Jayvon Donnell Graves (born December 29, 1998) is an American professional basketball player for Rytas Vilnius of the Lithuanian Basketball League (LKL) and the BCL. He played college basketball for the Buffalo Bulls.
 Graves with Buffalo in 2020 | |
| No. 3 – Rytas Vilnius | |
|---|---|
| Position | Point guard |
| League | LKL BCL |
| Personal information | |
| Born | December 29, 1998 Canton, Ohio, U.S. |
| Listed height | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) |
| Listed weight | 200 lb (91 kg) |
| Career information | |
| High school | St. Vincent–St. Mary (Akron, Ohio) |
| College | Buffalo (2017–2021) |
| NBA draft | 2021: undrafted |
| Playing career | 2021–present |
| Career history | |
| 2021–2022 | Austin Spurs |
| 2022–2023 | Limoges CSP |
| 2023–2024 | MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg |
| 2024–present | Rytas Vilnius |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
High school career
editGraves was born in Canton, Ohio but grew up in Malvern, Ohio. He began playing basketball at the age of six and was also a star player in baseball and football.[1] He attended St. Vincent–St. Mary High School where he was coached by Dru Joyce II.[2] As a senior, he helped St. Vincent-St. Mary to its first state title since 2011 and 25–5 record.[3] He scored 22 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in the title game.[4] Graves averaged 21.5 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 2.5 assists per game. He shared All-Ohio Player of the Year honors in Division II with Trotwood High School's Torrey Patton, and Graves was named cleveland.com Boys Basketball Player of the Year.[3] In AAU play, he competed for the King James Shooting Stars.[4] Graves was a three-star recruit with offers from 13 schools, including MAC schools Toledo and Kent State, but signed with Buffalo. He said he was drawn to the Bulls because of "the style of play, the atmosphere, closeness to home and the coaching staff," particularly Nate Oats.[5]
College career
editAs a freshman, Graves played in all 36 games and averaged 5.1 points and 2.3 rebounds per-game. He helped the team finish 27–9 and defeat Arizona in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. As a sophomore, he became a starter, contributing 9.7 points and 4.2 rebounds per game. Graves helped the Bulls finish a school-record 32–4 and defeat Arizona State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament before losing to eventual national runner-up Texas Tech.[6] His best game as a sophomore came on February 19, 2019, when he tallied 26 points in a 114–67 blowout win over Ohio.[7]
Coming into his junior season, Graves was the leading returning scorer on a team that lost C. J. Massinburg, Nick Perkins and Jeremy Harris to graduation.[4] On February 21, 2020, Graves scored a career-high 33 points in a 104–98 double overtime win at Kent State. As a junior, Graves led Buffalo in scoring at 17.1 points per game in addition to averaging 5.4 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game in 32 games, all starts. He set the program record for field goals attempted in a season with 479, and his 204 made field goals are third highest in a season at Buffalo. He was named to the First Team All-MAC. Following the season, he declared for the 2020 NBA draft but did not hire an agent.[2] On June 6, Graves announced he was withdrawing from the draft and returning to Buffalo.[8] On March 2, 2021, he posted a triple-double with 13 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds in an 80–78 win over Akron.[9] As a senior, Graves averaged 14.2 points, 6.1 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game.[10] He was named to the Second Team All-MAC.[11]
Professional career
editAustin Spurs (2021–2022)
editAfter going undrafted in the 2021 NBA draft, Graves signed with the Austin Spurs of the NBA G League on October 27, 2021.[12]
Limoges CSP (2022–2023)
editHe signed with Limoges CSP of the LNB Pro A on July 30, 2022.[13] On December 22, 2022, Graves' NBA G League rights were traded from the Austin Spurs to the Windy City Bulls.[14]
Riesen Ludwigsburg (2023–2024)
editOn July 3, 2023, he signed with MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg of the Basketball Bundesliga.[15]
Rytas Vilnius (2024–present)
editOn July 25, 2024, Graves signed with Rytas Vilnius of the Lithuanian Basketball League (LKL) and the BCL.[16]
Career statistics
edit| GP | Games played | GS | Games started | MPG | Minutes per game |
| FG% | Field goal percentage | 3P% | 3-point field goal percentage | FT% | Free throw percentage |
| RPG | Rebounds per game | APG | Assists per game | SPG | Steals per game |
| BPG | Blocks per game | PPG | Points per game | Bold | Career high |
College
edit| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017–18 | Buffalo | 36 | 1 | 16.3 | .380 | .325 | .600 | 2.3 | 1.0 | .5 | .8 | 5.1 |
| 2018–19 | Buffalo | 36 | 35 | 24.9 | .457 | .372 | .625 | 4.2 | 1.9 | .8 | .8 | 9.7 |
| 2019–20 | Buffalo | 32 | 32 | 34.4 | .426 | .360 | .647 | 5.4 | 2.5 | 1.2 | .7 | 17.1 |
| 2020–21 | Buffalo | 25 | 25 | 34.4 | .409 | .281 | .575 | 6.1 | 3.8 | 1.4 | .9 | 14.2 |
| Career | 129 | 93 | 26.7 | .422 | .340 | .615 | 4.3 | 2.2 | .9 | .8 | 11.1 | |
Personal life
editGraves is the son of Brandy Prior and Aaron Graves, and he has an older brother Jalen. His grandfather, James Pryor Jr., was an Ohio state player of the year in high school.[1] Graves is a Christian. He majored in communication with a minor in sociology at Buffalo.[6] He cites LeBron James as his favorite athlete.[4]
References
edit- ^ a b McCleary, Michael (December 25, 2017). "Jayvon Graves, from Akron, Ohio to Buffalo is building a legacy for himself". The Daily Orange. Retrieved April 17, 2020.
- ^ a b Beaven, Michael (March 25, 2020). "Buffalo's Jayvon Graves of Malvern enters NBA Draft". Canton Repository. Archived from the original on March 29, 2020. Retrieved April 17, 2020.
- ^ a b Goul, Matt (April 12, 2017). "Meet cleveland.com's 2016-17 boys basketball all-stars". The Plain Dealer. Retrieved April 6, 2020.
- ^ a b c d DeCicco, Anthony (December 5, 2019). "A quiet leader". Buffalo Spectrum. Retrieved April 17, 2020.
- ^ Weiss, Justin (March 25, 2020). "Draft dreams: Jayvon Graves mulls NBA future". Buffalo Spectrum. Retrieved April 17, 2020.
- ^ a b Beaven, Michael (March 25, 2020). "Former St. V-M star Jayvon Graves enters NBA Draft, maintains college eligibility". Akron Beacon-Journal. Archived from the original on March 28, 2020. Retrieved April 17, 2020.
- ^ "No. 25 Buffalo stampedes Ohio for 23rd straight home win". ESPN. Associated Press. February 19, 2019. Retrieved April 17, 2020.
- ^ Beaven, Michael (June 6, 2020). "Jayvon Graves withdraws from NBA Draft, returning to Buffalo for senior year". Canton Repository. Retrieved August 2, 2020.
- ^ "Graves triple-double lifts Buffalo over Akron 80–78". ESPN. Associated Press. March 2, 2021. Retrieved June 17, 2021.
- ^ Decicco, Anthony (April 8, 2021). "Jayvon Graves signs with Sports International Group ahead of NBA Draft". Buffalo Spectrum. Retrieved June 17, 2021.
- ^ "2020-21 Men's Basketball Postseason Awards Announced" (Press release). Mid-American Conference. March 10, 2021. Retrieved March 10, 2021.
- ^ Austin Spurs [@austin_spurs] (October 27, 2021). "Our 2021-22 training camp roster is set!" (Tweet). Retrieved November 1, 2021 – via Twitter.
- ^ "Javyon Graves joins Limoges". Sportando. July 30, 2022. Retrieved August 2, 2022.
- ^ "2022-23 NBA G League Transactions". gleague.nba.com. December 22, 2022. Retrieved December 22, 2022.
- ^ "Aus Limoges nach Ludwigsburg: Jayvon Graves". mhp-riesen-ludwigsburg.de (in German). July 3, 2023. Retrieved August 6, 2023.
- ^ "Prie Vilniaus "Ryto" jungiasi 25-erių gynėjas Jayvon Graves" (in Lithuanian). Rytas Vilnius. July 25, 2024. Retrieved July 25, 2024.