Bridgewater-Raritan Basketball Stars Receive Dan Grigal Scholarships

BRIDGEWATER, NJ — Amanda Smith and Morgan Cook were thrilled to be "honored" together since they consider each other "best friends."

Santino Costello revealed that he was "honored" to be associated with a man whose scholarship is named after.

The word honor was the theme of the day as was the legacy and name of Dan Grigal when these three Bridgewater-Raritan High School basketball players received their scholarships on June 13.

On that afternoon once the school day came to an end, a ceremony to assist in the beginning of the collegiate careers of these three seniors was staged outside the office of Bill Deniz, the Bridgewater-Raritan Athletic Director.

The three students were recipients of the Dan Grigal Basketball Scholarship, which was created by his wife, Melissa, after the long-time boys’ basketball coach and physical education teacher at the Bridgewater-Raritan Middle School lost his life after his battle with cancer in June of 2021.

Melissa launched the Dan Grigal Basketball Scholarship that is awarded to a graduating boys’ and girls’ basketball player from Bridgewater-Raritan High School to assist them in their college educations.

Melissa was on hand to award the scholarships to Santino, who received $2,000, and to Amanda and Morgan, who each accepted $1,000.

Santino will enroll in the fall at Penn State Hazleton, which is a commonwealth campus of the Penn State University and is located in Sugarloaf.

Xavier Brooks, the Bridgewater-Raritan High School Girls’ Basketball Coach, explained why there were two girl recipients.

"Both of these student athletes (Amanda and Morgan) were a great part of our program and it was a difficult decision to make by choosing just one, so they will split the award and receive $1,000 each," Coach Brooks reported.

Amanda will attend Rutgers University and Morgan is headed to the University of North Carolina at Wilmington.

The seniors expressed their gratitude during the ceremony.

"This is such a big honor," said Santino, who will play basketball while he will concentrate on Business as his major and Finance as a minor. "I did not know Coach Grigal but I did know of him and I am honored to receive a scholarship in his name."

"I am so thankful for this scholarship and I can share it with my best friend," claimed Amanda, who plans to focus on Pre-Med as well as Biology and Psychology at Rutgers.

Morgan, who plans to concentrate on Criminology and Psychology as her major at North Carolina-Wilmington, echoed the feelings of her friend.

"I am so honored and I am blessed to share it with Amanda," said Morgan.

Both girls revealed that they will concentrate on studies and not pursue basketball when they enter the collegiate ranks.

Boys’ Basketball Coach Gene McAteer expressed that his player was well deserved in receiving the scholarship.

"Santino is a high character kid and was a great teammate and has a great personality. I wish him well," said McAteer.

Coach Brooks relied on Amanda and Morgan to assist during his first season as the head coach this past winter.

"It was an honor to coach them both,” said Brooks. "They did an amazing job as captains and they set the tone for the new Bridgewater-Raritan girls’ basketball program.”"

"This is just amazing and fantastic," declared Melissa during the ceremony.

She also said that a "smaller donation of $100" is awarded to the Bridgewater-Raritan Middle School basketball program.

And these funds for the scholarships come from the highly popular "Golfing Fore! Grigal" Golf Outing will be held once again this year.

The third annual golf outing is scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 14 at the Bunker Hill Golf course in Princeton.

Golfers can obtain more information on this event by going to: https://golfing-for-grigal-101...

Melissa shared what everyone in attendance that afternoon of June 13 felt -"the scholarships keep Dan’s legacy alive."

— Submitted by Bridgewater-Raritan Regional School District