Grant Dykstra Named 2006 Comeback Award Winner

The Dykstra Family Celebrates Grant's Comeback Award

Western Washington men’s basketball player Grant Dykstra was named the recipient of the sixth annual V Foundation Comeback Award, given annually by The V Foundation for Cancer Research in collaboration with ESPN.

“I am honored to present the Comeback Award to Grant Dykstra,” V Foundation CEO Nick Valvano said. “Through his amazing determination and perseverance, he embodies the spirit of this award. Grant has worked hard and overcome physical adversity to achieve his dreams on the basketball court. His passion, courage, strength and perseverance inspire others to follow their dreams as well.”

“We are thrilled Grant has been honored with this award, and we are extremely proud of his accomplishments,” said Western Washington coach Brad Jackson. “His courage, determination and faith embody everything that the award represents. For him to play at the level he has the past four years is a phenomenal achievement for anyone, but given the severity of his injury it becomes astounding. The manner in which he has competed and represented himself, his family and his teammates has been both remarkable and exceptionally inspirational.”

Dykstra, a 6-foot-4 senior forward from Everson, Wash., is Western Washington’s career scoring leader with 1,844 points, and was a consensus NCAA Division II All-American this season, earning first-team honors from Daktronics and the National Association of Basketball Coaches, and second-team recognition from Basketball Times.

Dykstra’s right arm was mangled in a grain auger when he was two and required 16 surgeries over the next 10 years and countless hours of physical therapy to regain strength and movement in his arm, which is five inches shorter than his left. He taught himself to shoot a basketball left-handed and learned to dribble with either hand.

“To win an award named after Jim Valvano, that alone says a lot,” said Dykstra. “It’s amazing, that people would view me as an inspiration as they did him is remarkable. But it isn’t just about me. There’s so many friends, family, coaches and administrators at Western, who have all done so much for me. It’s my story, but I couldn’t have done it without everybody else.”

Dykstra averaged 20.6 points, 5.4 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 2.0 steals this season, setting a school record for three-point field goals with 101 as the Vikings went 23-7 and reached the West Regional final of the NCAA Division II National Tournament. He shot 50.6 percent from the field, including 43.7 percent from three-point range and 84.5 percent at the free throw line.

The recipient of the United States Basketball Writers Association Most Courageous Award in 2005, Dykstra started every game of his four-year career. In addition to his scoring mark, he finished fourth in school history in career assists with 404, sixth in rebounds with 576 and seventh in steals with 210.