University of Delaware Athletics
Grace Sundback: From Big Apple Dreams to Blue Hen Realities
11/4/2023 3:00:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Sundback arrived at the University of Delaware as the first of the four recruits for her class and is ready for her college basketball career to begin this winter. Still, she didn't get here without first making some difficult decisions in her high school years.
Originally from New York, Sundback grew up attending her local school district until her freshman year when COVID hit. After completing the ninth grade at Xaverian High School in Brooklyn, she decided that her desire to play for a higher-level high school basketball program made a good reason to transfer to a boarding school- especially since public school sports were a mess amidst the pandemic restrictions.
I wanted to put myself in a better position basketball-wise, for more exposure and just a better opportunity for being recruited.
That is exactly what Westtown Boarding School did for Sundback. Although she was forced to grow up a little younger than usual by leaving home at only 15 years old, embarking on that journey gave her a glimpse of what college is like and forced her to work hard on her own in order to achieve her goals. During her time at Westtown, she was a captain for all three years, was on Pennsylvania Class 2a First Team All-State, and won a state championship her senior year.
Sundback's AAU team also played a major role in her recruitment process. She played for New Heights NYC and had the same AAU coach since she was in sixth grade. Her coach, Dominique Nute, was a huge influence in Grace's basketball career and life as a whole.
She treated us like her own but she was hard on us at the same time," she said. "She was like a second mother to me.
Sundback and "Coach Dom" were extremely close and the two of them and three of Sundback's AAU teammates became a family throughout the six years of basketball together.
That dynamic of a family feel was something that Sundback said she was looking for as she approached the college search. To Sundback, her unique relationship with her AAU coach was reflected in Delaware's head women's basketball coach Sarah Jenkins as soon as the two got to know each other. Throughout the recruitment process, she was also looking for a school to give her the chance to grow as a player and build her own role in the team.
I didn't want to go somewhere that was going to expect one specific thing from me and that be all I was there to.
Being able to build something and building herself as a player were both must-haves on Sundback's list of what she wanted in a college team.
I felt like I could be a basketball player here at Delaware, not just fill a role.
Thankfully that is exactly what the women's basketball coaching staff had in mind for their incoming freshman. When recruiting Sundback, assistant women's basketball coach Bri Hutchen shared she was very intentional about showing Sundback how she would fit into the team.
She was our first recruit and that speaks to our recruiting style of establishing genuine relationships," added coach Hutchen. Â "We eagerly anticipate her freshman impact, knowing it will shape a bright future for our team.
Sundback officially committed to be a Blue Hen in November of her senior year, after totaling over 20 Division I offers to play basketball all over the country. She was one of the most sought-after recruits from the Mid-Atlantic region and was playing for college coaches as young as seventh grade.
I mean we had college recruiters filling the baseline of my games since middle school because I had a 6'-7"Â teammate," Sundback shared, "They would come to see her but then see me and say 'Wait this girl is good too'.
She reflected on how her initial reaction to all the college coach's attention as a young player was 'this is so cool'. She soon realized that being recruited is a business and the older you get the more serious it becomes. The pressure set in as she started visiting schools but she found peace with how loud the Blue Hens were calling to her.
When I visited Delaware I thought 'Alright this is it, this is where I want to be, and this place is going to be able to take me to where I want to go'. It just feels like home, ya know.
Sundback knew she had to pick a college that would support her and push her to do her best.
Grace's winning background, which drew interest from numerous schools, is a testament to her exceptional talent and experience as a leader," said coach Hutchen. "We are overjoyed that she chose UD.
