Freshman soccer star Danielle Gray had an impressive debut weekend at KSU Stadium, snagging Atlantic Sun Conference Player of the Week honors.
Danielle Gray,18, is quite the up-and-coming student athlete. A 2012 graduate of McIntosh High School, the soccer player embarked on her undergraduate season career Aug. 17 in a game against Alabama. After a breakout weekend where she scored three goals and had two assists in a single game against Alabama A&M, Gray has big hopes and dreams for her future at KSU.
Gray began her soccer career at the age of five, where she quickly found her niche among the other sports she was playing.
“It was one of those things where my parents signed me up for every sport, just to figure it out and see what I liked. I did gymnastics, basketball, cheerleading, cross-country, track…I think that’s it,” Gray laughed.
As a high-school athlete, Gray submersed herself in academics and athletics, playing both high school and club soccer in addition to being a cross-country competitor. Gray played club soccer for AFC Lightning out of Peachtree City, where she led her team to the North Atlanta Soccer Association Tournament title. She earned the title of Most Outstanding Midfielder in soccer as a senior at her high school and also earned the honor of All-Region Team during her senior cross-country season.
Gray was a National Beta Club member throughout high school and also received gold-level Scholastic Achievement honors from 2009 to 2012. A National Honor Society member her junior and senior year, Gray aims to continue her academic excellence in college.
“I want to try to maintain a 4.0 grade point average through all of college,” Gray said.
Gray selected KSU as her college of choice after a campus visit where she fell in love with the academics, athletics and grounds.
“I came up here and when I saw the campus I just loved it,” Gray said. “I loved the soccer aspect also the school with its academics. I got to meet Coach King, I liked him and everything just all worked out.”
Though she’s currently an undecided major, Gray aspires to graduate with a business degree. Although she’s only a few weeks into her semester at KSU, Gray is already thoroughly enjoying her time at the university.
“High school soccer, at least where I was, was kind of more a have fun, enjoy it and it was definitely more about relaxing and hanging out with friends. Club was actually the more focused one, where you actually work harder. Here (in college) it’s nice to be able to be seen by everybody and still work hard,” Gray said. “A lot of the drills we do are the same; they are similar to the stuff we did in club and high school. But it’s different in the intensity and coaching, they’ll tell me things that I’ve never heard before. It’s much more intense but I like it.”
Gray had no trouble adjusting to college life and quickly built a sense of comradeship with the team and its veteran athletes.
“After the first three days of preseason the team took a road trip and went to Tennessee. We went camping, so that in itself built a sense of camaraderie, trying to build our tents and everything,” Gray said. “The next day we got to go white water rafting on the Ocoee so that was really fun.”
Although the team endures exhausting practices most days, the women still find time to enjoy one another’s company and spend time outside of soccer.
“When we go out to practice they’re very long, hard sessions, we put a lot of work in. On the field we’re pretty much trying to kill each other, just to be able to be the best that we can be. Off the field we’re all like best friends,” Gray said.
Women’s head soccer coach Rob King has high expectations for Gray during the upcoming season.
“She’s very hard working, strong, fit and has good technical abilities,” King said.She has a great attitude, she’s a team player who is competitive and has a winning mentality. Having watched her in the recruiting process and through preseason, we expect a lot from Danielle every time she puts the jersey on.”
After earning recognition from the A-Sun Conference, King is looking forward to coaching the team to an impressive season.
“The team chemistry is fantastic. If they can stay healthy it could be a special year for them,” King said. “It’s a great start to the season; we want many more (awards) this year and would like to receive team awards too.”
“I’d like Danielle to be a part of many championships, experience NCAA post season play and earn individual recognition both in the classroom and on the field. I have no doubt that she’ll achieve all of these goals,” King said.
Grey is looking forward to the 2012 season and hopes to make her freshman year one to remember.
“Sports wise, as a team we said that we would like to try to win conference. I have high goals for both sports and academics,” Grey said.
The women’s soccer team will kick-off its fifth home game at 7:00 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 31 against Tennessee. They will then travel to Fayetteville, Ark. on Sept. 2 before heading to the College of Charleston Cup where they will face Eastern Kentucky on Sept. 7 and South Florida on Sept. 9.
Danielle Gray: Feature Facts
Who is your favorite athlete? Alex Morgan
Other than soccer, favorite sport to watch? Baseball – San Francisco Giants
Most played song on iPod? All The Above – Maino
If you were a crayon, what color would you be? Light blue
Scary movies or happy endings? Happy endings
Furthest you’ve ever traveled? Dubai
