Will Graves

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.

Will Graves
Graves with Hapoel Haifa in September 2018
Free agent
PositionSmall forward / Power forward
Personal information
Born (1988-05-15) May 15, 1988
Greensboro, North Carolina
NationalityAmerican
Listed height6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)
Listed weight234 lb (106 kg)
Career information
High schoolJames B. Dudley
(Greensboro, North Carolina)
CollegeNorth Carolina (2007–2010)
NBA draft2011 / Undrafted
Playing career2011–present
Career history
2011Akita Northern Happinets
2011–2012Boca Juniors
2012Marinos de Anzoátegui
2012–2014Club Deportivo Libertad
2013Club Malvín
2014Keflavík
2014–2017Maccabi Haifa
2019FC Porto
2019-2020APOEL B.C.
Career highlights and awards

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
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2007-08 North Carolina 3605.2.391.442.5831.440.330.140.082.22
2008-09 North Carolina 23010.5.427.263.8892.300.700.300.093.57
2009-10 North Carolina 363424.2.366.371.8064.640.890.640.193.81
Career 953413.7.380.367.7832.860.630.370.135.42

Professional career

Early years (2011–2014)
Graves with the Akita Northern Happinets in 2011

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
Legend
  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

NBA Preseason Stats
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2016-17 Haifa 1026.8.000.000.0005.002.001.000.000.00
2017-18 Haifa 3220.4.280.167.5003.000.670.330.005.67
Career 4222.0.219.143.5003.501.000.500.0054.25

Regular season
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2010-11 Akita 161532.1.388.348.74111.21.70.80.322.2
2011-12 Boca 393828.9.386.261.8656.280.920.590.2610.74
2011-12 Marinos 11420.9.411.389.7782.910.820.730.369.27
2011-12 Libertad 111133.2.414.362.7238.641.360.640.0015.91
2012-13 Libertad 312225.9.448.409.8215.390.770.520.1612.87
2012-13 Malvin 1233.6.442.301.8087.32.20.80.316.3
2013-14 Libertad 12413.7.365.414.6002.830.580.250.335.08
2014-15 Keflavík 101031.3.445.349.6598.002.801.001.2022.90
2014-15 Haifa 23325.7.413.410.7504.701.220.300.1712.61
2015-16 Haifa 312328.6.372.325.7614.651.260.840.4211.61
2016-17 Haifa 28724.3.416.415.7714.291.140.570.4611.11
2017-18 Haifa 5220.6.185.0711.0002.000.400.400.002.40
2018-19 Porto 201824.6.395.324.6916.151.150.550.4013.00

Playoffs
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2010-11 Akita 227.0.333.286.50010.00.50.00.013.5
2011-12 Libertad 834.1.407.300.7699.61.30.80.017.1
2014-15 Haifa 317.0.381.273.5714.31.30.00.07.7
2015-16 Haifa 533.8.382.250.8504.01.61.20.615.6

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