Add Richie Grant to the list of players who will have a larger contingent of family in the stands this Saturday when UCF travels to Tulane.
Grant, who graduated from Fort Walton Beach's Choctawhatchee High School in Florida's panhandle, originally hails from Lumberton, Miss., which is about 20 minutes outside of Hattiesburg. It's only a 90-minute drive from there to New Orleans.
"It's a small, small town," Grant said. "I don't think it's on the map. I'm helping to put it on the map. That's what I like to say."
Grant grew up in Lumberton until the age of nine and then his grandmother moved the family to Florida.
"I always say I'm Mississippi born and Florida raised," Grant said. "I want to let people know that I was born in Mississippi. Half of my family is in Mississippi, but we moved to Florida for better opportunities."
He's expecting perhaps 15 members of his extended family that will see him play live for the first time. It's been a competitive player-guest ticket market as teammates Nate Evans and Brendon Hayes, both of whom are from New Orleans, have also been looking to fill large numbers of ticket requests from friends and family.
Grant recognizes how important this game is for Evans and Hayes being they'll be playing in their hometown. Both seniors, Grant says their impact has been immeasurable.
"You've seen them play on Saturdays?," Grant said. "Those boys are dogs. They're all over the field. You hear somebody announce names and it's one of those two more often than not. Just big impacts as far as getting to the ball and having a nose for the football."
