Thousands of eyes watch intently.
They watch to see blue blood programs compete in the Big Ten Championship. They watch to see the best teams in the nation give their best in the NCAA tournament.
It is what the sports world refers to as March.
Miracle Gray prepared for these events her whole life, and she is no longer a stranger to them. Now her path has brought her here, to Union University, where she is growing not only as a basketball player, but as a woman of God.
Gray grew up in Georgia, having a passion for the sport of basketball from as early as middle school. The years would pass by, and with college approaching, Gray had no doubts as to what she wanted to do with her life. She also knew basketball would provide her with a way to afford an education.
“I didn’t want to have a financial burden on my folks,” said Gray.
Gray sits in a common room on campus across from me. I can see that she is tired, a result of being a student athlete, but I can also see that she is optimistic and hopeful. Gray has been on a long but impactful journey, beginning her career at Purdue before ending up at Union.
I ask Gray what led her to Purdue. She smiles as she begins to tell me about one of their coaches, her own sister. Nadine Morgan would often ask Gray to visit the university, and it was not too long before a scholarship was offered.
“She never forced it on me,” says Gray, speaking confidently about her older sister. “I would always go up there for camps and see a bit of a family atmosphere. On my unofficial visit in 10th grade, Coach V (Sharon Versyp, the team’s head coach) offered me so I took it immediately.”
College basketball in a conference like the Big Ten is no small matter. The crowds are large, and the the pressure is larger. Every game from the tip of the season is huge, but once conference play starts? ”That’s another monster,” says Gray. Come March, conference and national tournaments raise the stakes even higher.
The glory continues off the court as well. Gray grins with more of a smirk now as she tells me about the five-star restaurants, hotels and private planes. Those luxuries were passed up upon leaving Purdue, which was not an easy decision.
“I think I needed to develop myself more,” says Gray. “It was just not a good fit for me there. You go through some things and you find out a lot about yourself.”
Gray knew she wanted to play for someone guided by the Lord, and upon her visit to Union, she saw how highly her future teammates thought of Coach Campbell. Union quickly started to feel like the next place she would call home.
“I wrote down a list of things that I wanted. Within [that] list of things, [I] talked about being coached under someone who was a man or woman of God, a real family atmosphere, being in a place where I’m comfortable, but not too comfortable where I can grow as a person and know I’m challenged on a spiritual and a mental level. To where you know once I leave I can say, ‘Man I loved it.’”
Gray just finished her first season with Union. The team lost in the first round of the NCAA Division II tournament, but Gray’s competitive fire and determination has far from faltered. The scale may be smaller now, but the pressure and desire to win is the same. Further growth in both her faith and her basketball career remains the goal going forward, and Union has provided her with the opportunity to focus on both, as more often than not, they intertwine.
Photo by Purdue University Strategic Communications