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Mar. 28—One of Maine's most dominant high school basketball players in recent years is coming back to her home state.
Lizzy Gruber is transferring to play for the University of Maine women's basketball team, the school announced Friday. Gruber, a 6-foot-4 center, has spent the last two seasons at Saint Joseph's University in Philadelphia after graduating from Gardiner Area High School.
"I'm super excited. One, to join a program that's so well-coached and seems to be very strong culturally, but also just to be home, in general," Gruber said. "Just being surrounded by an entire state of people who care about me and love me as much as I love them is very exciting. I can't wait to get back to that."
Maine coach Amy Vachon said she was thrilled to add Gruber, who will be a redshirt sophomore when the 2025-26 season begins.
"We've known Lizzy for a really long time," she said. "To have her be able to return home and come back to us with three years of eligibility left, which is great, we're just super excited about it."
Vachon said she's unsure of the role Gruber will have next year, but is eager to use her skill set.
"I think Lizzy brings a lot," she said. "I think she's versatile, I think she's a very good communicator on the court, which is really important to us. She can shoot outside, but she's long and she can post up. ... We're really excited to see what she's done, how much she has grown and how much more we can help her grow."
Gruber became the state's top rebounder and shot blocker while at Gardiner, totaling over 1,000 points and 1,000 rebounds and finishing with career averages of 21.1 points per game, 15.3 rebounds and 4.2 blocks. She received the Miss Maine Basketball award in 2023 and a scholarship to play for Saint Joseph's in the Atlantic 10 Conference.
From the start of her college career, however, Gruber's time in Philadelphia was hampered by injuries. She had herniated discs in her back in her freshman season, during which she played 14 games, and she redshirted this season while recovering from a torn labrum in her hip, as well as bursitis and tendinitis.
She said she's 100% now but needed a change in scenery.
"After being injured, I think it was just good for me to get a clean slate," she said. "Start over, just pick somewhere where I could start fresh and try that."
She entered the transfer portal on Tuesday. The next morning, she had a message from Vachon.
"She texted me and said, 'I saw your name in the portal. I would love to talk,'" she said. "I said, 'Yes, please, that would be awesome.'"
As soon as Gruber began to consider transferring, the idea had been to come to UMaine. She played AAU and showcases with current UMaine players Sarah Talon, Emmie Streams, Izzy Allen and Maddie Fitzpatrick and has trained with incoming freshman Bailey Breen.
"I wouldn't want to start over anywhere else. That's very difficult to do," Gruber said. "But starting over at a place where I know everyone, I know roughly ... how everything operates, is a lot easier than picking a school I don't have any connection to."
Gruber said she thinks she can help the Black Bears, given the two years she spent practicing against and learning from a pair of top-notch post players at Saint Joseph's — Laura Ziegler and Talya Brugler.
"I've practiced against them every day. You can't get worse doing that, the only way is up," she said. "I was 18 playing against girls who were 22, 23, 24. They just have so much more experience than I do, and I think they've ... passed down how to present yourself on the floor and how to work in the post at the college level, because it's very different than high school."
Now she's ready to make an impact back home.
"I committed to Saint Joe's knowing that I wanted to go out and ... see what everything else had to offer," she said. "I think I accomplished that. What I found was that there really is no place like home."
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Lizzy Gruber is transferring to play for the University of Maine women's basketball team, the school announced Friday. Gruber, a 6-foot-4 center, has spent the last two seasons at Saint Joseph's University in Philadelphia after graduating from Gardiner Area High School.
"I'm super excited. One, to join a program that's so well-coached and seems to be very strong culturally, but also just to be home, in general," Gruber said. "Just being surrounded by an entire state of people who care about me and love me as much as I love them is very exciting. I can't wait to get back to that."
Maine coach Amy Vachon said she was thrilled to add Gruber, who will be a redshirt sophomore when the 2025-26 season begins.
"We've known Lizzy for a really long time," she said. "To have her be able to return home and come back to us with three years of eligibility left, which is great, we're just super excited about it."
Vachon said she's unsure of the role Gruber will have next year, but is eager to use her skill set.
"I think Lizzy brings a lot," she said. "I think she's versatile, I think she's a very good communicator on the court, which is really important to us. She can shoot outside, but she's long and she can post up. ... We're really excited to see what she's done, how much she has grown and how much more we can help her grow."
Gruber became the state's top rebounder and shot blocker while at Gardiner, totaling over 1,000 points and 1,000 rebounds and finishing with career averages of 21.1 points per game, 15.3 rebounds and 4.2 blocks. She received the Miss Maine Basketball award in 2023 and a scholarship to play for Saint Joseph's in the Atlantic 10 Conference.
From the start of her college career, however, Gruber's time in Philadelphia was hampered by injuries. She had herniated discs in her back in her freshman season, during which she played 14 games, and she redshirted this season while recovering from a torn labrum in her hip, as well as bursitis and tendinitis.
She said she's 100% now but needed a change in scenery.
"After being injured, I think it was just good for me to get a clean slate," she said. "Start over, just pick somewhere where I could start fresh and try that."
She entered the transfer portal on Tuesday. The next morning, she had a message from Vachon.
"She texted me and said, 'I saw your name in the portal. I would love to talk,'" she said. "I said, 'Yes, please, that would be awesome.'"
As soon as Gruber began to consider transferring, the idea had been to come to UMaine. She played AAU and showcases with current UMaine players Sarah Talon, Emmie Streams, Izzy Allen and Maddie Fitzpatrick and has trained with incoming freshman Bailey Breen.
"I wouldn't want to start over anywhere else. That's very difficult to do," Gruber said. "But starting over at a place where I know everyone, I know roughly ... how everything operates, is a lot easier than picking a school I don't have any connection to."
Gruber said she thinks she can help the Black Bears, given the two years she spent practicing against and learning from a pair of top-notch post players at Saint Joseph's — Laura Ziegler and Talya Brugler.
"I've practiced against them every day. You can't get worse doing that, the only way is up," she said. "I was 18 playing against girls who were 22, 23, 24. They just have so much more experience than I do, and I think they've ... passed down how to present yourself on the floor and how to work in the post at the college level, because it's very different than high school."
Now she's ready to make an impact back home.
"I committed to Saint Joe's knowing that I wanted to go out and ... see what everything else had to offer," she said. "I think I accomplished that. What I found was that there really is no place like home."
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