In sports, progression is rarely linear.
Grace Graham’s basketball journey has certainly reached its highs and lows, but there was one thing that was always constant; her love for the game.
Starting off as a junior for Nunawading, Graham was an outstanding young player that quickly caught the attention of teams.
The now Pakenham guard then played two seasons of Youth League at Keilor, an opportunity that she cited as pivotal in her ascension as a player.
“I think that really started my trajectory,” Graham said of her Youth League time.
“It gave me a good opportunity to play against some really good players.”
In 2022, she dominated for the Thunder at Youth League level, averaging 17.3 points and 6.2 rebounds per game on 44 percent shooting from deep before she headed off to the United States to play collegiately at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, a Division 1 program.
However, her season was devastatingly cut short due to a nasty broken foot just two games in.
The injury was revealed to be a broken navicular bone, and doctors advised to monitor rehab extremely closely to ensure proper recovery.
So Graham decided to return home six months after arriving in the US, a decision that involved risk but ultimately proved to be the right one.
“I’m super glad I decided to come home because the following year I got signed to my first NBL1 contract at Keilor,” she said.
She started to excel in her role in the Keilor senior team, leading to her being noticed by legendary WNBL coach Chris Lucas.
At the time, Lucas was head coach of the Melbourne Boomers (now Geelong Venom) in the WNBL and brought Graham onboard just as a short-term training player.
“The agreement was initially meant to be four weeks,” Graham remembered.
“After the four weeks, Chris said ‘I don’t have a reason to let you go, I’d like you to stick around’.”
“In December he announced to the group that I was going to be signed as a development player which was pretty cool.
“That was a great experience.
“The DP spot at Boomers lifted my spirit and it reminded me I could still do it (after the foot injury).
“I didn’t expect anything, I was just happy to be there.
“But I had teammates around me telling me I was good enough.
“That was a massive change in my basketball journey, I think that pushed me onto the map a little bit more and gave me the belief in myself.”
She played a handful of spot minutes but was mostly observing and learning from the elite environment.
A return to Keilor for the 2024 NBL1 season was on the cards, where she was a constant contributor at just 20 years old to a formidable Thunder squad that reached the NBL1 South grand final.
Thus, she was noticed by the Adelaide Lightning and earned her second WNBL development player opportunity.
Graham noted learning from Lightning stars Stephanie Talbot and Isobel Borlase during her time in Adelaide as key to her development.
“I’ve honestly fangirled over Steph and I’ve told her that, she’s holding it against me,” Graham laughed.
“That was honestly unreal.
“It was another really good experience.”
But after a few seasons of development player roles in the WNBL and reserve minutes at NBL1 level, the 21-year-old was ready for a bigger opportunity.
She wanted to showcase her skillset and shine.
“Then I decided to come and play for Pakenham,” Graham said.
“I think it was just a really good opportunity to be more of a leader on a team and I was honestly looking for somewhere just to play.
“I’ve had a couple of seasons where I’ve come off the bench and I was fine with that but I was also ready for a year to just play.
“I think I really got that at Pakky.”
But she didn’t just play, she dominated.
There were growing pains along the way, but Graham’s polished offensive bag was brought into the limelight.
She quickly became one of the league’s most prolific scorers, averaging over 21 points, five rebounds and two steals per game whilst leading the Warriors to an 18-4 record.
Her knack for getting to the basket paired with her ability to get to her spots and nail jumpers made her a matchup nightmare and she regularly torched teams with her elite scoring repertoire.
She also improved drastically as a defender to the point where she would be assigned the opposition team’s best player by coach Elli Gibson.
And it was this trust from Gibson that paved the way for Graham to flourish as a player.
“Obviously the coaching lineup changed, but it changed for the best, Elli was so great for us last season,” Graham said.
“She did such a good job knowing it was her first year of coaching Champ Women.
“It was a really huge adjustment for me at the start of the season.
“I have never really been in that role before where I was one of the main go-to players on the team.
“I definitely think it took me a couple of weeks to adjust to.
“The first game I started with seven turnovers and I wasn’t too happy with myself but I think over the course of the season I grew.
“Elli had so much belief in me, she believed that I could do good things for the team and I think her having that confidence in me helped me so much as well.
“I didn’t come in with the thought that I wanted the ball in my hands, I came in with the mindset that I wanted to get better.
“My teammates and Elli put me in a position to be super successful.
“Yes I worked super hard, but I also wouldn’t have been able to do it without them trusting me to go score the ball or lock someone up on defence.”
At season’s end, despite falling short in the finals, Graham and Gibson were both recognised for their brilliant campaigns.
Gibson was awarded Coach of the Year, while Graham took home Champ Women Youth Player of the Season, All Star Five and was a finalist for Most Valuable Player.
The development Graham’s game had seen was exponential, which was being closely monitored from afar.
Vanessa Ellis, the head coach of the Sheffield Hatters – a team in Great Britain’s Super Basketball League – was a huge fan of Graham’s game.
“From that season, I got connected with Vanessa and she saw my highlights and reached out,” Graham said.
“We hit it off from there and we chatted and a few weeks later she offered me a contract, which was great.”
Fast forward to today, and Graham is a key player for the Hatters off the bench.
So far, Sheffield is 2-0 on the season with Graham scoring eight points in each of the opening two games.
Her experience of playing a more on-ball role and playing with the right mindset at Pakenham has helped her translate her game to Great Britain’s top flight of professional basketball.
“It’s honestly been so good so far,” Graham said.
“The basketball over here is pretty similar style-wise to how we play in Australia.
“I’m the youngest player on the team so it’s been a bit of a journey learning from older players which I’ve appreciated.
“We’re playing really fast and up-and-in on defence which goes hand-in-hand with what we were playing at Pakky.
“I think coming to Pakenham was the best decision I could’ve made for my basketball.
“From the first game to the last game of the season, I just saw a massive change in my game and I think that has definitely helped me so much coming over here.
“I was put in a spot where I had to be confident, I couldn’t come out and not be confident.
“Taking that over here, you have to be confident here.
“If you don’t play with confidence here, you’ll get eaten alive.”
It was a massive achievement for the 21-year-old, moving to another country to pursue her professional basketball dreams.
But she certainly had taken a moment to reflect on her path to get her to where she is now.
“I am honestly super proud,” she said of earning an elite overseas opportunity.
“I’m super grateful and I am quite proud that I stuck with it and continued to have good games and did things that got me recognised.
“Basketball is all I want to do, it’s pretty cool that I get to be over here right now and the only thing I get to do is basketball.
“I’m just so keen to keep getting better everyday.”
