Kansas’ Graham looking forward to another meeting with Villanova
SAN ANTONIO » Devonte’ Graham looked relaxed as Kansas went through its open practice at the Alamodome Friday. He appeared to take everything in.
The expression the 6-foot-2 All-American guard had on his face after the Jayhawks topped Duke in overtime, 8581, to get to Saturday’s Final Four meeting with Villanova was one of the joy of realization of a dream ... and relief.
Kansas had been to the Elite Eight twice before in Graham’s career and came up short both times, and both times the Jayhawks were the top seed. Last year, Kansas dropped a 74-60 decision to third-seeded Oregon in the Midwest Regional Final. The year before that, the topranked Jayhawks lost to No. 2 Villanova, 64-59, in the South Regional championship game.
So you can understand why Graham had the look on his face that he did that day.
“I just realized that we had finally gotten over that hump,” Graham said. “There was a lot of excitement and it was really emotional. I was shocked.”
Graham’s journey to his first Final Four has had a few twists and turns, too. He initially signed with Appalachian State, but then went to Brewster Academy, a prep school in New Hampshire, when then App State coach Jason Capel would not release Graham from his letter of intent, according to published reports.
Capel was fired at the end of the year and replaced by Jim Fox in 2014. One of the first things Fox did was release Graham from his letter of intent. Graham signed with Kansas a month later.
“It’s important from our end that he and his people wanted to go, obviously, somewhere else,” Fox told the Kansas City in 2016. “As a new coach, you want guys that want to be at your university. I’d say it worked out real well for both of us.”
Graham has developed into one of the premier point guards in the country, one that has led his team to three straight trips to the Elite Eight and now, a Final Four. Graham leads the Jayhawks in scoring (17.2 ppg.) and is second nationally in assists (7.3).
And that makes Saturday’s showdown with the Wildcats interesting because it pits arguably the two top point guards against one another. Graham, though, like Villanova’s Jalen Brunson, isn’t getting caught up in all that.
“He’s a great player,” Graham said of Brunson. “He does a lot of things well. He knows how to get his shot and make plays for others. I keep saying that he’s elite because he can post guys up. He’s able to score off of that.
“As far as the hype, you have two good guards on both teams, both in the running for national Player of the Year. So it deserves the hype, but at the end of the day we both know that it’s Kansas versus Villanova, not Jalen vs. Devonte’.”
It’s the second time Graham and Brunson have gone head-to-head in the NCAA tournament. This meeting, though, will be a little different than that one two years ago in Louisville. That was a defensive struggle in which both teams were well under 30 percent from 3-point range.
That probably won’t be the case this time around. This has all the makings of a highscoring affair. The Wildcats lead the nation in scoring (86.6 ppg.), and are sixth in field goal percentage (49.9) and 19th in 3-point field goal percentage (40.0).
The Jayhawks are 29th in scoring (81.4), 11th in 3-point field goal percentage (40.3) and 19th in field goal percentage (49.3).
Graham is that the of that attack, forefront even though he has struggled to make shots in the tournament. He’s averaging 16 points in the tourney and shooting 34 percent overall and 32 percent from 3-point range.
However, Graham has not let the shooting slump affect the way he leads the team or how he has enjoyed the ride to the Final Four.
“I’ve been trying to soak in everything that we’ve been doing, but still realize that we have a journey ahead of us,” Graham said.