FRIDAY,APRIL4.2003
FINALFOUR
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN - 5B
Graves becomes force for Kansas
By Doyle Murphy
dmurphy@kansan.com
Kansan senior sportswriter
Kansas coach Roy Williams wouldn't talk about Jeff Graves. He said there was no point, he wasn't on the team.
That was shortly after the junior forward reported to campus, weighing 293 pounds and looking less like the Jayhawks' sixth man and more like the product of six meals a day. He was overweight, out of shape, and Williams wasn't about to believe that a summer car wreck was to blame for Graves' physical conditioning.
"Two-hundred ninety-three pounds was Jeff Graves' problem," Williams said. "Not a car wreck."
Graves responded. He eventually ran enough laps in a short enough time to make the team,
and he lost 18 pounds. But he picked up another problem: fouls. He began to commit silly fouls while filling in for senior forward Nick Collison or sophomore forward Wayne Simien. The fouls were a nuisance, but they weren't critical with Collision and Simien dominating the competition.
That all changed when Simien went down with a dislocated shoulder against University of Missouri-Kansas City. If Graves had a grace period, it was over. Suddenly, Kansas needed him to start and to stay out of foul trouble.
Again, Graves responded. He started with a 10-point, 12-rebound performance against UMKC. Now weighing 260 pounds, he averaged 10 points and 11.4 rebounds during the next four games, never in serious foul trouble.
Then it happened again. He began to foul. His five-foul, 6-point outing Jan. 22 against Colorado was the beginning of a tail-spin. He was in constant foul trouble in the next six games and never scored more than 9 points. Williams and the rest of the Jayhawks began to question Graves' concentration. When Graves skipped class and was late to a workout in the week before a Feb. 19 game with Colorado, the Kansas basketball family began to air their concerns in the media.
"He's got to get his life straightened out," Williams said after the Colorado game. "He's got to do the right things everyday."
Graves' teammates weren't any more sympathetic after the game.
"When coach has to constantly be on you and discipline you," Simien said. "We're tired of seeing that. With what we're trying to do here, there's no room for that."
Graves never fought back against the criticism, although he had plenty of ammo. His best friend from his high school days in Lee's Summit, Mo., had accidentally and fatally shot himself while playing with a gun earlier in the week. Still, Graves would make no excuses for arriving late to practice and missing class.
"It's my fault," he said. "I must suffer the consequences."
And so he kept playing, hearing every word and changing. He was slimming down—now 250 pounds—and growing up.
Faced with arguably the toughest regional in the NCAA tournament, Graves was becoming the player that his coach and teammates knew he could be. In Kansas' most important game so far, he manhandled the Arizona front line, making all six of his field goal attempts, scoring 13 points and snatching 15
Junior forward Jeff Graves grabs a rebound against North Carolina. Graves has stepped up after the season-ending injury to Wayne Simien on Jan.4.
Kansan file photo
rebounds.
No longer was he Jeff Gravy, as he had been called by a local pundit. A rigid jaw bone replaced bloated cheeks, and compliments replaced criticism.
Graves was part of the team. Not only did Williams talk about him after the game, he even smiled while he did it.
Williams' early-season criticism of Graves turns into motivation
— Edited by Ryan Wood
Jeff Graves' performances in recent games have left fans scratching their heads and asking, "When did Graves get good?"
In Saturday's game against Arizona, Graves scored 13 points on 6-of-6 shooting and a career-high 15 rebounds.
"Right now I feel I'm on cloud nine," Graves said. "If there was a cloud 20, I'd be on that."
Yet just months ago, coach Roy
Williams publicly dogged Graves for showing up for fall practice grossly overweight at 295 pounds.
"He needs to do more pushaways," Williams said in the fall. "Pushaways from the table."
COMMENTARY
At the time, Williams' remarks seemed cruel. But could his early criticism have helped Graves step up on the court?
The junior forward said yes
"If a coach doesn't talk to his
Nicole Roché
nroche@kansan.com
Graves faced many difficulties in his life at that time, including a car accident in the fall that he said nearly killed him.
players, obviously he doesn't care much about them," Graves said. "It kind of drove me."
He understood Williams' initial concerns.
"It was my responsibility to come back here in shape," Graves said. "I wasn't at the time, but I work my butt off now."
Sophomore Aaron Miles said although he was impressed with
Graves' playing ability, he also shared his coach's initial doubts.
"When he came back in that shape," Miles said, "I didn't think he wanted it enough."
Now Miles said Graves was crucial to the team's success—as long as he stayed out of foul trouble, that is.
Graves' father was recently called for active duty and is stationed in Delaware. Graves said
Tuesday he wasn't sure if his dad would be sent to Iraq.
For now, he said he wanted to continue making his father proud. And his coach, too, for that matter.
"I've been on his tail every single day, and I'm going to stay on him," Williams said. "It's paid off."
Rochie is a Wichita senior in journalism.
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