“I wouldn’t believe it one bit.”
Welcome to Gracie Levelston’s life, where no one is more surprised than she is to be playing tennis in a state she had never visited and representing BYU — a program she knew nothing about.
“I really thought that was going to be it,” Levelston told the “Y’s Guys” livestream show last week. “I was in the mentality of never picking up my racket again.”
Frustrated by a repeated foot fracture that torpedoed her freshman season at UCF, the former No. 2-ranked recruit in the nation, Levelston, a 6-foot-1 tour de force, was determined to abandon her triple-digit serve, leave school and follow her father’s footsteps into the military.
“I was one step away. When you break bones, it’s harder to get a military clearance. It’s not impossible, but the recruiter advised me to go get a letter that said I was fit for service,” she said. “I did that.”
Derrick and Cristin remained supportive, but seeing their daughter so adamant about giving up on her childhood dream was hard to watch.
“When you force a path that might not really be the right one, you start to have a lot more turmoil and I did and I ignored it,” Levelston said. “I just tried to push through it but (things) got to a point where I couldn’t do it anymore.”
Taking the leap
Prompted to give her gifted skill set another chance, Levelston decided against submitting her papers to the military; instead, she submitted her name into the transfer portal, thinking, “We’ll see.”
BYU tennis coach Holly Hasler was among the first to call.
“I knew nothing about BYU,” Levelston said. “Nothing.”
Hasler convinced her to visit the Provo campus, but two days before the trip, Levelston called to cancel.
“I had never been to Utah. I had no idea what it was going to be like. My parents both had some reservations,” she said. “I had just gone to Michigan State, which is my dad’s alma mater, and it was amazing.”
Hasler held her ground.
“She said, ‘Just come and have your own experience and see where that takes you,’” recalled Levelston. “She advised me to take that leap and have my own perspective on BYU.”
Levelston leaped.
“The first time I was getting recruited, I had no idea what college or the recruiting process was like,” she said. “This second time around, I was going to have a really supportive coaching staff, good resources, I’m gonna love the team culture and I’m gonna be somewhere where I want to live for the next four years — and how I felt emotionally and my experiences on the visit would ultimately be the deciders.”
Shortly after arriving at BYU, Levelston discovered a supportive staff with committed resources. She fell in love with the mountains, and for a Vero Beach girl, that’s pretty significant. Then she met the team, including Avery Pope.
“I had a not-so-good experience with some people (during the visit) and one of the girls on the team, Avery Pope, instantly just stood up for me,” Levelston said. “I thought, ‘Wow, I’m not sure if anybody in my life has stood up for me like that.’ To see the love and the care that everybody here has, I felt at home.”
Not one to waste time, Levelston sat down in Hasler’s office at the end of the visit and committed to play for BYU. Six days later, she was Provo’s newest resident.
“The second I made the decision to switch, it was like, boom, boom, boom, everything fell into place.”
A second leap
Not long after her arrival, a second leap presented itself as Levelston was introduced to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
“I attended church meetings at BYU, and it got to the point that I needed to pick a church,” she said. “I have this faith that is growing and I wanted to give it some direction.”
The feeling of “being home” returned.
“It was more of what was the same for me, the family values, the emphasis on service, how much people just care about each other and how kind they are,” she said. “That was something I wanted, and when it came to having a family that was eternal, that was something I had already believed in and I loved the fact that now there is something I could go through and do, and go to the temple to really solidify that for me and my family for eternity.”
Five months ago, after conducting her own research through myriad question-and-answer sessions with her friends and teammates, Levelston called the missionaries.
“It wasn’t like I was reaching out to them so I could learn more, I had already been here a year and a half and (during) my first eight weeks I was just asking questions, asking questions, asking questions,” she said. “I needed to talk to the missionaries in order to get baptized.”
Levelston attacked the discussions and reading assignments like she plays her tennis — full speed ahead.
“We had a group chat. I would text them when I was reading scripture and give them my summaries. They would say, ‘OK. Can you read this (scripture) this week?’ I was like, ‘Actually, I already read that, can you give me a different one?’ I was kind of a little bit of a dream (investigator),” she laughed. “The thing that was foundational for me is the peace I felt when I started talking to the missionaries. I didn’t feel I was more stressed making that decision. I felt more at peace in taking those next couple of steps. My missionaries were amazing.”
On April 11, following BYU’s match against Arizona, Levelston was baptized with her team, and her mother, in attendance.
A third leap
Amid all the newness during the last two years, Levelston’s talent has flourished and she has catapulted the Cougars back into relevance. Last fall, she and teammate Kendal Kovick marched their doubles team into the NCAA’s Round of 16 — the furthest BYU has gone in 31 years.
During the spring season, the team captain went 14-5 in singles and led the Cougars to their highest ranking (No. 26) in 20 years and to the program’s second NCAA Tournament appearance since 2007.
“I think it sets the stage for what we can do. Coming in with this young team, it was like, ‘Hey, let’s do the best that we can and develop everybody,’” she said. “We had goals that we set out, but I don’t think we really expected this to happen. Making it to the NCAAs with this young of a team and having a little more seniority coming in over the next couple of years, I think BYU is going to be a team to watch.”
Levelston will be one to watch, too. Like AJ Dybantsa, Kihei Akina, Jane Hedengren, Bear Bachmeier, Ellie Walbruch, Delaney Gibb, Ezra McNaughton and many other elite athletes on campus, her goal is to compete professionally, and BYU is the launching pad to get there.
“To have achieved what I have in the last two years at BYU,” said Levelston on a journey that for her is still hard to believe. “I’m really proud of myself for taking that leap.”
Dave McCann is a sportswriter and columnist for the Deseret News and is a play-by-play announcer and show host for BYUtv/ESPN+. He co-hosts “Y’s Guys” at ysguys.com and is the author of the children’s book “C is for Cougar,” available at deseretbook.com.