KU’s Graves eager for second homecoming

By Gary Bedore     Jan 31, 2004

? It only seemed fitting that Jeff Graves made his first major-college start in the state of Iowa last year.

After all, Kansas University’s 6-foot-9, 255-pound center from Lee’s Summit, Mo., first emerged as a Division One prospect during his All-America sophomore season at Iowa Western Community College in Council Bluffs.

“It was like my homecoming,” Graves said of KU’s 83-54 victory Jan. 6, 2003, the game in which Graves first stepped in for Wayne Simien, who dislocated a shoulder in KU’s previous game.

“It’s my home away from home,” added Graves, looking forward to his second and final appearance at Hilton Coliseum, site of today’s 3:05 p.m. KU-Iowa State game.

Graves scored seven points, grabbed 10 rebounds and had four steals while playing 32 minutes in the Jayhawks’ rout.

“It’s a tough place to play,” Graves said of Hilton, where Iowa State is 11-0 this season. “They always play well there.”

As far as today’s game, Graves thinks he probably will have friends in the stands.

Charity shooting explained: Here is some free-throw shooting advice from Iowa State senior sharpshooter Jake Sullivan:

“Just keep the same rhythm every time,” Sullivan, the most accurate free-throw shooter in Big 12 history, told the Ames Tribune.

This season, Sullivan, a 6-1 senior from Oakdale, Minn., has made 42 of 45 free throws for 93.3 percent.

For his career, Sullivan has made 313 of 351 for an 89.2 percent mark, eighth-best in NCAA history. The NCAA requires 300 makes to be eligible for entry on the all-time list.

“It’s automatic,” ISU’s Jared Homan told the Ames Tribune. “When Jake goes to the line you don’t really have to get in there and work for position.”

KU guard Aaron Miles is a big fan of Sullivan, who has made 18 of 29 threes in his last four home games and for the year has made 41 of 103 threes for 39.8 percent.

“He is a tremendous shooter,” Miles said. “Man … he’s one of the best shooters I’ve ever seen.”

Morgan a wizard: Iowa State coach Wayne Morgan worked as a Cyclone assistant for Larry Eustachy one season after working the previous six years as head coach at Long Beach State.

He was named successor to Eustachy last spring. Eustachy had been replaced after the season in part for partying with Missouri students after an ISU-MU game in Columbia, Mo.

“The first two months,” Morgan quipped, “were like standing behind a palm tree in a hurricane.”

Yet he appears to have survived the early storm.

“The coaches have been great. We have a great new system,” Sullivan said. “The adjustment was easy. We’re a real family. The coaching staff makes everything a lot of fun.”

Streak: ISU has not won a game against a ranked opponent since defeating No. 17 Missouri, 71-67, Jan. 19, 2001, losing 13 consecutive games to teams ranked in the Associated Press Top 25.

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