Prospect Spotlight: CC McGraw (2018)

Story by Samantha Rivera.

A year from now she’ll be a Minnesota Gopher, but today, she’s a warrior.

Listed as number three on our 2018 class list, Caroline McGraw – better known as CC – committed to play volleyball at the University of Minnesota during her freshman year at Prior Lake High School.

Since then, McGraw has suffered two injuries – but nothing has stopped her from playing the game she loves.

Earlier this January, the 5’10” rising senior suffered a stress fracture in her right foot, after falling down in a club match. The injury forced her to wear a boot for a couple weeks, but was eventually advised by her doctor to undergo a Subchondroplasty – a surgical procedure where calcium phosphate is injected directly into the fractured bone to strengthen and heal it completely. The surgery required McGraw to go through physical therapy until last weekend, when her physical therapist cleared her to play again.

Sadly, that return didn’t last very long.

Within the first 10 minutes of warmups at Gopher volleyball camp, McGraw landed on a teammate’s foot, fell on her ankle, and quickly found out she had torn two ligaments. The injury requires her to undergo yet another surgery this week, that will not only repair both ligaments, but prevent them from tearing again.

Despite being on the injured list, McGraw is excited to hopefully make a return this fall in her last high school season as a Laker. The team managed to make it to last year’s first round at state, but finished fifth overall.

With a year left until McGraw lives out her dreams at Minnesota, she has a lot to look forward to with a team that’s reached the NCAA Women’s Final Four a total of four times within the past eight years.

“I adore the coaches and players and want my family to be able to come to support at the games,” McGraw said. “I think it’s awesome to have the opportunity to represent my state in such a competitive way.”

While the Minnesota native says she always knew she wanted to be a Gopher, her love for the game began when she was young.

“Both of my older sisters played volleyball so that was the piece that got me involved with the sport,” McGraw explained. “Ever since I started peppering with them in my front yard, [and] I immediately fell in love with the game.”

Always looking to improve her all-around game, one thing that will more than likely not change at Minnesota will be her favorite pump-up song, “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” by Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell.

“It’s a classic and I’m obsessed with the movie, ‘Remember the Titans’,” McGraw said. “It’s inspiring and gives me energy and motivation to help my team to success.”

With the drive to fight through injuries and remain with a positive outlook, we’d say McGraw’s story is just as inspiring.