When Lisa Thomaidis first watched Gage Grassick suit up for the Carlton Comprehensive Crusaders at a high school basketball tournament in the fall of 2019, the Saskatchewan Huskies women’s basketball head coach and former head coach of Canada’s Senior Women’s National Team had no clue what she was signing up for.

Initially evaluating her at the Guardian Invitational Tournament in Saskatoon, Thomaidis saw a fierce competitor – but one who was still quite raw.

“When I got a text from [Thomaidis] for the first time, it was like holy crap — I can’t believe the Huskies want to recruit me,” said Grassick, who admitted she was initially skeptical about pursuing post-secondary basketball, and considered focusing solely on academics.

In hindsight, that holy crap moment was the springboard for Grassick, whose name is now etched among the program’s all-time greats. Not bad for a journey that started on a grass court located on her family's farm just outside of Prince Albert, Sask.

She won Canada West Championships in three of her five years of eligibility and capped off her career by winning back-to-back U SPORTS National Championships in her final two seasons at the University of Saskatchewan. 

With that came a healthy list of individual honours: two Canada West Player of the Year awards, three U SPORTS All-Canadian nods, and both U SPORTS Player of the Year and U SPORTS Female Athlete of the Year honours in 2024-25.

“This has been 100 per cent earned,” said Thomaidis, who served as head coach of the Senior Women’s National Team for nearly nine years from 2013 to 2021. “You love the stories of players that come out of relative anonymity — those don’t happen very often. Usually the best players are blue chippers all the way along. They’re the best players on the best teams early in their careers and they continue on that trajectory. But for her to start at such a different level and then just surpass others was incredible to watch.”

Through Grassick’s six years spent in Saskatoon, Thomaidis watched her evolve from relative unknown, to rotational presence off the bench, to second-year starter, to one of the faces of U SPORTS basketball.

“Having coached so many amazing players, she is at the top when it comes to leadership,” said Thomaidis. “Her mindset, mental toughness, work ethic, and positivity that she brings as a leader is to me, what separates her.”

A 30-point performance in a narrow 70-67 loss to the Carleton Ravens in the 2024 U SPORTS National Championship put Grassick on the national radar, but it wasn’t until the following season where she really asserted herself as one of the best in the country. 

She helped the Huskies avenge heartbreak, dropping 35 points in the 2025 U SPORTS National Championship and helped the Saskatchewan program win their third Bronze Baby.

Her dominant performance caught the eyes of Canada Basketball, helping her earn a spot on the U23 3x3 Women’s National Team for both the FIBA U23 3x3 Nations League 2025 and the 2025 Junior Pan Am Games, where she won gold alongside Jade Belmore, Marah Dykstra, and Mackenzie Smith. For Grassick, the opportunity to make her National Team debut and represent Canada on the world stage is one she’ll never forget.

“I would say when I first committed to play at the University of Saskatchewan — that was a dream come true for me once I realized that I did want to play post secondary,” said Grassick. “The second dream was to play for my country and to wear Canada across my chest. Being able to fulfill that last year was incredible. 

“Putting that jersey on for the first time and realizing that, like you're not just representing Saskatchewan, you're representing Canada, was pretty amazing.”

After years of balancing national team duties with Canada’s Senior Women’s National Team both as a head coach and assistant coach, few understood Grassick’s summer quite like Thomaidis, who admitted she was a bit concerned about the workload her star player would take on.

But Grassick travelled the world, competing in both Chile and Paraguay, returning to the USask campus soon after without skipping a beat in handling business with the Huskies. 

In addition to balancing her second year of education in the College of Pharmacy and Nutrition at the University of Saskatchewan, Grassick helped lead the defending National Champions right back into battle. The Huskies — and Grassick — never slowed down, going undefeated through the 2025-26 Canada West regular-season, finishing 20-0 after reeling off sweeps of perennial powers UBC, Alberta, Calgary and Regina.

Her final season with the program ended in true storybook fashion. 

Grassick and the Huskies knocked off three-straight wins — over conference rival UBC, the host Laval Rouge et Or, and the UNB Reds — to bring the Bronze Baby back to the Bridge City and cap her career off with another championship ring.

“You couldn’t write a better ending,” said Thomaidis. “When you really think about it and process it — this just doesn’t happen. In September, we did a first day of school photoshoot and she wrote on the chalkboard that she wants to be a two-time national champion. She put the word out to the world, and I’m like ‘wow.’ She knew she put in the work and she was like ‘bring it.’”

“That’s just like the best ending any athlete could have. We didn’t walk away with a single regret. We did it twice —  I think that was just a super big relief,” said Grassick.

The win cemented Grassick’s status as one of the all-time greats in Huskie program history.

“When you think of the incredible players that have played here — no one has done what she’s done,” said Thomaidis. “She’s won every single award that there was to be won by a U SPORTS women’s basketball player. That just sums it up right there.”

“You sometimes have exceptional leaders, and you can have other players who are exceptional athletes. Gage is all of it. She showed up for her team and coaches every single day, giving it her best, every single day. She brought that contagious energy with her at all times. Her impact on our team is indescribable — she’s just a total winner in every respect.”

And while the accolades make the headlines, what will stick with Grassick is the impact she made in the community — developing into a true face of the program and a role model in Saskatoon for young athletes. 

“Yes, in my time with the Huskies we won a lot of games, we won National Championships and Canada West banners, but it’s road trips and all the memories I made with so many people along the way,” said Grassick.

“You don’t realize how good you have it until it’s gone. But it’s really just the people.

“The impact we’re able to have on young female athletes in Saskatoon — these young athletes really look up to us  and I think that's pretty special. The desire and the drive that kids these days have to get better, to play on university teams, to represent their country, is inspiring to see. 

“So I think just knowing that I've left a legacy on young athletes to pursue and follow in my footsteps is something that I'm most proud of.”