Girls Basketball: Nazareth’s Grace Carstensen commits to DePaul

Grace Carstensen had to trust the process, and trust in her hard work.

The Nazareth senior guard lost the summer before her sophomore season when COVID shut down basketball in Illinois. Then Carstensen missed her 2021 AAU season when she came down with mono, costing her a chance at exposure to college coaches. All the while, though, the sweet-shooting Carstensen faithfully worked on her game as the recruitment process wore on.

“It felt like almost forever,” Carstensen said. “It felt like a long process but the whole time [Nazareth] coach Eddie [Stritzel] was telling me to stay patient and trust that things would work out.”

That patience has been rewarded.

Carstensen, the leading scorer and lone senior starter for Class 3A No. 1-ranked Nazareth, on Wednesday made her verbal commitment to DePaul and coach Doug Bruno.

DePaul first reached out to Carstensen, who also held an offer from NIU, about a month ago. She made a visit for a Blue Demons’ game with St. John’s, and a scholarship offer was extended on a second visit at the end of January.

“It feels really good just to see it happen, especially because a lot of the college stuff happened late,” Carstensen said. “I’m really grateful that I had a team that could get me the ball and an amazing coaching staff who supported me.”

It helps to have a work ethic that Stritzel calls “unmatched.”

Carstensen said that growing up it was a tradition for her and her dad to get shots up before and after practice and games. That work hasn’t gone unnoticed.

“I can’t tell you how how many hours after practice her father stays over to rebound for her, then she goes to a shooting coach, then a skill trainer. She literally lives in the gym,” Stritzel said. “She will put her mark on that program sooner rather than later.”

Carstensen arrived at Nazareth as a shooter, but worked to develop her game with the goal of playing Division I basketball. Stritzel noted that she has improved in facets every season, and this year leads Nazareth in steals. Carstensen is averaging close to 11 points, 6 rebounds and 3 steals per game, while shooting 40% from 3-point range for the 27-1 Roadrunners. She scored her 1,000th career point in the last week.

“Grace was completely under the radar and I told her Grace it will work out and boy she struck gold,” Stritzel said. “She never got down, never got jealous. She just continued to work.”

Stritzel, coincidentally, had Bruno an as assistant coach during a collegiate career at Loyola, and called it a “great situation” for Carstensen.

“Grace has really stepped up her game on the defensive end, with rebounding and working on moves off the dribble and has really completed her game,” Stritzel said. “Her range and her shot is already there. She has a high D1 release and range. The speed of the game will be the biggest transition, but she is one of those kids that will figure it out. It might take her a little time but her work ethic is unmatched.”