Don’t know if Deion Sanders had anything to do with it, but Norwell’s Grace Oliver is headed to the University of Colorado to play women’s basketball.
Oliver, the reigning Gatorade Player of the Year for Massachusetts, announced her decision on Twitter on Wednesday morning, writing, “Since the third grade I have had the aspiration to play Division 1 basketball. Basketball has given me so many opportunities to meet amazing people, travel around the globe, and grow as an individual on and off the court.”
Oliver, a 6-2 guard/forward, starred for three seasons at Norwell High before transferring to Noble and Greenough School in Dedham last winter and reclassifying as a junior. She’ll kick off her senior season on Nov. 29 as Nobles looks to defend its Class AA NEPSAC crown.
Colorado’s athletic program has been in the spotlight this fall as Sanders has revitalized the school’s flagging football program. The women’s basketball team needs no pick-me-up, though, as the Buffaloes are coming off a 25-9 season that included their first trip to the NCAA Sweet 16 since 2003. The Buffs lost to eventual national runner-up Iowa, 87-77, as Hawkeyes folk hero Caitlin Clark poured in 31 points.
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Colorado starts this season nationally ranked in both the Associated Press poll (No. 20) and the USA Today/WBCA Coaches poll (No. 18). The Buffaloes kick off the 2023-24 campaign against defending national champ (and preseason No. 1) LSU in Las Vegas on Nov. 6.
Little-known Buffaloes fact: Colorado eighth-year coach JR Payne’s real first name is Ali-Marie, but her dad gave her the nickname “JR” as a kid as a nod to the J.R. Ewing character on the prime-time TV soap opera “Dallas” because “she was tough and would fight her older brothers,” according to the Colorado media guide.
Oliver burst onto the scene as a Norwell freshman in 2019-20, averaging 12 points and 11.5 rebounds. She steadily pushed those numbers up, averaging 20/10 as a junior and winning her second straight South Shore League Sullivan Division MVP.
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Despite a COVID-shortened sophomore campaign she hit 1,000 career points with the Clippers, prompting Norwell coach Matt Marani to say, “Grace is the most skilled basketball player that I have ever coached.”
Oliver averaged around 13 points and 11 rebounds for Nobles last winter, shooting almost 60 percent from the field. The Bulldogs (29-3) swept to the NEPSAC Class AA (elite division) crown, beating Dexter Southfield (and former North Quincy star Orlagh Gormley) in the final.
ESPN ranks Oliver, a four-star recruit, as the nation’s No. 82 prospect in the Class of 2024. She is the highest-ranked player from Massachusetts.