Oklahoma State University Athletics
Joey Graham
October 25, 2004 | Cowboy Basketball
Big 12 Player of the Year Candidate
All-Big 12 Candidate
All-America Candidate
Joey improved greatly over the course of last season, really learning his niche by the end of the year. He is an extremely athletic and powerful forward in a guards body. He spent most of last year playing post, but with the addition of Aaron Pettway, should be able to play more wing, his natural position. A quality season could jump Joey into the ranks of NBA hopefuls.
2003-04 (Junior): Joey was named the Big 12 Newcomer of the Year by the league coaches. He was also named third-team All-Big 12 by Big 12 coaches, and honorable mention all-conference by the Associated Press. He was named to the all-newcomer squad by media that regularly covered the league, and was named to the all-tournament team at the East Rutherford Regional, along with teammates John Lucas and Tony Allen. Joey averaged 12.4 points and 5.2 rebounds per game in his first season in a Cowboy uniform, ranking him in the top 20 in the Big 12 in both categories. He ranked second on the team and third in the league in field-goal shooting, connecting on 57.6 percent of his shots. His 36 points against Nebraska on Feb. 21 ranked as the second-most by a Big 12 player last season. That total also tied for the most by a Cowboy junior in school history, equaling Ronnie Daniel’s 36 vs. Villanova on Dec. 20, 1974. It was the second-most points by a Cowboy in Gallagher-Iba Arena history, ranking behind only Bob Kurland’s school-record 58 points vs. St. Louis on Feb. 22, 1946. Joey averaged 13.6 points and 6.6 rebounds in the NCAA Tournament. He grabbed a career-best 11 rebounds in OSU’s regional finals win over Saint Joseph’s, and had 10 boards in the national semifinals loss to Georgia Tech, his fifth-career double-figure rebounding game. Joey scored 25 points on 11-of-13 shooting vs. Iowa State in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Tournament, and he also grabbed nine rebounds in that contest. Joey finished the season with five 20-point games, and dished out a season-high four assists on three occasions. He tied a career high with three blocked shots vs. Oklahoma on Jan. 14. Joey connected on a career-best three three pointers twice his junior year, the last time vs. Memphis in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. He was named second-team Academic All-Big 12 for his efforts in the classroom.
2002-03 (Redshirt): Joey redshirted his junior season after transferring to Oklahoma State from Central Florida.
2001-02 (Sophomore): Joey transferred to Oklahoma State from Central Florida, where he was a consistent starter for two years. He averaged 13.3 points and 5.6 rebounds his sophomore year, starting all 29 games for the Golden Knights . Joey had 22 double-figure scoring games, including 11 straight at the end of the season. He also had six 20-point games, including a season-high 22 at Mercer. Joey shot 51 percent from the floor and 76.6 percent from the charity stripe (98-of-128). He tied his career high with 10 rebounds vs. Florida Atlantic, and also tied career highs in assists (six vs. Campbell), steals (four vs. South Florida) and blocked shots (three vs. Samford). Joey doubled his assists and blocks totals from his freshman year with 70 and 15, respectively.
2000-01 (Freshman): Joey scored a team-high 13 points and grabbed six rebounds in his first collegiate game vs. Georgetown. He chipped in a season-high 25 points on 10-of-13 shooting from the floor vs. Middle Tennessee State, and had 15 of UCF’s 27 first-half points. Joey grabbed a season-high 10 rebounds at Samford, and dished out a career-high six assists at at Samford. He had 14 points, seven boards and three blocked shots in 19 minutes of UCF’s first-round win over Jacksonville State in the Atlantic Sun Tournament. He finished his freshman season averaging 8.5 points per game on 47.4 percent shooting from the floor, and was 69-of-82 (84.1 percent) from the free-throw line.
High School: Joey lettered four years for coach Mark Herman at Brandon High School, and was team captain his sophomore, junior and senior years. He averaged 19.8 points, nine rebounds and eight assists per game his senior season. Joey was both athletic and academic All-Conference all four years. He and his brother led Brandon to the state finals their senior season. Joey was the co-MVP of the state finals his senior season. He was also named Athlete of the Year for Hillsborough County, and was named to the 1998-99 Nike Team Florida. He was an All-American in AAU’s Sunshine State Games and Junior National Olympics Championships.
Personal: Born June 11, 1982, in Wilmington, Del., Joey is the son of Joseph and Rose Graham. He has an older brother, Brian, and a twin brother, Stephen, also a member of the Cowboy basketball squad. Joey enjoys listening to music and reading the Bible in his spare time. He earned his degree in aviation management from Oklahoma State in July, and will work on his master’s degree this upcoming year. He is also logging enough hours to receive his pilot’s license.
Career Highs
Points: 36 vs. Nebraska (02/21/04)
Rebounds: 11 vs. Saint Joseph’s (03/27/04)
Assists: 6 vs. Campbell (01/05/02)*; 6 vs. at Samford (02/15/01)*
Steals: 4 vs. South Florida (01/29/02)*; 4 at Samford (02/15/01)*
Blocks: 3 on three occasions, last time vs. Oklahoma (01/14/04)
Field Goals: 12 vs. Nebraska (02/21/04)
3-Point FGs: 3 on three occasions, last time vs. Memphis (03/21/04)
FTs: 11 vs. East Carolina (12/30/00)*
* at Central Florida
