Grayson gets the point
After refining his game, senior guard takes Class 4A state runner-up Chesterton to new heights
The words — understood, if not easy to hear — laid a significant part of the foundation for Travis Grayson’s iconic season.
Chesterton’s senior point guard allowed coach Marc Urban’s words to wash over him. Grayson absorbed them. He took them to heart.
And then he proceeded to put them into practice.
Grayson propelled the Trojans to the Class 4A state championship game. Became one of five finalists for Mr. Basketball. Became an Indiana All-Star.
“I listened to coach Urban more,” Grayson said. “Before the season started, he kept it real with me. We talked for hours. He showed me my stats from junior year, and they were not good at all. He showed me my assist-to-turnover ratio, and it was negative. I was shooting too many shots and not making many — I was a shottaker, not a shot-maker.
“I had to get my efficiency up with less shots. I had to be a better distributor with less turnovers. I was a liability to the team with as many turnovers as I had. So I worked on everything. I became a better leader because of it. I just had to improve and get better.”
To say Grayson’s stats “were not good at all” as a junior, when he won the first of his back-to-back Duneland Athletic Conference MVP awards, would be an overstatement. To say Grayson, the 2021-22 Post-Tribune Boys Basketball Player of the Year, elevated his game as a senior would be an understatement.
“The part for me that really was unbelievable, he probably had a slim chance to make the Indiana All-Star team at the beginning of the season,” Urban said. “He made a decision how to go about it. He played with a chip on his shoulder, but had fun in the process. He had a lot of fun.
“He basically carried us to go 29-0. Whatever he had to do, he did. Facilitate, score, free throws, steals — he just did that. His leadership was unbelievable. He had the complete respect of all of his teammates. That’s the sign of a great leader — everybody on the team pulling in the same direction.”
Count senior forward Chris Mullen among the believers in Grayson.
“We, 11 other guys, all the coaches, see what he does, what he puts in, how he lifts in the weight room, how he stays after practice and works hard,” Mullen said after Chesterton lost 65-31 to Indianapolis Cathedral in the state final.
“It makes me upset that he’s not going to get a rightful chance at Mr. Basketball. But I think with all my heart that he should win that because his work ethic, the things people don’t see, I’m just going to leave it there. He should be the front-runner, and he deserves every part of everything he will get in the future.”
The part people do see was impressive. Grayson averaged 19.0 points, 3.8 rebounds, 5.4 assists and 2.6 steals. He had 163 assists compared to 61 turnovers, a vast improvement, and he increased his shooting percentages.
“Seeing him go from where he was to what he was able to accomplish, all the accolades, I’m extremely proud of him,” Urban said. “He was special for us and special for our community.”
Grayson drove the Trojans to the first regional and semistate titles in program history.
“I’m extremely blessed and thankful for the moments I was able to live, to be with Chesterton basketball,” he said. “Senior year, I feel like it’s the best year I’ve had basketball-wise. I owe it to God, my parents, coach Urban and the whole coaching staff, everyone on the team who worked hard from day one.
“I’m thankful I got the opportunity to lead a group of guys somewhere they’ve never been before and I’ve never been before. I’m fortunate I had another great leader of the team with Chris Mullen. Everyone just bought into winning and working hard and putting the team over themselves. They put it all into the team, and now everybody is getting out what they put in with all of the accolades.”
Grayson, whose family moved from Merrillville before eighth grade, started for the Trojans as a freshman, earning the spot after a teammate suffered a preseason injury. After four seasons of growth, he did not win Mr. Basketball. That went to Westfield guard Braden Smith, a Purdue recruit.
Grayson took the voting in stride.
“Me personally, I think I should’ve won it,” he said. “But I’m not going to get mad about it. I’m excited I was in the top five. I’m excited I was a finalist. It doesn’t matter if I won or not. I know what I did and what I contributed to my team . ... I’m super excited Braden Smith won it. I’ll be with him on the Indiana All-Stars.
“It’s competition. I don’t get mad. I’m happy to be top five and in consideration.”
Grayson was effusive about his selection as an Indiana All-Star. He became the program’s fourth member. Zack Novak was the most recent in 2008.
“It’s super exciting,” Grayson said. “I’m extremely blessed. That’s one of the biggest accomplishments in the state of Indiana you can get, other than Mr. Basketball, of course. It’s something special. It’s a memory I’ll never forget.
“Indiana All-Star — that’s not gotten if we didn’t win. Mr. Basketball finalist — that’s not gotten if we didn’t win. You can put up all the stats you want, but it doesn’t matter if you’re not winning. Nobody wants to look at a loser scoring 30 points.”
Grayson made sure to focus all of his attention on winning during the season. Now he has shifted gears and is in the process of picking a college, including taking several visits. He anticipates making a decision within the next month.
Grayson took off the week after the state championship game before getting back into the gym.
“Whenever you look back on that type of stuff, especially the season we had, it’s really nice,” he said. “You get filled with excitement when you relive what you accomplished. That was historic what we did, and I’m happy to be part of the team that was able to make that happen.”