Former Auburn Basketball Player Dr. Ray Groover Named Walter Gilbert Award Recipient
Nov. 6, 2009
Auburn, Ala. - Former Auburn basketball player, Dr. Ray Groover, will be presented the 2009 Walter Gilbert Award at halftime of the Tigers' game against Furman at Jordan-Hare Stadium Saturday. The Walter Gilbert Award is given annually to former Auburn athletes who have distinguished themselves through achievements after graduation from Auburn. The award is given in memory of the Tigers' three-time All-America center Walter Gilbert, who later became vice president of Texaco's European Oil Operations. "It totally floored me, and I didn't have any idea," said Groover, who also played three years of golf at Auburn. "I was kind of overwhelmed when I heard about it. I had a wonderful experience at Auburn. I can remember playing games and the band would start playing War Eagle, and you literally thought you could jump over the goal and the hair would rise up on your arms. It was a wonderful place to be. We had a very successful football program at the time, we were winning at basketball and track was very good. I played golf, too, and we had a very good golf team." Groover's college roommate and teammate, Jimmy Fibbe, was the 2002 Walter Gilbert Award recipient. "Living in Graves Center was a unique format, and I had a great roommate, Jimmy Fibbe, who also won the award," said Groover. "I don't know how many sets of roommates won the award, and that is pretty unique." Groover hit the game-winning basket just before the buzzer as 13th-ranked Auburn defeated Alabama 63-61 in overtime in Montgomery to clinch the 1960 SEC Championship, the Tigers' first in basketball. "I don't know how to describe something like that happening to you," said Groover. "Henry Hart was supposed to get the shot and they weren't switching all night. We ran a give and go and they switched, and I couldn't get the ball to Henry and big 6-foot-8 guy was on me. I remember shooting a jumping fade away hook shot, and it went in and I got hit and was fouled. I remember laying on the floor on my back and seeing the ball go through the net. When I went back to shoot the free throw, everybody started jumping around and grabbing me, and I didn't even shoot it."
A Quitman, Ga., native, Groover was a three-year letterwinner from 1959-61 and still shares the Auburn single game records for free throws made (17) and free throws attempted (21) vs. Florida State on Dec. 10, 1960. He averaged 14.1 points as a senior in 1960-61 and 11.6 points for Auburn's 1960 SEC Championship team while shooting 52.6 percent from the field and 79.3 percent from the foul line. Upon completion of his Auburn career, Groover enrolled at the Medical College of Georgia where he earned his medical degree. He was then drafted into the Air Force where he interned under a radiologist, eventually enrolling in the USAF Flight-Medicine program, where he specialized in Radiology. Groover, a Vietnam veteran, and his wife lived in Hawaii from 1966-1969, where he worked as an Air Force doctor. The Groovers then moved to San Antonio, Texas, where he finished his radiological degree at Wilford Hall U.S. Air Force Hospital. In 1972, the couple moved to Homestead Air Force base in Miami, Fla., for one year before he ended his career in the service. After the Air Force, the Groovers moved home to Americus, Ga., where he practiced Radiology for four-and-a-half years, before moving to his current home, Birmingham, in 1979. While practicing, Groover performed operations on both President Jimmy Carter and President Richard Nixon. Groover is now semi-retired, but does continue to practice a few days a month around the Birmingham area. "Dr. Ray Groover is a complete Auburn man," said Auburn Athletics Director Jay Jacobs. "He is an outstanding individual, made the game-winning shot in bringing Auburn its first SEC Championship in basketball, served our country and has benefited many, many people with his medical expertise. Dr. Groover is a wonderful addition to an impressive group of Walter Gilbert Award recipients. He has definitely made Auburn proud." Groover and his college sweetheart, Betty, have two daughters, Wendy and Kim, who are both graduates of Auburn University, and three grandchildren. Kim, the youngest of his daughters, was Miss Homecoming in 1989, and this year his niece, Grace Ann Sooter, is on the Homecoming Court at Auburn. Groover is the 29th recipient of the Walter Gilbert Award. Walter Gilbert Award Recipients: |
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