‘He works hard.’ This Kentucky high schooler has the attention of USA Basketball
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Class of 2029 college basketball recruit Mason Grivna is a top player from Kentucky.
- Grivna is nearly 7 feet tall and plays high school basketball at Ballard.
- Grivna is the son of two former University of Louisville athletes.
It is early to deliver a meaningful assessment of the 2029 college basketball recruiting class.
These players are just wrapping up their freshman years of high school, and there’s plenty more basketball to be played in several evaluation settings to determine which players are among the best from the 2029 group.
But last month, when USA Basketball hosted a 65-player junior national team minicamp in Indiana, only seven players from the 2029 recruiting class were in attendance.
And one of those seven also happened to be the only player at the minicamp from a Kentucky high school.
Mason Grivna, 6-foot-11 center from Louisville who attends Ballard High School, is attracting plenty of early praise for his basketball skill.
Mason is the son of two former University of Louisville athletes. His father, Mark, played football for the Cards while his mother, Jessica, played women’s basketball. Mark was an offensive lineman for Louisville from 1997-99, and Jessica was a center at the school from 1995-98.
“We’re both not from Louisville, but we made it home after college and decided to stay there,” Mark Grivna told the Herald-Leader at that USA Basketball minicamp. “We just started our kids in sports, just trying different things to see what they like. And the next thing you know, they’re starting to take off.”
Mason’s older sister, Ella, is also a standout athlete in the competitive Grivna family. Ella, who stands 6-6, is finishing her senior year at Ballard before beginning her college volleyball career in the SEC as a middle blocker at South Carolina.
Mark told the Herald-Leader that Mason first played baseball while growing up, before taking a strong liking to basketball around the fourth or fifth grade.
“He was like, ‘Man, I really like this, and I want to work (at it),’” Mark said. “... He was obviously a tall, lanky, goofy kid, and now it’s come together. His mind is catching up with his body and is still going through that process.”
Mason already has the attention of several top college programs after averaging 16.7 points and 9.1 rebounds per game as a freshman this past season at Ballard. Mason has earned scholarship offers from the likes of Arizona State, Texas Tech and Virginia Tech, among other schools.
Mark also said he’s heard of recruiting interest in Mason from top programs such as Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisville and Purdue. Vanderbilt is also showing interest in Mason.
Mason Grivna is taking steps in his basketball development
While Mason’s 6-11 frame makes him an outlier among post players in the commonwealth, his playing style stretches beyond the paint. As a freshman at Ballard, Mason made 18 3-pointers at a 45.0% clip from beyond the arc. That distance shooting ability, which could improve with time, paired nicely alongside a 70.7% free-throw shooting rate and 69.0% shooting from the floor overall.
Mason — whose hobbies away from basketball include fishing and sketching — was named to the MaxPreps freshman All-America second team.
This spring, Mason has also made his mark on the grassroots basketball circuit. In April, he earned accolades from 247Sports following a strong performance with Wildcat Select during the opening Adidas 3SSB session of the year in California.
“He’s got a very high IQ on the basketball court,” Mark said. “... He works hard. He’s a great rim protector. He can score at all three levels, too. He’s doing well in all aspects of the game. He does a lot of the other aspects of it, other than scoring, really well.”
One of those other aspects is footwork, which Mason attributes to studying film of legendary big man Hakeem Olajuwon.
With Mason’s game flourishing, an important goal was to get on USA Basketball’s radar. About a month before the April junior national team minicamp, Mark got a call from Cole Miller, currently the men’s national team assistant director at USA Basketball, with the news that Mason had earned a minicamp invitation.
Getting the USA call-up was a milestone moment for Mason, and the hope is that it will be the first of many markers to come in his basketball journey.
As Mason’s prep career continues, so will his college basketball recruitment.
On that front, having two parents who previously played sports at the Division I level — as well as having an older sibling who is about to do the same — should serve as an asset.
“We’ve been through it. I mean, the times have changed, but a lot of things are still the same. A lot of the basics are still the same on what it takes to get to that next level,” Mark said. “I think both my wife and I have been able to teach them (Ella and Mason) what it takes to get to the next level, what it takes to be at the next level and how much work and sacrifices you have to make. And then, luckily for us, they’ve been good listeners on that and they’re coachable on that stuff, instead of just ignoring us.”
