Lee’s Summit, Mo. ? There’s a mom-and-pop sporting goods store just off Third Street in the ancient downtown district of Lee’s Summit.
It’s a throwback business, owned by Craig and Jackie Soltys, complete with a homey atmosphere and an old cat that roams around and sleeps by the front door. It’s the popular choice for local kids who, among other things, wish to purchase their high school letter jackets.
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One of its most popular past customers, Kansas University men’s basketball forward Jeff Graves, had a claim to fame at Summit Sports long before finding notability as a key contributor to KU’s Final Four run last spring.
“Jeff bought the biggest letter jacket we’ve ever sold here,” Jackie Soltys said.
You can’t help but believe her when seeing the 6-foot-9, 255-pound Graves.
The Soltyses seem to enjoy reminiscing about Graves, the new local hero. But in the midst of conversation, Craig, a Missouri fan, suddenly stops and takes a look behind him.
“You know,” he said, “I’m still waiting for him to bring a picture in so I can put it on my wall.”
Lee’s Summit isn’t known as a breeding ground for decorated athletes, making Graves’ emergence into the sports spotlight all the more celebrated.
Yet, as much as Graves is cherished, his success is surprising to many. In the four years Graves went to Lee’s Summit High (1997-2000), the city produced two NCAA Division One basketball players — Jibran Kelley, a 6-8 forward from Lee’s Summit North, who played collegiately at Southern Methodist; and Graves’ older brother, Robby, easily the more hyped of the two, who played two seasons at Missouri-Kansas City.
But not Jeff. The younger of the Graves brothers was good, no doubt, but he wasn’t polished, and according to his former coaches, he lacked the work ethic needed at the next level.
“Knowing what I know of KU and the demand for excellence, I never thought Jeff would go through that,” said Mike Spiegel, Graves’ former football coach. “I didn’t think he had the motivation.”
A short time later, Graves scored 16 points and grabbed 16 rebounds in the national championship game against Syracuse in front of 54,000 fans at the Superdome in New Orleans.
Graves’ rise to college basketball glory was anything but ordinary and, according to many in Lee’s Summit, anything but expected. His journey to KU started with humble roots — and overwhelming expectations stemming from his big brother.
By the time Graves was an impact high school basketball player — during his junior season — his brother Robbie had already left LSHS as one of the school’s all-time greats.
Robbie was a 6-2 point guard with tremendous leaping ability, a great three-point shot and a flamboyance that lit up Lee’s Summit’s fieldhouse.
He averaged 18.6 points, seven rebounds and five assists per game as a senior in 1998 and earned All-State honors, newspaper headlines and countless calls from D-I coaches, eventually choosing UMKC.
“He deserved the hype,” Jeff Graves said. “He was recruited heavily out of high school. He could’ve played with Kenyon Martin up at Cincinnati, but he chose not to.”
Jeff made second-team All-State two years after Robbie was a first-team selection, but did it almost quietly compared to big brother.
Still, Jeff shrugged off the differences, saying he was proud of everything both he and his brother accomplished. There was no sibling rivalry in his eyes.
“I had to play to the best of my ability,” he said. “I’m not Robbie.”
While Robbie wowed fans, scouts and opposing players with lightning moves and the ability to nail a shot from anywhere, Jeff was the man with a massive inside presence. His modus operandi was monster dunks over opponents who next to him looked feeble.
“He did whatever he wanted his senior year,” said Scott Bailey, who played against Graves at rival Lee’s Summit North. “He didn’t even try that hard, and he still wrecked people.”
Asked if he ever guarded Graves, Bailey, standing a slender 6-4, just laughed.
“Hell, no,” he said. “That dude was way too big.”
It almost made sense for him to use his giant, athletic frame in sports other than basketball.
Graves decided to play football for the first time his senior year. Immediately, without playing a down, he attracted the attention of several recruiting gurus — one listed him as a hot prospect as a tight end.
Sounds great, except Graves never played tight end.
Instead, Graves was a defensive end, and when his iffy work ethic didn’t get in his way — which, according to Spiegel, wasn’t often — Graves showed glimpses of greatness on the gridiron.
Perhaps his shining moment on the football field came against Rockhurst High early that season. Rockhurst, one of the midwest’s best teams, easily won the game, but it was Graves who won the admiration of veteran Rockhurst coach Tony Severino.
“Coach Severino came over afterward and said, ‘Where did you get that guy?'” Spiegel said. “He said his second-half game plan was to not run to Jeff’s side.”
But despite the personal victory against Rockhurst, Graves sat out several games his only year of football, thanks to what Spiegel called problems with “motivation” and “maturity.”
“It was always a challenge with Jeff,” Spiegel said. “I was elated that he came out, but Jeff never committed to football. He was always thinking about basketball.”
But college basketball’s big programs weren’t thinking about Jeff Graves.
Most of Graves’ KU teammates were hounded and harassed by D-I coaches and recruiting services while in high school. Graves, for the most part, was not.
Many of his current teammates attended elite camps, such as the Nike camp, for prep studs to show just how big-time they were. Graves did not. And none of his teammates spent their first two years of college traveling in rusty buses, playing less-gifted kids still clinging to basketball, getting five measly dollars for meal money and performing for a crowd of parents and girlfriends.
Graves did, at Iowa Western Community College.
Only difference is, where most of the junior-college kids saw their dreams die in atmospheres less luxurious than high school, Graves made it out in a big way, signing with Roy Williams and the Jayhawks in November of 2001.
“I heard he was doing good at juco,” said Kit Mellem, a KU senior and high school teammate of Graves. “But I was surprised to hear that a bunch of top programs were recruiting him. I was really excited for him.”
So, too, was his hometown.
“He came from nowhere,” said Craig Soltys. “But when you can catch Roy’s eye, that’s saying something.”
Graves’ first season at KU was filled with peaks and valleys, setbacks and growth. But by the time March rolled around, both he and the Jayhawks started rolling.
Graves never had eye-popping statistics in the NCAA Tournament, save his solid double-double against Syracuse, but he was always reliable for key points and key rebounds. He had 13 points and a game-high 15 boards in a 78-75 victory over Arizona in the West Regional finals, helping send KU to its second straight Final Four.
When college basketball’s grandest stage began the next weekend, much of Lee’s Summit tuned in to see its own star.
“We were thinking, ‘That’s Jeff Graves out there,'” Jackie Soltys said with a grin. “The whole town was kind of like that.”
Added Craig Soltys: “I told everybody, ‘I don’t care if Kansas wins, but I sure want Jeff Graves to do well.'”
He did, totaling 21 points and 25 rebounds in the two Final Four games in New Orleans. He nearly came away with a national-championship ring, too, but Syracuse prevailed 81-78 to take the title.
No matter. Graves is now in preparation for the new season, which kicks off next Tuesday with an exhibition against the EA Sports All-Stars.
“Knowing that I finished up strong, and knowing that the team finished up strong,” Graves said, “I know that if everybody works hard, we can get back to the championship game.”
One more season of growth for Graves. And one more season for the town of Lee’s Summit to cheer on its own.
“It was so neat to watch him all season long,” Craig said while unloading a box of Lee’s Summit High T-shirts. “It’s tremendous. We’re so proud of him.”