Grayson Flittner

Grayson Ross Flittner is an Indiana born basketball player who plays shooting guard for Gardner-Webb University.
Brought up in a state known for basketball, he enjoyed an outstanding high school career, but garnered very little attention from college recruiters.

Biography

Flittner played his high school basketball for Tri-Central High School in Sharpsville, IN. He is currently the 13th All-Time Leading scorer in the history of Indiana High School basketball and was 1 of 5 selcected to the (AP) Indiana All-State First team in 2006 along with Luke Harangody (Notre Dame), Greg Oden (Ohio State), Eric Gordon (Indiana University), and Mike Conley Jr.(Ohio State) He lead the entire state of Indiana in scoring in 2006 with 29.3 points a game. He played AAU basketball for Spiece Indy Heat and was teammates with Greg Oden and Mike Conley Jr. After getting only one Division 1 scholarship offer, from Eastern Illinois, Flittner decided to walk-on at Gardner-Webb University. After earning a starting spot mid way through his freshman season at Gardner-Webb, he was offered a full scholarship. In his sophomore year Grayson started all 32 games and averaged 15.3 pts/game, 3.8 assist/game, and connected on an Atlantic Sun Conference single season record tying 107 three pointers.

Career
Flittner was recognized on a national level in 2007 when Gardner-Webb upset the University of Kentucky at storied Rupp Arena. Flittner was selected 2K Player of the Game by ESPNU after scoring 22 points and dishing out 5 assist against the the all-time winningest program in NCAA history. Grayson was #1 on ESPN SportsCenter's Top 10 plays the following morning for his acrobatic lay up off the top of the backboard. He was featured again later in the year on ESPN when he was chosen "Big Man on Campus" by the show College Game Night for his 34 points and 9 three pointers vs East Tennessee State University.

High School Career

Grayson Flittner was a 4 year starter at Tri-Central High School. While there, Flittner lead his team to 4 sectional championships, 2 Regional Championships, 1 Semi-State Championship, and a State Runner-up. Flittner's Junior season he lead Tri-Central High to an undefeated regular season alongside 2 other Division 1 recruits, Kurt Cunningham (Boise State) and Dusty Driggs (New Orelans). Flittner received Kokomo All-Area honors all 4 years and is one of only 3 people in the history of the Kokomo Area to do so. He was also selected 1st team All-Hoosier Heartland Conference 4 years in a row. Flittner became the Tri-Central All-Time leading scorer and then passed former Purdue University great, Matt Waddell, to become the Tipton County All-Time leading scorer during his senior year. Flittner is also the Tipton County all-time assist leader. Flittner is currently the 13th all-time leading scorer in the history of Indiana High School basketball.

In a 2006 regional championship game at Case Arena (the arena they filmed the movie Blue Chips) Flittner scored 48 points in an upset win over perrinial Indiana powerhouse Lafeyette Central Catholic. His scoring performance is the 11th highest point production in Indiana high school tournement history. The game was selected game of the week by Indianapolis Channel 40 and replayed in it's entirety later that night.

College Career

After being considered to slow and to short for Division 1 basketball, Flittner received only 1 D1 scholarship offer following his senior year of high school. Grayson decided to walk-on at Gardner-Webb University. During his freshman year in an early January night in 2007, two of Gardner-Webb's starting guards were out with the flu for the conference rivalry game vs Lipscomb. Needing help from the bench Flittner was inserted into the starting line-up and he sparked a win over Lipscomb in front of the Gardner-Webb home crowd. Flittner has been in the starting line-up every game since.

Flittner's sophomore year started out in impressive fashion. Gardner-Webb sparked one of the top upsets in college basketball history when they beat the University of Kentucky in Rupp Arena to start the season in the 2K Sports Coaches vs Cancer Classic. Flittner lead all scorers with 22 points and had a team high 5 assists while being selected ESPNU's player of the game and over night became a national media darling. Flittner was interviewed by ESPN's Andy Katz, the NY Post, LA Times, among many others. With the win over Kentucky, Gardner-Webb was the Lexington Regional representative for the Coaches vs Cancer Classic Final Four in Madison Square Garden in New York City. The four teams in Madison Square Gardnen were UConn, Gardner-Webb, Oklahoma, and Memphis. Flittner scored 16 points vs UConn in the first game and scored 18 points vs Oklahoma in the second game. Grayson was selected to the 5 player Sports Illustrated All-Tournement team along with Chris Douglas-Roberts and Derrick Rose of Memphis, Black Griffin of Oklahoma, and A.J. Price of UConn.

Later in the season Flittner broke the Gardner-Webb school record for 3's made in one season in a game vs East Tennessee State University. In that game Flittner hit 9-12 from behind the arc and scored 34 points. Flittner went on to tie the Atlantic Sun Conference record for 3's made in one season with 107 three pointers. Flittner was voted by Atlantic Sun Conference players as the second most under-rated player in the Atlantic Sun Conference in a poll produced by the Lipscomb student newspaper. The poll was part of a special edition newspaper put on by the host of the conference tournement (Lipscomb).

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