BIOGRAPHY
In 10 seasons as Oregon’s head coach, Kelly Graves has established a winning culture and cemented the Ducks as one of the premiere women’s college basketball programs in the nation.
Graves – who will enter his 11th season with the Ducks in 2024-25 – was named the seventh head coach in program history on April 7, 2014. On March 20, 2019, Graves agreed to a contract extension that will keep him in Eugene through at least the 2025-26 season.
The John R. Wooden Pac-12 Coach of the Year in 2019 and 2020, Graves will begin the 2024-25 campaign with a record of 221-11 through 10 seasons at Oregon and a 648-293 overall mark in 30 seasons as a head coach, which includes three years at Big Bend Community College (1989-92). He is 603-273 all-time in 27 seasons as an NCAA Division I head coach, with successful stops at Saint Mary’s (1997-00) and Gonzaga (2000-14) before coming to Oregon.
BUILDING A DUCK DYNASTY
Graves guided the Ducks to three consecutive Pac-12 regular-season titles from 2018-20 – making Oregon only the second team in league history to three-peat as conference champions – while also winning the Pac-12 Tournament title in both 2018 and 2020. Graves owns 13 total regular-season conference championships in his career as a head coach.
Oregon has become one of the nation’s toughest outs in the NCAA Tournament under Graves, reaching the Elite Eight for the first time in both 2017 and 2018 before advancing to the program’s first-ever Final Four appearance in 2019. It was the first career Final Four trip for Graves, who has led his teams to 13 total NCAA Tournament berths (four at UO), six Sweet Sixteen appearances and four Elite Eights. The Ducks are also tied for fifth nationally since 2017 with four Sweet Sixteen runs over that stretch.
The Ducks’ rise to prominence began with an improbable run to the Elite Eight in 2017, the program’s first NCAA Tournament berth since 2005. With three true freshmen in the starting lineup, the No. 10 seed Ducks pulled out a thrilling one-point victory over No. 7 seed Temple in the opening round and then shocked No. 2 seed Duke on its home floor to reach their first-ever Sweet Sixteen. Playing under the mantra ‘Winner Stays,’ Oregon continued its Cinderella story with a 77-63 win over No. 3 seed Maryland before falling to No. 1 seed UConn in the Elite Eight.
Oregon’s incredible run in 2017 made Graves the only coach in NCAA history to take two double-digit seeds to the Elite Eight, having done so with Gonzaga in 2011 as a No. 11 seed.
The Ducks were a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament each of the next two years, defeating Seattle U, Minnesota and Central Michigan in 2018 before coming up short against eventual national champion Notre Dame in the Elite Eight. Oregon made it back to the Elite Eight once again in 2019 and earned the advantage of playing with a significant home court advantage with Graves and the Ducks had already secured their fourth straight NCAA Tournament berth in 2019-20 – going 31-2 and sweeping the Pac-12 regular-season and tournament titles – and were poised to be a No. 1 seed for the first time in program history when the postseason was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In 2020-21, Graves led Oregon to its fourth consecutive Sweet Sixteen appearance, as the Ducks knocked off 11-seed South Dakota and 3-seed Georgia. UO went 15-9 during a season that was abbreviated due to COVID-19, while fan attendance was not allowed at any games in Matthew Knight Arena or any other road venue the Ducks played in.
Graves guided the Ducks to their sixth 20-win season in the last seven years in 2021-22, as UO ended the year 20-12 overall and 11-6 in Pac-12 play. The Ducks finished in the top two of the conference for the fourth time in five seasons while making their fifth consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance under Graves.
2022-23 marked Oregon's second straight 20-win campaign and seventh in the last eight seasons, going 20-15 and 7-11 in conference action. The Ducks made a run to the Great 8 of the WNIT after being among the last four teams left out of the NCAA Tournament field. Graves collected his 200th win while at UO, an 85-78 win over 17th-ranked Arkansas at the San Diego Invitational on Dec. 20, 2023.
Oregon’s rise to prominence under Graves appears to still be on the upward trend, as the Ducks have signed a top-two recruiting class nationally two of the last four years. Oregon’s 2022 class is ranked No. 2 in the country, headlined by a pair of McDonald’s All-Americans and two five-star prospects. The Ducks’ 2020 class was ranked No. 1 nationally and was the first top-ranked recruiting class in program history.
Few coaches in the nation have enjoyed success as consistently as Graves, whose teams have won at least 20 games in 15 of the last 17 seasons and 18 total times. Oregon has won 30 or more games three times during his tenure – including a program-record 33 wins in both 2018 and 2019 – giving Graves four total 30-win seasons in his career. The Ducks also won a school-record 17 conference games in 2019-20 after going 16-2 in Pac-12 play each of the previous two seasons.
Oregon has enjoyed major success at home under Graves, going 82-13 overall at Matthew Knight Arena in the last six seasons, highlighted by a 22-game home winning streak from 2018-20. The Ducks went 15-0 at home in 2019-20, marking Oregon’s first undefeated home season since 1985-86, and just the fifth in program history.
Oregon women’s basketball games have become must-see events under Graves, with the Ducks finishing in the top 20 nationally in average attendance each of the last five seasons (does not count 2020-21 season when fans were not permitted). Nearly 600,000 fans have come through the turnstiles at Matthew Knight Arena since the 2018-19 season, as Oregon has averaged 7,395 fans per game at home during that stretch.
ELITE PLAYER PIPELINE
Graves has recruited and coached some of the greatest players in the history of the game, headlined by Oregon legend Sabrina Ionescu (2016-20).
A three-time first-team all-American, three-time Nancy Lieberman national point guard of the year, three-time Pac-12 player of the year and the 2019-20 unanimous national player of the year, Ionescu is the first and only player in NCAA history (women and men) to surpass 2,000 career points, 1,000 rebounds and 1,000 assists. Ionescu is the undisputed triple-double queen of college basketball, racking up an NCAA all-time record 26 throughout her Duck career before going on to become the No. 1 overall pick by the New York Liberty in the 2020 WNBA Draft.
Ionescu is one of only two players in NCAA history to reach 2,000 career points and 1,000 assists, joining another one of Graves’ former players in Courtney Vandersloot, who was a three-time all-American at Gonzaga (2007-11) before going on to a terrific WNBA career. Vandersloot (1,118) and Ionescu (1,091) rank third and fourth, respectively, on the NCAA women’s basketball all-time assists list.
Ionescu’s legendary career likely would have looked a lot different if not for the other half of what became one of the greatest pick-and-roll duos of all-time – forward Ruthy Hebard. Hebard was a dominant force down low for the Ducks, racking up 2,368 career points and 1,299 rebounds while breaking the Oregon and Pac-12 all-time records with a .651 career field-goal percentage. Hebard broke the NCAA record with 33 consecutive made field goals as a sophomore, and she was a first-team all-American as a senior along with Ionescu. Of Hebard’s program-record 987 career field goals, 333 came on assists from Ionescu.
Hebard and Ionescu joined forces with forward Satou Sabally to form one of the greatest “Big Threes” in history. Sabally received all-America status along with the legendary duo in 2019-20, her junior season, and the trio led Oregon to the Pac-12 title sweep. Sabally declared early for the WNBA Draft and ended up as the No. 2 overall pick behind Ionescu to the Dallas Wings, with Hebard going eighth overall to the Chicago Sky. Graves’ “Big Three” became the seventh trio of players from the same team to all be selected in the top 10 of the same WNBA Draft.
In 2022, Nyara Sabally became the fourth Duck to become a first-round pick under Graves when she was selected fifth overall by the Liberty. A two-time All-Pac-12 selection, Sabally was the sixth Oregon player drafted in Graves’ tenure. The Ducks are the only team in the country with at least four first-round selections in the last three WNBA drafts.
Graves also coached Oregon great Jillian Alleyne in the final two seasons of her tremendous career. Alleyne was a two-time third-team all-American under Graves and is second in NCAA history with 92 career double-doubles, and she is the Oregon and Pac-12 all-time leader with 1,712 career rebounds.
CHAMPIONSHIP RESUME
When Graves took over as Oregon’s head coach in 2014, he brought with him eight West Coast Conference Coach of the Year awards and a stellar 427-202 overall record as a head coach. Graves’ was 382-162 (.696) as a Division I head coach prior to coming to Eugene.
Graves enjoyed a phenomenal tenure at Gonzaga (2000-14), leading the Bulldogs to 10 straight WCC titles beginning with the 2004-05 campaign. Under Graves, Gonzaga lost only 12 total conference games over his final 10 years leading the program.
Gonzaga went to seven NCAA Tournaments under Graves, first earning a bid to the Big Dance in 2006-07 before returning in 2008-09 for the first of six straight postseason berths. Graves led Gonzaga to the Elite Eight as a No. 11 seed in 2011, the second of three straight Sweet Sixteen appearances.
Graves’ coaching career started at Big Bend CC in Moses Lake, Wash., where he accepted an assistant coaching position on the men’s team, but moved over to lead the women’s program after the previous head coach left.
In three seasons (1989-92) Graves took a four-win team his first season to a 23-10 record in his final year, the first 20-plus win year in program history. Graves was inducted into the Northwest Athletic Conference Hall of Fame in 2018.
Graves left Big Bend CC to become an assistant coach under Jim Sollars at the University of Portland prior to the 1992-93 season. Following four years with the Pilots, Graves was named the head coach at Saint Mary’s ahead of the 1997-98 campaign. Graves advanced to his first NCAA Tournament with the Gaels during the 1998-99 season, his second of three seasons at Saint Mary’s, before taking the head job at Gonzaga.
Graves added USA Basketball to his resume in the summer of 2012, becoming an assistant coach with the U18 women’s basketball squad and helping the team to a gold medal at the 2012 FIBA Americas. He again coached for USA Basketball in the summer of 2013. As an assistant, he helped the USA U19 squad win the FIBA Women’s World Championship.
PLAYING CAREER AND PERSONAL
Graves played two seasons of collegiate basketball at New Mexico before getting into coaching. He appeared in 65 games with 54 starts for the Lobos between the 1985-86 and 1986-87 seasons, averaging 8.6 points, 2.6 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game. Graves started all 34 games for New Mexico in 1986-87 and averaged 10.1 points per game, third-most on the team.
Graves and his wife Mary have three sons - Max (1995) Jackson (1997) and Will (2000). Max graduated from UO in 2017 and worked with the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks. Jack is an assistant coach with the Lane CC women’s basketball team, and Will played three seasons for Gonzaga.
