FLORENCE, S.C. - Francis Marion University senior women’s basketball player Rita Grayson has been selected to participate in Nike's sixth-annual So You Want To Be A Coach program, April 4-6 in Tampa Bay, Fla.

The Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) will host the program that includes a two-and-a-half-day workshop, held in conjunction with the WBCA National Convention and held just prior to the Division I Final Four in Tampa Bay.

The So You Want To Be A Coach Program was designed to increase the amount of minorities in the coaching profession, by providing a workshop based on educational and professional principles to help those interested in the field.

The coaching lessons shared with these participants will assist in identifying, recruiting and retaining minority women in the profession of coaching. At this year's workshop, the participants will have the opportunity to meet and learn from some high level professionals such as Penn State head coach Coquese Washington, Old Dominion assistant coach Nikita Dawkins, Black Coaches & Administrators Executive Director Floyd Keith, and many others.

Grayson, a native of New Orleans, La., transferred to FMU for her senior year from the State University of West Georgia. This past year, the 5-10 forward appeared in all 30 games, starting eight times, and averaged 12.8 minutes, 4.2 points, 2.6 rebounds, 0.6 assists, and 0.6 steals per game. She connected on 34.3 percent of her field goal attempts and 75.0 percent of her free throws.

She helped lead Francis Marion to the eighth-biggest single-season turn-around in NCAA Division II history. A year removed from a 6-22 campaign, the Patriots were 21-9, shared the Peach Belt Conference regular-season championship, and earned a bid to the NCAA Division II national tournament.

Grayson will be one of 53 participants in the program, and only 20 percent of the players selected are from non-Division I institutions.

"Nike is committed to growing women's basketball and supporting those coaches involved in

our game," said Jill Pizzotti, Nike's Manager of Women's College Basketball. "We are proud to sponsor the 'So You Want To Be A Coach' program, focused on developing and educating these chosen young ladies on the coaching profession."

To be chosen, a potential candidate must have exhausted her final year of basketball eligibility at afour-year institution or have graduated within the past year. In addition, the candidate's head coach had to have nominated them and must be an active WBCA member. Each participant was selected based on their academics, contributions to women's basketball on and off the court, professional resume and a written recommendation from their head coach.

Grayson is a product of John Ehret High School, where she was an All-District performer for coach Ron Heuer.