City of Basketball Love

By Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
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Grace Galbavy is no spring chicken when it comes to college recruitment. 

The Perkiomen Valley rising senior has been a Division I target since she was playing 15U ball on the Nike circuit with Philly Rise. Before she even started her sophomore season of high school ball she had offers from the likes of Pitt, Penn State, Princeton, and more.

By the time she got to her 17U summer — now playing with Comets Basketball on the Under Armour Association circuit — and started pulling in even more scholarships, she estimated she’d been to somewhere around 17 different college campuses.

“I think it was such a great experience, making so many connections with so many colleges and getting to visit, it made me more experienced in that way,” she told CoBL during a phone call earlier this week. “I had the honor of doing it during 15U, too, so I felt like I was experienced with the whole ‘getting to pick a college’ type of game.”

So when Galbavy went on a visit to Wake Forest at the conclusion of the summer hoops season, she knew she had found her spot. 

Galbavy’s visit to Wake Forest was her second official visit, the multi-day trips which the programs cover, as opposed to the single-day unofficial visits which come at the recruit’s expense, after previously seeing Drexel. She had a third official visit planned, to Seton Hall; Rhode Island was also one of her top choices, but she called off any further visits after seeing Wake Forest. 

“It was really like the first place that I really could see myself there,” she said. “I feel like I kinda knew once I met the coaching staff and once I was on campus, that this was the place that I could see myself being.”

Galbavy already had a feeling that Wake Forest might be a good landing spot for her, something she knew back in April when Megan Gabbia and her staff first got in touch, the scholarship offer coming in July. The 190-year-old private school wasn’t too big, with an undergraduate student body of fewer than 6,000, but it plays in one of the best conferences in the country. Watching film on the Demon Deacons, she could see herself fitting into their system, liking the on-court match as well.

On top of that, the 6-foot-1 wing had vacationed down in North Carolina with her family when she was a kid and liked the state’s environment — a little warmer than the Northeast, though not quite as hot or humid as going down to Florida or Louisiana. An earlier college visit, to Davidson, reaffirmed to her that the Tar Heel State would be a great landing spot if she found the right college.

She found it in Winston-Salem.

“It was a very genuine visit,” she said. “It felt like I was kind of at home, it was somewhere where I could see myself being for a long time and really enjoying it.”

Galbavy has been at Perkiomen Valley since her sophomore year, moving into the district after spending her freshman season at Upper Perkiomen. 

Vikings coach John Russo said he’s seen major growth from Galbavy both on and off the court, the talented wing fitting in well with an established group of fellow 2025s, many of whom — Quinn Boettinger, Lena Stein and Bella Bacani — she now plays with on the Comets as well. 

With Galbavy in the mix, the Vikings have won the last two District 1 6A championships, advancing to the PIAA 6A quarterfinals this past season. A tenacious inside-out scorer, she’s been known to take over in the fourth quarter of games, playing a big role in the second half and overtime as Perk Valley beat Spring-Ford to defend its district title in March.

“When she first got here she was a little closed off and she really has worked on being able to express what she’s thinking and get us all on the same page,” Russo said. “And the other thing is her shot has gotten so much better over the last few years from 3-point range and beyond. Really thinking she’s going to have a big year this year.”

At Wake Forest, she’s hoping to help Gebbia, going into her third year as head coach, get the Demon Deacons back into the ACC pack after a rough 7-25 (2-16) season in 2023-24. Wake’s only made the NCAA Tournament twice in its history, but one of those visits was in 2021, under former head coach (and Wake alumna) Jen Hoover.

“I did watch some film before I took my official visit but that’s part of the official visit, they show you film and show you how they film into the system,” she said. “They recruit taller guards a lot of time [...] They showed me clips of their guards, what they do and how they play and how it translates.”

Before she gets to college, Galbavy said her top priority is getting her body ready for the next level. The lanky redhead can play physical and is an excellent shot-blocker, but she knows that being able to assert herself in such a way at the high school level doesn’t mean she’ll be able to jump right in and do it against women three and four years older than her, with the benefit of collegiate weight lifting and training programs.

“The college game is just better, faster, stronger of course than the high school game,” she said. “There’s no right way to translate your game to the college game, from what I’ve been told it’s been something I’ve never seen before. 

“Just trying to get to the point of what a college player would be, because I’m still built like a high school player, and that’s the biggest thing I need to do is put on weight and muscle.”