Will Graves Explained

Will Graves
Position:Small forward / power forward
Height Ft:6
Height In:6
Weight Lb:234
Team:Free agent
Nationality:American
Birth Date:1988 5, mf=yes
Birth Place:Greensboro, North Carolina
Highschool:James B. Dudley
(Greensboro, North Carolina)
College:North Carolina (2007–2010)
Draft Year:2011
Career Start:2011
Years1:2011
Team1:Akita Northern Happinets
Years2:2011–2012
Team2:Boca Juniors
Years3:2012
Years4:2012–2014
Years5:2013
Team5:Club Malvín
Years6:2014
Team6:Keflavík
Years7:2014–2017
Team7:Maccabi Haifa
Years8:2019
Team8:FC Porto
Years9:2019–2020
Team9:APOEL B.C.
Highlights:

William Thomas Graves (born May 15, 1988) is an American professional basketball player who last played for FC Porto of the Liga Portuguesa de Basquetebol (LPB). He played college basketball for North Carolina before playing professionally in Japan, Argentina, Venezuela, Iceland, Israel and Portugal.

Early life and college career

Graves attended James B. Dudley High School in Greensboro, North Carolina, where he averaged 25.1 points and shooting 44 percent from beyond the arc, leading the team to two state championships. Graves was named North Carolina High School Player of the Year in 2006.[1]

Graves played three years of college basketball for the University of North Carolina. He averaged 9.8 points and 4.6 rebounds in his junior year.

College statistics

|-| style="text-align:left;"| 2007–08| style="text-align:left;"| North Carolina|36 ||0 || 5.2 ||.391 ||.442 || .583 ||1.44 ||0.33 || 0.14 ||0.08 ||2.22|-| style="text-align:left;"| 2008–09| style="text-align:left;"| North Carolina|23 || 0 || 10.5 ||.427 || .263 ||.889|| 2.30 ||0.70 || 0.30 || 0.09 || 3.57|-| style="text-align:left;"| 2009–10| style="text-align:left;"|North Carolina|36 || 34 || 24.2 ||.366 ||.371 ||.806||4.64 ||0.89 || 0.64 || 0.19 || 3.81|-|-|- class="sortbottom"! style="text-align:center;" colspan=2| Career

!95 ||34 || 13.7 ||.380 || .367 ||.783 || 2.86 ||0.63 || 0.37 ||0.13 ||5.42|-

Professional career

Early years (2011–2014)

On February 10, 2011, Graves signed with the Akita Northern Happinets of Japan and started his professional career.[2]

On October 6, 2014, Graves signed with Keflavík of the Icelandic Úrvalsdeild.[3] [4] On November 13, 2014, Graves recorded a career-high 39 points, shooting 15-of-26 from the field, along with six rebounds, six assists and three blocks in a 87–82 win over ÍR Reykjavíkur.[5] In 10 games played for Keflavík, he averaged 22.9 points and 8 rebounds per game.

Israel (2014–2018)

On December 17, 2014, Graves parted ways with Keflavík to join the Israeli team Maccabi Haifa for the rest of the season.[6] On March 25, 2016, Graves participated in the 2016 Israeli League All-Star Game. In his second season with Maccabi Haifa, Graves helped the team reach the 2016 Israeli League Playoffs as the third seed, but they eventually lost to Maccabi Rishon LeZion in the Quarterfinals.

On February 27, 2017, Graves recorded an Israeli League career-high 34 points, shooting 12-of-20 from the field, along with eight rebounds in a 96–97 loss to Maccabi Tel Aviv.[7] On April 20, 2017, Graves suffered a season-ending injury in a match against Maccabi Tel Aviv.[8]

On August 4, 2017, Graves signed a one-year contract extension with Maccabi Haifa.[9] However, on November 5, 2017, Graves parted ways with Haifa after playing three seasons with the team.[10]

On August 8, 2018, Graves signed a one-year deal with Hapoel Haifa of the Israeli National League.[11] However, on October 24, 2018, he parted ways with Hapoel Haifa before appearing in an official game for them.[12]

Portugal (2019)

On February 27, 2019, Graves signed with the Portuguese team FC Porto for the rest of the season.[13] In 20 games played for Porto, he averaged 13 points, 6.1 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game. Graves helped the team reach the Portuguese League Semifinals, where they eventually fell short to Benfica.

Musical endeavour

In his off-court life, Graves is a rapper, who has published original songs under the recording name Willy G.[4]

Career statistics

NBA Preseason Stats

|-|style="text-align:left;"|2016–17|style="text-align:left;"|Haifa| 1 || 0 || 26.8 || .000 || .000 || .000 || 5.00 || 2.00 || 1.00 || 0.00 ||0.00|-|style="text-align:left;"|2017–18|style="text-align:left;"| Haifa| 3 || 2 || 20.4 || .280 || .167 || .500 || 3.00 || 0.67 || 0.33 || 0.00 || 5.67|-|- class="sortbottom"! style="text-align:center;" colspan=2| Career

!4 ||2 || 22.0 ||.219 || .143 ||.500 || 3.50 ||1.00 || 0.50 ||0.005 ||4.25|-

Regular season

|-| align="left" | 2010–11| align="left" | Akita|16 ||15 || 32.1 ||.388 || .348 ||.741 || 11.2|| 1.7 || 0.8 ||0.3 ||22.2 |-| align="left" | 2011–12| align="left" | Boca|39 ||38 || 28.9 ||.386 || .261 ||.865 || 6.28|| 0.92 || 0.59 ||0.26 ||10.74 |-| align="left" | 2011–12| align="left" | Marinos|11 ||4 || 20.9 ||.411 || .389 ||.778 || 2.91|| 0.82 || 0.73 ||0.36 ||9.27 |-| align="left" | 2011–12| align="left" | Libertad|11 ||11 || 33.2 ||.414 || .362 ||.723 || 8.64|| 1.36 || 0.64 ||0.00 ||15.91 |-| align="left" | 2012–13| align="left" | Libertad|31 ||22 || 25.9 ||.448 || .409 ||.821 || 5.39|| 0.77 || 0.52 ||0.16 ||12.87 |-| align="left" | 2012–13| align="left" | Malvin|12 || || 33.6 ||.442 || .301 ||.808 || 7.3|| 2.2 || 0.8 ||0.3 ||16.3 |-| align="left" | 2013–14| align="left" | Libertad|12 ||4 || 13.7 ||.365 || .414 ||.600 || 2.83|| 0.58 || 0.25 ||0.33 ||5.08 |-| align="left" | 2014–15| align="left" | Keflavík|10 ||10 || 31.3 ||.445 || .349 ||.659 || 8.00|| 2.80 || 1.00 ||1.20 ||22.90 |-| align="left" | 2014–15| align="left" | Haifa|23 ||3 || 25.7 ||.413 || .410 ||.750 || 4.70|| 1.22 || 0.30 ||0.17 ||12.61 |-| align="left" | 2015–16| align="left" | Haifa|31 ||23 || 28.6 ||.372 || .325 ||.761 || 4.65|| 1.26 || 0.84 ||0.42 ||11.61 |-| align="left" | 2016–17| align="left" | Haifa|28 ||7 || 24.3 ||.416 || .415 ||.771 || 4.29|| 1.14 || 0.57 ||0.46 ||11.11 |-| align="left" | 2017–18| align="left" | Haifa|5 ||2 || 20.6 ||.185 || .071 ||1.000 || 2.00|| 0.40 || 0.40 ||0.00 ||2.40 |-| align="left" | 2018–19| align="left" | Porto |20 ||18 || 24.6 ||.395 || .324 ||.691 || 6.15|| 1.15 || 0.55 ||0.40 ||13.00 |-

Playoffs

|-|style="text-align:left;"|2010–11|style="text-align:left;"|Akita| 2 || || 27.0 || .333 || .286 || .500 || 10.0 || 0.5 || 0.0 || 0.0 || 13.5|-|style="text-align:left;"|2011–12|style="text-align:left;"| Libertad| 8 || || 34.1|| .407 || .300 || .769 || 9.6 || 1.3 || 0.8 || 0.0 || 17.1|-|style="text-align:left;"|2014–15|style="text-align:left;"| Haifa| 3 || || 17.0|| .381 || .273 || .571 || 4.3 || 1.3 || 0.0 || 0.0 || 7.7|-|style="text-align:left;"|2015–16|style="text-align:left;"| Haifa| 5 || || 33.8|| .382 || .250 || .850 || 4.0 || 1.6 || 1.2 || 0.6 || 15.6|-

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Redshirt Year Benefits Graves . https://web.archive.org/web/20190302152433/http://www.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/stories/110807aaf.html . dead . March 2, 2019 . cstv.com . November 8, 2007 . March 1, 2019.
  2. Web site: 秋田プロバスケットボールクラブ . 秋田ノーザンハピネッツ☆選手契約締結のお知らせ. 10 February 2011 . 20 January 2017.
  3. Web site: Will Graves semur við Keflavík. karfan.is. October 6, 2014. March 1, 2019. Icelandic.
  4. Web site: Keflvíkingar veðja á rappara sem var rekinn úr skóla Jordan . . . Óskar Ófeigur Jónsson . 7 October 2014 . 2017-08-08.
  5. Web site: IR Reykjavik 82 at Keflavik 87 . RealGM.com . November 13, 2014 . March 1, 2019.
  6. Web site: Maccabi Haifa signed Will Graves . Sportando.basketball . December 17, 2014 . March 1, 2019.
  7. Web site: Winner League, Game 20: M. Tel-Aviv Vs M. Haifa . basket.co.il . February 27, 2017. March 1, 2019.
  8. Web site: וויל גרייבס סיים את העונה . one.co.il . April 21, 2017. March 1, 2019.
  9. Web site: Will Graves re-signs with Maccabi Haifa . Sportando.basketball . August 4, 2017 . March 1, 2019.
  10. Web site: מכבי Hunter חיפה משחררת את וויל גרייבס. mhbasket.co.il. November 5, 2017. March 1, 2019. he.
  11. Web site: האס של רחימי: גרייבס חתם בהפועל חיפה. one.co.il. August 8, 2018. August 8, 2018. he.
  12. Web site: גרייבס שוחרר מהפועל חיפה: הוחלט על שינוי. one.co.il. October 24, 2018. October 24, 2018. he.
  13. Web site: Will Graves reforça FC Porto. record.pt. February 27, 2019. March 1, 2019. Portuguese.