Auburn Riverside’s Grad is primed for Pullman

At first, it just doesn’t sound right: Katie Grad not a basketball star?

Weird.

But it’s true. The girl who became a catalyst for Auburn Riverside High School’s back-to-back Class 3A state championships wasn’t that much of a hoopaholic when she first walked through the school’s doors in the fall of 2004.

“Coming into high school, if you had asked me if I would be playing basketball in college, I would have said, ‘I don’t think so,’” Grad said. “When I was little, I always did more soccer. I didn’t really know which one I wanted to do.

“I found my passion for basketball when I got into high school.”

That passion helped drive Grad and the Ravens to the pinnacle of girls hoops. Yet, she never lost her love for soccer, playing in AR colors as a freshman, sophomore and junior. Still found time for some fastpitch softball, too.

Now, Grad will indeed be playing basketball in college, taking her talent across the mountains to Washington State University. And she will head there later this month with yet another honor on a resume’ that’s already bulging with accomplishments and accolades:

Grad is the Reporter’s Auburn-area Female Athlete of the Year.

“I don’t know if I’ll ever coach a kid again who gave so much back in return to what everyone has given her,” Ravens coach Adam Barrett said. “It’s not just basketball. There’s not a single person out there who does not like this kid. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen her in four years here be negative toward anybody or anything. It doesn’t matter who the person is – Katie can make people smile.”

The 17-year-old Grad always will be known for her accomplishments on the basketball court. The 5-foot-8 guard – who never missed a practice and started every game of her career – averaged 20.5 points, 10.1 rebounds and 4.5 steals this past season as Auburn Riverside put together a 25-3 record. Its only three losses were in the elite Nike Tournament of Champions last December in Arizona. And the 25th victory came in the state title game, a 48-40 decision against a youthful but talented Kennedy team that also gave the Ravens fits in the sub-district and district championship contests.

“By the third time, we knew everything about every one of their players, and they knew everything about us,” Grad said. “They matched up (with us).”

Grad didn’t limit her impressive numbers to the gym. While many athletes – and many non-athletes, for that matter – might wish for a 27- or 28-hour day, Grad managed to find a way to make the best use of every 24 hours that she actually had. She has piled up enough A’s to sport a near-perfect 3.96 grade-point average, with a course load that previously included physics, pre-calculus and third-year Spanish, and currently includes such things as marine biology, advanced-placement stats, and college writing. (The only non-A, by the way, was a B-plus in her first semester of physics as a junior.)

“You think, ‘Oh, gosh, I have a three-hour practice today and a huge physics test tomorrow.’ I have to be balanced,” Grad said. “My dad (Dennis) is a principal (at Cascade Middle School), so school has always been important in my family. And it’s good to have coaches who encourage you in school. It’s a big deal to them. They want that balance.”

Mucho motivation

For Grad, that desire to excel in every aspect comes from within. Auburn Riverside fastpitch coach Chris Leverenz has seen that first-hand.

“She’s definitely internally motivated,” Leverenz said. “Motivation is just a natural for her.”

Leverenz then added with a chuckle, “If she ever has a (spare) moment, she won’t know what to do with it.”

Grad acknowledged that for all of the positives that have engulfed her four years at Riverside, it wasn’t all pie in the sky and bubble gum. It wasn’t winning every game in which she ever played, either.

But the way Grad figures it, so much the better.

“Even things that happen that aren’t necessarily good, you can use that experience for learning,” she said. “My sophomore year, we lost two games at state at the end. But it was a great year and a fun year, and we used it for the future. We said we didn’t want to go home on Saturday (feeling) upset.”

“You’re going to go through hard times,” Grad added. “Looking back, I’m so glad I had teammates and coaches to help me get through them. ... Getting through the small things, it all paid off in the end.”

Just recently, it started to hit Grad that this is the end – the end of this phase of her life, both personally and athletically. She spoke of taking off her fastpitch uniform for the last time after the Ravens were knocked out of the state tournament on May 23. She talked wistfully of still working out in the Auburn Riverside gym, knowing that she’ll never play another game in there.

But just as quickly, she turned her thoughts forward – partly out of necessity. Riverside graduates on June 14, and she’ll head to Pullman three days later to begin taking some summer courses.

Primed for Pullman

Grad is convinced she made a good choice to join the Cougars and work with coach June Daugherty to try lifting the program out of the Pacific-10 doldrums.

“It’s finally becoming kind of realistic,” Grad said. “I felt at home there (when I visited WSU), and it was a good fit for me. You kind of know what’s a good fit and what isn’t. I’m a little bit nervous. It’ll be good to get a feel for what it’s like.”

Leverenz, for one, has no doubt that Grad is ready for the next step.

“She’s going to be amazing. She’s going to love college,” Leverenz said. “She’s going to have to find her own (way). For so long, she has been driven by other people. I’m excited to see her grow.”

Barrett is seeing some of that already.

“That kid is spending an hour and a half to two hours every night getting ready for WSU. Not a day goes by that she’s not in that gym,” he said. “She wants to carry a winning tradition to that program over there.

“Kids will feed off her passion, not just for basketball, but for life. We’re definitely excited and ready to see her go to the next level,” Barrett added.

More than the stats, more than the titles, Grad wants her legacy to go beyond the box score and the trophy case.

“I hope I’ll be known as someone who worked hard,” she said. “You’re only going to be as good as you want to be. You have to put in the time and effort.”

Exactly the kind of thing that helped make Katie Grad a basketball star.

Even when she didn’t think she’d be one.

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