has been named an ECAC Robbins Scholar-Athlete Award winner. The award, sponsored by the Cincinnati-based sports surfaces company, honors the outstanding academic and athletic achievements of student-athletes representing ECAC schools in Divisions I, II and III. One male and one female student-athlete from each division are selected based on extraordinary achievements in academics, athletics and community service.

Grantham helped lead the baseball team to a school-record, fourth-consecutive, 40-win season as the squad finished 42-16 and reached the NCAA Tournament for the third time in the past four seasons. A team captain, Grantham batted .343 with eight doubles, two home runs and 30 RBI in 2008. Grantham was named to the All-BIG EAST third team and had a team-best .469 on-base percentage, while also posting a .443 slugging percentage.

A physics major, Grantham posted a 3.97 GPA in his time at St. John's. In 2008, he earned first team Academic All-America honors from ESPN The Magazine for the second-straight year. Grantham is the second baseball player in St. John's history to earn first team Academic All-America honors twice (Bob Riley, 1971-72).

Grantham was selected to both the Dean's List and Athletic Director's Honor Roll in every semester and he was one of 25 senior class members of the St. John's University President's Society, the highest honor a St. John's student can receive. A frequent volunteer at the St. Nick's Men's Homeless Shelter, Grantham was also a member of the Student Athlete Advisory Committee.

Grantham is the fourth St. John's student-athlete to earn the ECAC Robbins Scholar-Athlete Award. He joins Brittany Lambertson and Luther Clement (2007) and Matt Groenwald (2005).

The awards will be presented to this year's six recipients on Sunday, Sept. 28 at the ECAC Convention Honors Dinner held at the Albany Crowne Plaza.