ST. PETERSBURG, Fla.- The Eckerd men's basketball team announces the second addition to the 2021 signing class with transfer GianFranco "Pipo" Grafals.
Grafals, a native of San Sebastián, Puerto Rico, comes to Eckerd after spending the season at Florida State College at Jacksonville. This season, he started all 21 games with the Blue Wave averaging 17.0 points and 7.6 rebounds per game while shooting at a 51.6 percent clip. He was also named to the All-Central Conference Team First Team.
Grafals also spent one season at Northern Oklahoma College-Tonkawa, where he averaged 6.0 points and 3.0 rebounds over 31 games.
He also had a stellar prep career playing for the Puerto Rico Junior National Team (U18).
"We are really excited to welcome Gianfranco to the Triton family," said head coach
Bryan Galuski. "Gianfranco is a winner; he is tough, has an extremely high motor, is a relentless competitor on both sides of the court, and is an outstanding teammate. Gianfranco has the capabilities of scoring in a variety of ways and can defend multiple positions. Gianfranco had a very successful junior college career and will be looked upon to bring experience and leadership to our team in the fall."
Grafals is the son of Miriam Jiménez and Carlos Grafals. He attended Fleming Island High School in Fleming, Florida, and intends to major in Business at Eckerd.
