Kansas University senior basketball center Jeff Graves has been suspended indefinitely from the team for “irresponsibility and lack of respect for the basketball program and his teammates,” KU coach Bill Self said Friday.
Self took the action in response to Graves missing Friday’s practice, which started at 11 a.m.
The Jayhawks’ first-year coach informed Graves of the suspension after the 6-foot-9, 250-pounder finally arrived at the fieldhouse about 1 p.m. and took the court to shoot free throws after the practice had ended.
Graves’ status will be re-evaluated Monday when Self meets with Graves, who will not be with the team for today’s 1 p.m. game against Oregon at Kemper Arena.
“We have been on Jeff about being responsible. Things had been accumulating and he missed practice today,” Self said.
“We want Jeff to be a part of our program but if and only if he’s able to show the same responsibility his teammates do.”
Self would not go into detail, but it’s believed Graves had been tardy for some other practices this season. Self took away Graves’ spot in the starting lineup in the Jayhawks’ first exhibition game after the player arrived five minutes late for a pre-game meeting.
Self said Graves hadn’t broken any laws or had problems in the classroom. Pure and simply, this was a basketball issue.
“It’s a responsibility issue,” Self said. “This has nothing to do with anything other than Jeff being responsible for carrying out his daily basketball/school-related activities.”
Graves said he accepts the punishment and will try to convince Self on Monday he truly wants to be a Jayhawk.
“I was just being irresponsible,” Graves said. “I just messed up a little bit, real quick and I have to suffer the consequences. Everybody makes mistakes. Everybody is not perfect so I have to learn from my mistakes and not do them again.”
Graves said he was suspended for “being irresponsible, being late. I have to suffer the consequences.”
Before speaking to reporters on Friday, Self said in a statement that “as of now, Jeff’s status for the remainder of the year is undetermined. There must be serious effort on his part to warrant his return to the basketball program.”
And later he told reporters, “We’ll visit with him Monday to see if I’ll let him practice.”
When Graves first arrived on the KU campus in August 2002, he was out of shape and overweight, upsetting former KU Coach Roy Williams. Williams wouldn’t even acknowledge him as a member of the team until shortly before the first game.
Then Graves was injured in a car accident in Kansas City, Mo., which further set back his attempts at re-earning his spot on the team.
He eventually reached his playing weight and had flashes of greatness — especially during the NCAA Tournament. However, he had motivation problems through the season and was criticized by Williams and by his teammates.
— 6Sports anchor Kevin Romary contributed to this story.
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