Things can change quickly for a player at the drop of dime sometimes. One day a kid is just part of the scenery. Then the next day they could move into prime time. That’s how tricky sports can be especially in high school. A kid never knows when their moment may arrive. It’s certainly not easy to predict when a kid will emerge. Too often kids pack it in when their moment is right around the corner. They no longer have the will to fight and their moment passes them bye. That’s not the case for Manasquan senior GRACE LOVE. She has been waiting for her chance for years and now it has arrived and she is taking full advantage.
This summer Grace Love made all the right moves on and off the court. Rather than sit around and let the moment pass her by, she fought for her future. She knew if she was going to have any chance to make her mark, it had to be now. So she switched AAU teams and joined the Randy Westrol Central Jersey Hawks. It may have been the best decision of her young athletic career. That’s because Coach Westrol did the one thing all kids need. He gave her freedom. He allowed Grace Love to play freely. In other words he trusted Grace Love. This gave Grace Love confidence and turned her into a problem all summer. Grace Love had a summer to remember. She was sensational. She showed everyone what they were missing. She proved she could play with the best of the best as the CJ HAWKS were the surprise team of the summer and she had a lot to do with it.
This past summer we got a chance to see Grace Love go into her bag. We’re talking deep into her bag. Anyone who says they saw what was coming this summer is either lying or a modern day Nastradamus . Grace, has always been a good shooter. But this summer the CJ HAWKS took the handcuffs off the talented 5’10” wing and she became an elite scorer. Not just a shooter. Grace Love, showed she was no one trick pony. She displayed an ability to shoot off the bounce, off screens or in transition. She showed she could get to the rim against top level competition. It was she that helped lead the charge in the CJ HAWKS near upset of the summer vs the 2025 HGSL ShoreShots. Grace love showed things this summer nobody knew she had in her bag. Like is a next level cutter without the ball. She is an underrated defender and this one is for college coaches. Grace Love is a serious rebounding tough minded guard. Yes, she will do the dirty work too. The handle is rock steady and she is a willing passer. Yup, Grace Love is way better than anyone could have ever imagined. She just needed an opportunity, a stage to preform on; Someone to trust her, a new start. She found all that and more with the CJ HAWKS and now her life is different. Her presence cannot be ignored.
I remember Grace Love would come to the Hoop Group and shoot. She never would jump in and play. I tried to convince her to play more. I wasn’t sure why she didn’t want to compete. Maybe it was my style that made her uncomfortable. It certainly wasn’t was her competitive nature. That’s because she would have left Manasquan years ago if that was the case. The truth of the matter was I wasn’t sure. I just know all of a sudden she disappeared. She stopped showing up. I think she got tired of me pressuring her to play. Grace Love is a quiet kid, a good kid. The type kid that everyone wants around. She is drama free and understands how to be a teammate. Truth of the matter is I thought she had given up… boy was I wrong about that one. They say a kids best work is done in the dark of night with nobody watching. Clearly Grace Love believes in that philosophy.
I watched GRACE last season at Manasquan. She didn’t get real minutes. You see the last three years, Manasquan has had a ton of D1 guards in front of her. So Grace Love has had to wait her turn. But a funny thing about Grace Love, that few noticed. It seemed whenever Grace Love did get minutes, she took full advantage of them. She’d bang out a three, get a steal, make a pass. She had double figure scoring nights. In other words she was productive, even if nobody was paying attention. She was caught up in a numbers game at Manasquan. Well that won’t be a problem this year. That’s because Grace Love is now one of the most important players on the Manasquan roster. Her versatility is going to be a major key to Manasquan’s season. Manasquan is getting a different player than a year ago. These days Grace Love knows she can play with anyone, she has proven that to herself and to anyone who has been paying attention. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see this. It’s clear as day, Grace Love is about to finish off one the best stories in high school basketball.
I’m not sure how Grace Love’s recruiting is going. I like to think her inner circle is much like… relentless. But if I was a college coach I’d pay close attention because Grace is evolving in a big way. She has fought the good battle. She has hung in there when most kids would have packed it in. She has figured it out, when it would have been easier to walk out. Like so many kids do today. She could have left Manasquan. Go to just about any other school and started. Scored a ton of points. Maybe win a few awards too. But she wouldn’t have won 2 state chips or have learned the valuable lessons she has learned over the years. It has to be satisfying, knowing what she has accomplished to get where she is today. Grace Love is a great role model for kids with dreams. She proof that tough times don’t last but tough people do… NOW REAL SOON GRACE LOVE IS GOING TO START GETTING HER DUE. But please remember she has earned it and the journey wasn’t always peaches and cream along the way.
