Courtesy of GSU Athletic Communications
Former Grambling State University women’s basketball standout Mary Currie has been announced as a 2023 inductee into the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) Hall of Fame.
The hall of fame ceremony is set on Friday, December 15th, 2023. The enshrinement ceremony is slated to begin at 7:00 p.m. EST at the Omni Hotel in Atlanta, Georgia.
Currie was an integral part of the Grambling State women’s basketball team from 1983-87. She finished her career at Grambling with 2,256 points and 906 rebounds, averaging 20.7 points per game and 8.3 rebounds per game over four seasons.
A prolific shooter, Currie once scored 52 points in a single game for Grambling State. She would become the first female player to score more than 2,000 points in a career at GSU, averaging 51.9 percent from the field and 74.8 percent from the free throw line.
Currie received several athletic honors during her stellar career including two all-tournament awards, All-SWAC and SWAC Player of the Week honors, and the team’s Most Valuable Player award. She also led the SWAC in rebounding. As a senior, she was named to the Black College Sports Information Directors Association first-Team All-American.
Currie was not only an outstanding basketball player, but also an exceptional student. She majored in computer science, maintained a 3.5 GPA, and received an academic award for her work in the classroom.
During the summers, Currie interned with IBM, in New Mexico, Irving, Texas, and Minneapolis, Minnesota. After graduating from Grambling State University in May 1987 she accepted a job with General Dynamics in Fort Worth, Texas and in 1990 she accepted a job with Unisys.
Currie was a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. and was just 12 hours away from completing her MBA at Texas Southern University. Sadly, she passed at the age 34 after a battle with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease.
She was also the first women’s basketball player in school history to have her jersey retired.
The newest members of the SWAC Hall of Fame were chosen from a list of nominees who were submitted by their respective institutions and selected by the SWAC Hall of Fame Selection Committee.
Full 2023 SWAC Hall of Fame Class
Mary Currie (Grambling State)
Ashley Ambrose (Mississippi Valley State)
Issiac Holt (Alcorn State)
Charles McClelland Sr (Alcorn State)
Gloster Van Richardson (Jackson State)
Eddie Davis (Prairie Vie A&M/Texas Southern)
