Young Alumni Award
Brittany Clency Gray had been considering an engineering scholarship at Tuskegee University when USC Upstate came calling.
Gray, a star basketball player in high school, had just had a standout performance at an All-Star game in Myrtle Beach. Upstate’s coaches took notice and paid her a visit.
The personable recruitment process and the chance to play Division I basketball made Gray’s decision easy. At the time, Upstate did not offer a four-year engineering program, so she majored in accounting instead.
She got involved on campus, serving as Student Government Association secretary and as a member of the accounting society and student-athlete committee.
She also stood out on the court. A defining moment came during her senior homecoming game when she scored her 1,000th career point and her best friend Brittany Starling grabbed 1,000 rebounds.
Basketball also helped her career. At a game one day, she was introduced to an internship opportunity that began her career at GE, where she stayed for roughly eight years. While Gray is now a financial planning and analysis manager with KYOCERA AVX, she still finds time to coach basketball.
Gray enjoys teaching girls “the importance of discipline and resilience and confidence, and carrying yourself well, because, carrying yourself well will open up the right doors.”
Gray continues to support her alma mater, too. She frequently attends games and recently talked to Career Management about recruiting at Upstate career fairs.