Taking a leap of faith is nothing new for BYU’s Gracie Levelston
Cougars Gracie Levelston was oh-so-close to moving on from the sport, then came a call from BYU. The rest is history.
BYU's Gracie Levelston reacts eyes the ball during match against Arizona State April 9, 2026. | Olivia Taylor, BYU Photo “I wouldn’t believe it one bit. ” Welcome to Gracie Levelston’s life, where no one is more surprised than she is to be playing tennis in a state she had never visited and representing BYU — a program she knew nothing about.
“I really thought that was going to be it,” Levelston told the “Y’s Guys” livestream show last week. “I was in the mentality of never picking up my racket again. ” Frustrated by a repeated foot fracture that torpedoed her freshman season at UCF, the former No.
2-ranked recruit in the nation, Levelston, a 6-foot-1 tour de force, was determined to abandon her triple-digit serve, leave school and follow her father’s footsteps into the military. “I was one step away. When you break bones, it’s harder to get a military clearance.
It’s not impossible, but the recruiter advised me to go get a letter that said I was fit for service,” she said. “I did that. ” Derrick and Cristin remained supportive, but seeing their daughter so adamant about giving up on her childhood dream was hard to watch.
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