At the end of practice Monday afternoon, Aleah Grundahl took her turn among her UW-Whitewater teammates by tossing up a shot from midcourt.
The shot rattled in and out. She threw down her arms to her sides in a brief moment of frustration.
There have been very few moments of frustration for Grundahl on the basketball court the past five seasons for the Warhawks. That’s correct. Five seasons.
The 6-foot preseason D3hoops.com All-America selection is one of many collegiate players taking advantage of an extra season of eligibility granted by the NCAA after COVID-19 caused by the early cancellation of the 2020-21 season when she was a sophomore.
Grundahl is joined by guard Lunden Alexander as fifth-year players on the team.
That doesn’t go unnoticed by their younger teammates.
“They call us ‘moms,’” Grundahl said laughing.
Now she is down to the final two months of her collegiate career.
“I haven’t been trying to think about it,” Grundahl said. “It’s definitely something you don’t want to think about.”
Numbers add up
She doesn’t even think about her number of accomplishments.
Grundahl ranks No. 1 in career points with 1,723. The 2019 DeForest High School graduate also ranks first in career field goal attempts (1,349) and made field goals (661). She ranks fourth all-time in free-throw attempts (487) and fifth in made free throws (359) and steals (203). She is 11th in career rebounds with 609 and likely will finish in the top five.
She is tied all-time for 15th place with 233 assists.
This season, Grundahl leads the WIAC in scoring with a 20.2 average and is second in both rebounds (6.6 per game) and steals (42).
Grundahl has little response when read some of those numbers. UW-Whitewater head coach Keri Carollo says that is par for the course for Grundahl.
“She’s just extremely humble,” Carollo said. “I think that’s the biggest thing about her.
“She really doesn’t care about any individual attention. She is so much more concerned that her teammates are playing well and that we win games. She’s pretty special.”
Adversity arrives with broken hand
Grundahl’s team philosophy was illustrated at the end of last season. In a WIAC Tournament semifinal game, Grundahl caught her right hand on a UW-Oshkosh player’s jersey and broke two bones in her hand.
The injury ended her season. The Warhawks went on to defeat the Titans and then UW-Eau Claire in the championship game to earn the conference’s automatic Division III NCAA Tournament berth.
UW-Whitewater hosted the first two games and defeated Webster (Missouri) University and Gustavus Adolphus (Minnesota) at Kachel Gymnasium. The Warhawks won those games 69-50 and 68-63 to advance to the Sweet 16.
Grundahl, wearing a cast on her hand, spent the pregame and halftime warmups underneath the basket, tossing rebounds out to teammates and urging them on. Then on the bench during the games, she was one of the biggest cheerleaders.
The absence of Grundahl’s 14.3-point scoring and 4.5-rebound averages finally caught up with the Warhawks in their 63-56 loss to Trinity (Connecticut) College in the Sweet 16 game that ended their 23-7 season.
Carollo admired how Grundahl kept her personal disappointment away from her teammates.
“She did a great job compartmentalizing that,” Carollo said. “She was really struggling outside of team time with that, but she knew how important it was for her to put on that happy face.
“She made sure that her teammates that stepped in for her were ready to go,” Carollo said. “It goes back to how unselfish she is, and how she cares more about the team.”
Coached up from early age
Carollo also described Grundahl as having a high basketball IQ.
That background came from her family. Her father, Todd, is both a teacher and assistant coach at DeForest High. Her mother, Lisa, is a teacher and co-head softball coach at DeForest. Her uncle, Jerry Schwenn, is the other co-head softball coach and has been the head football for the Norskies since 2015.
“We were really lucky when she came in as a freshman,” Carollo said. “She was a seasoned player for having both her parents as high school coaches. She just looked at the game in a different way.”
Grundahl started in the “Little Norskies” program in kindergarten. She began playing AAU basketball in 4th grade.
She lettered in basketball, volleyball and softball (playing for her mother and uncle) all four years in high school.
And the education aspect that runs through her family also connects with Aleah. She is substitute teaching this semester and plans to teach in the elementary grades (second through fifth) when she graduates.
“My family is full of teachers,” she said. “I’ve always loved being around kids.”
And coaching also could be part of her future.
Final stretch
But first comes finishing her collegiate basketball career.
Grundahl helped the Warhawks win their first 17 games of the season through Tuesday. The team is 18-1 overall and 7-1 in the WIAC, which puts them in first place, one game ahead of 6-2 UW-Oshkosh.
Grundahl is soaking everything in.
“The practices, the games and the bus rides and the team meals — everything seems just a little more special,” Grundahl said.
And the stretch run could be memorable.
“We’re really excited,” Grundahl said about the final weeks of the season and likely postseason. “Being my fifth year, I’m just trying to soak everything up. But definitely looking at the end goal.”
That end goal would be a trip to the NCAA Division III Final Four and possible national championship. That would be the fitting conclusion of basketball career that so far has included four All-WIAC team berths, two WIAC Player of the Year honors and five NCAA Division III All-America honors.
“It’s just been really fun to see her grow from a young girl to a woman,” Carollo said. “We’re really proud of her.”
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