Minnesota Basketball: Alexandria’s Grayson Grove has committed to Gopher basketball

After accepting an offer from the Gopher staff on April 2nd, Grayson Grove has made it official that he is going to play his collegiate ball for Ben Johnson and the Gophers.

The second Alexandria native to commit to the Gophers in recent years is Grayson Grove. What will this young man bring to the program?

Grayson Grove
Pos: PF
Ht: 6’8”
Wt: 190

Grove led his Alexandria Cardinals to the state tournament this year where they won their first-round game before falling in the semis to eventual champion, Totino Grace.

The things to like about Grove’s game is that he is very fluid and smooth on the court, he plays with a high basketball IQ and he has sneaky athleticism. I also think he has really good handles for a kid his size. Areas of concern are that I’m not sure there is enough horizontal explosiveness or quickness to compete at the Big Ten level and his long-range jump shot doesn’t scream that it will translate to a high percentage at this level.

But Grove is a great addition to the team as a guy who is going to make you better, likely a major contributor who will give you quality minutes on both ends of the floor. When you are trying to construct a team, Grove is a key component to this. As was discussed here

I absolutely loved this quote from Grove in an interview with GopherIllustrate’s Ryan James.

“I do a little bit of everything. I am really good around the bucket posting up. I am good moving off the ball. I love getting my teammates open. And I don’t let anybody shoot lay-ups!”

Watching his highlight reels, this appears to be true and backs up the claim that he is a player with great basketball IQ.

Currently, a high school junior who has a full year to continue to improve with a decent possibility that he will end up red-shirting as well when he arrives on campus. We will be watching his AAU season closely as he competes for D1 Minnesota in the Addidas circuit.

What is next?

Grove hits a few key checks for this recruiting class. Size is needed in the 2024 class. Over the next couple of seasons, the program will be losing Dawson Garcia, Parker Fox and Isaiah Ihnen. Assuming Pharrel Payne is still around, there is still room for some frontcourt help.

As was discussed here previously, Ben Johnson needs to start building a strong base of talent on this roster with high school recruits. Players who can contribute and who will potentially be here for multiple seasons. Grove also hits this as well.

We now have a PG and a PF in this 2024 class. I wouldn’t worry too much about how many scholarships are available as that number is fluid. But there are going to be several available. More help is going to be needed. If the staff is able to land a dynamic scorer in this class, it is going to start to look really nice.