Ricky Shuford '16 Recruiting Profile

A big inspiration for me to go to college was my Grandmother Ms. Bertha Knox Gilkey.  She was one of the most courageous individuals I knew.  She lived in St. Louis, MO where she worked with people living in very low income communities.  She advocated for fair housing and jobs for the people living in these communities.  Sometimes that advocacy meant you had to take on federal, state and local governments.  She taught me that America is made up of laws and that poor people don't always know how to use the law to get fair and equal treatment.  She also taught me that you have to read the laws more than once so that you learn to understand them.  My Grandmother was not a lawyer and in fact she only had an Associates Degree in Early Childhood Education.  However, she could read and interpret complex regulations and laws as well as any lawyer.  She knew how to interpret this information and put it in easy terms so that poor or less educated people could understand it.  She was an amazing woman and she always wanted my brother to go to college and use our education to help those less forturnate than us.

Unfortunately my Grandmother pasted away in July 2014.  My brother has kept his commitment to going to college.  He's a junior at Troy University in Troy, Alabama.  No it's my turn to keep that commitment.  It is my hope that my academic and athletic accomplishments in high school will give me an opportunity to go to college and one day continue my Grandmothers work.

Sincerely,

Ricky M. Shuford Jr.