How walk on Jackie Grisdale has made an immediate impact right away

Jackie Grisdale’s journey to Quinnipiac before arriving was filled with a decorated resume at Poland, Ohio, with a school record 20 varsity letters from six sports, which include basketball (4), softball (4), track (4), cross country (4), golf (2), and soccer (2).

Since her spring was taken up by softball and running track from January through June, Grisdale did not get the recognition she deserved on the court because she never played AAU in high school. As a result, this limited Grisdale’s exposure on the recruiting trail, so she had to do a lot of work, including sending out emails and highlighting films. With Grisdale’s senior year parallel with the heart of COVID-19, college basketball coaches could not see her play. Going through her final year of high school uncommitted led to few opportunities far from guaranteed. Grisdale knew she wanted to compete at the highest level, even if that meant walking on and earning minutes by working hard in practice.

Her mom had a connection with Quinnipiac women’s basketball coach Tricia Fabbri because her now former high school coach knew her and linked them up. After learning about the university and its women’s basketball team, Grisdale knew this was the perfect place to start her college career.

“As soon as I started talking to coach Fabbri and the rest of the coaches, I knew this was a place I wanted to pursue and see if I could make an impact here,” Grisdale said. “I figured this was going to be the best opportunity to continue to learn and grow as a person.” Grisdale is very thankful for this opportunity, even though it came about late in her senior year. Grisdale always knew she wanted to play basketball at the highest level and Quinnipiac was her best opportunity.

Grisdale knew coming to Quinnipiac would be a lot of work, but she quickly earned a walk-on spot. For many college basketball programs, walk-ons rarely see the court and if they do, it’s in what we call “garbage time” when their team is up big or getting blown out by their opponent. Grisdale knew that wouldn’t be the case. “I always knew what type of player I am, so being a walk-on didn't bother me,” Grisdale said.

The transition from high school to college was more manageable than expected for Grisdale because Quinnipiac welcomed her with open arms; they accepted her right away. Grisdale has been encouraged by the Quinnipiac family because she said they promote growth and learning every day on and off the court.

Grisdale said her teammates are a big reason for her success. Grisdale tries to mimic her game after senior teammate Mackenzie DeWees who is in the middle of her fourth season at Quinnipiac. “It's been awesome to play with her every day and just learn from her every day. To see her bring so much intensity to practice and follow that into the games is what I try to do,” Grisdale said.

Even though Grisdale was constantly playing sports in high school, she’s appreciative that she did not focus on one sport. Grisdale believes having a diverse sports career has advanced her basketball skills because she sees things in practices or games that she can relate to from playing games in other sports, such as hand-eye coordination.

“Having to adjust to different things that every sport gives you ends up playing a big role in how well you’re able to adapt on the basketball court in a game that is very fast-paced, very reaction-based and a lot of anticipation as well,” Grisdale said. “Each sport contributed something to my basketball game that I see almost every day, and I’m grateful that my administrator and coaches allowed me to do that because I see that paying off now when I’m able to just focus on basketball.”

Some of the accolades Grisdale accomplished include graduating as Poland’s all-time leading scorer with 1,530 points, school record for career three-point field goals (221), three-point field goals in a season (71), and three-point field goals in a single game (10). Grisdale also led Poland to four league championships and two district titles.

Despite having such a successful high school career, Grisdale said she didn’t feel any pressure to jump to college because she wanted to do what the team needed her to do. Even though Grisdale was not getting a ton of playing time at the beginning of the year, her confidence never wavered because she had trusted that she would be prepared when her opportunity came. “I knew once I started to see the floor that my preparation in the preseason and my whole basketball career, I would help the team,” Grisdale said.

Grisdale believes that a great preseason with the Bobcats is why she can make the jump from high school to college, as the coaching staff has had a specific role for her since she got here. This is different from Grisdale’s high school career, where she had to do everything.

Now that Grisdale has been acclimated to the college game, she said the most difficult adjustment has been how important every detail is because you must adapt to the coach's style.

“In high school, you can get away with doing what you wanted and if there was an open shot, then you can take it,” Grisdale said. “In college, it’s a lot of just basketball knowledge and playing. But you do have to kind of fit into the mold that coaches want, whether it’s running plays or knowing how you’re going to run in transition and the specific defensive things.”

Since the Siena game on Jan. 13, Grisdale has recorded at least 17 minutes in the last 12 games. The team has taken off since Grisdale entered the rotation, winning eight of its previous 10 games. Not only is Grisdale getting consistent playing time, but she’s also contributing to the team’s success because she had three games where she shot 50 percent or better, scoring 14 vs. Saint Peters (5-9), 26 vs. Niagara on Jan. 29 (9-10) and 17 vs. Monmouth on Feb. 5 (7-10). When Grisdale has played, she has been very efficient because she’s shooting 43.8 % and 37.3 % from three.

Grisdale credits her being so efficient to her teammates because they are setting her up with great passes and reads but, most importantly, trusting her to make the shot. Grisdale also believes that coach Fabbri has found a significant role for her, “coach has been getting me great open shots,” Grisdale said. Along with that, Grisdale believes her success has been because of the competitive atmosphere that her coaches preach every day in practice.

Even though Grisdale is a freshman, the learning curve hasn’t been slow thanks to the help given by her senior teammates Rose Caverly, Amani Free and DeWees. Grisdale admires what DeWees does on and off the court because of her straight up ferocity. Because DeWees never quits since she’s going to go her hardest the entire game no matter what the score is, Grisdale tries to sculpt her game after her.

“She’s a playmaker and in practice, she’ll do something, and I’ll be like wow, I have no clue how you’re able to make that happen, but you did,” Grisdale said. “I try to watch her and see how she’s able to create so many things. She makes things happen not only for herself but for every person she’s playing with, which I would love to have the opportunity to do.”

Going forward for the team this year and beyond, Grisdale said the expectations are to not only win the regular season and MAAC championship, but the team also has their eyes on the big goal, playing in the NCAA tournament. Tha

t’s why March 12 is written on the board in the locker room. Currently, Grisdale likes the team's approach because she has bought into the mindset of getting one percent better and then the rest will take care of itself naturally.

The message Grisdale has for any walk

-ons in the country is to continue to trust the process.

“Just stick to the idea that if you love the game, you love the game and let that propel you in practice or games because if you truly love what you’re doing, then you’re going to appreciate every moment that you get to spend doing it.”