After a solid summer, Davontay Grace could’ve waited for more offers to come along, possibly drag out his recruiting into the season. But the Thomas Jefferson standout didn’t need any more time.
Manhattan College had everything he wanted — it was close to home, offered him an opportunity to play right away, and join fellow city standouts such as forward Rhamel Brown and guard Mike Alvarado, formerly of Transit Tech and All Hallows, respectively.
On Aug. 17, the talented guard verbally committed to Manhattan College and Coach Barry Rohrssen.
The 6-foot-2 Grace, a combo guard who has played the point in his three years at Jefferson, initially committed to St. John’s last year, but that fell apart when coach Norm Roberts was fired. He also considered Hofstra.
A three-year starter and rising senior at Jefferson, Grace has helped the Orange Wave reach the PSAL Class AA semifinals twice and the quarterfinals a year ago. He averaged 11 points and seven assists per game during league play last season.
“That’s a major get for Manhattan,” talent evaluator Tom Konchalski said. “He can be an impact player.”
Many have compared Grace to former University of Connecticut star Khalid El-Amin because of his stocky build, but Konchalski sees a clone of John Bagley, a scoring guard who starred for Boston College and went on to enjoy a pro career in the ABA.
“This guy is more of a scorer, that will probably be his role at Manhattan,” Konchalski said. “If he had gone to the Big East, he would’ve had to reinvent his game and become more of a distributor.”
Konchalski isn’t the only one who sees Grace’s commitment as a smart choice.
“I think he can really be a star in that league. He said he’s gonna pull a Stephen Curry,” Jefferson coach Lawrence Pollard said. The coach later added: “He can get a couple thousand points and have his name in the rafters, have a great career. He could be the kid to put those guys over the top.”
