Don Gregory Graham (born May 19, 1955) is an American college basketball coach. He is a former head men's basketball coach at Boise State University.

Early life and college playing career

Graham was born in

Louisville, Ohio Louisville ( /ˈluːɪsvɪl/) is a city in Stark County, Ohio, United States. The population was 9,521 at the time of the 2020 census. Located northeast of Canton, it is a suburb of the Canton–Massillon metropolitan area. History On Octo ...

and graduated from Louisville High School in 1973. After high school, Graham attended the University of Oregon (UO) in

Eugene Eugene may refer to: People and fictional characters * Eugene (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Eugene (actress) (born 1981), Kim Yoo-jin, South Korean actress and former member of the sin ...

and played at

guard Guard or guards may refer to: Professional occupations * Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault * Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street * Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning * Prison ...

on the Oregon Ducks men's basketball team from 1973 to 1977 under

Dick Harter Richard Alvin Harter (October 14, 1930 – March 12, 2012) was an American basketball coach who served as both a head and assistant coach in both the NBA and NCAA. Early life Born in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, Harter attended the University of ...

. As a senior, Graham was team captain and was the team's leading scorer with 21.7 points per game, as well as the leading rebounder (9.8). Graham graduated from the

University of Oregon College of Arts and Sciences The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a public research university in Eugene, Oregon. Founded in 1876, the institution is well known for its strong ties to the sports apparel and marketing firm Nike, Inc, and its co-founder, billio ...

in 1978 with a degree in biology.

Coaching career

High school (1978–1982)

Graham stayed in Eugene after graduating from UO to be assistant coach at

Marist Catholic High School Marist Catholic High School is a private Roman Catholic, college preparatory school in Eugene, Oregon, United States founded by the Marist Brothers. It is part of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Portland. Its motto is "We are One". Academics I ...

for one season. In 1979, Graham became varsity boys' basketball head coach at alma mater Louisville High School and enrolled in graduate school at the University of Dayton. Graham left Louisville in 1982, the year he completed a master's degree in educational administration at Dayton.

Early college coaching career (1982–1984)

Graham returned to the University of Oregon to be assistant coach under

Jim Haney Jim Haney (born c. 1949) was the head basketball coach at the University of Oregon in Eugene for five seasons, from 1978 to 1983. Early years Haney starred in basketball in Pennsylvania at Mt. Lebanon High School southwest of Pittsburgh, Pennsyl ...

for the 1982–83 season. The following season, Graham became an assistant at New Mexico under

Gary Colson Gary Colson (born April 30, 1934) is an American basketball coach and executive. The Logansport, Indiana native guided several college men's basketball teams, including Valdosta State University, Pepperdine University, University of New Mexico ...

, in a season where New Mexico made the NIT.

Western New Mexico (1984–1985)

Graham had his first head coaching job at Western New Mexico in the 1984–85 season. He led Western New Mexico to an 18–5 record during a season on probation by the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference and NAIA.

Later college assistant coaching career (1985–2002)

From 1985 to 1989, Graham was assistant coach at San Jose State under

Bill Berry William Thomas Berry (born July 31, 1958) is an American musician who was the drummer for the alternative rock band R.E.M. Although best known for his economical drumming style, Berry also played other instruments, including guitar, bass guitar ...

. Graham then moved to San Diego State to coach under Jim Brandenburg, from 1989 to 1992. Graham then was an assistant coach at

Saint Mary's St. Mary's, St. Marys, or St. Maries may refer to the following places: Australia * St Marys, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney ** St Marys railway station, Sydney ** North St Marys, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney * St Marys, South Austra ...

from 1992 to 1997 in the first of several assistant coaching stints under

Ernie Kent Ernest Kent (born January 22, 1955)GoDucks.com E ...

. Graham helped Saint Mary's win the

West Coast Conference The West Coast Conference (WCC) — known as the California Basketball Association from 1952 to 1956 and then as the West Coast Athletic Conference until 1989 — is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with NCAA Division I consisting of ...

regular season and qualify for the NCAA tournament by virtue of winning the WCC tournament. In 1997, Graham had his second stint as assistant coach at Oregon and second assistant coaching job under Ernie Kent. In five seasons with Graham as assistant coach, Oregon made the

1999 NIT The 1999 National Invitation Tournament was the 1999 edition of the annual NCAA college basketball competition. Selected teams Below is a list of the 32 teams selected for the tournament.

semifinals and 2000 NCAA tournament, as well as the

Pac-10 The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference, that operates in the Western United States, participating in 24 sports at the NCAA Division I level. Its College football, football teams compete in the NCAA D ...

regular season championship and Elite Eight round of the NCAA tournament in 2002.

Boise State (2002–2010)

Athletic director

Gene Bleymaier Eugene Anthony Bleymaier (born 1953) is an American university administrator who was most recently special advisor to the president at San Jose State University. Bleymaier was previously an athletic director, first at Boise State University from ...

hired Graham to be head coach at

Boise State Boise State University (BSU) is a public research university in Boise, Idaho. Founded in 1932 by the Episcopal Church, it became an independent junior college in 1934 and has been awarding baccalaureate and master's degrees It became a publ ...

in 2002. In eight seasons, Graham had a 142–112 record at Boise State and led Boise State to a berth in the 2004 NIT,

2008 NCAA tournament The 2008 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament involved 65 schools playing in a single-elimination tournament to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball as a culmination of the 2007–08 basketball ...

and 2009 CBI. For leading Boise State to the NCAA Tournament, the Western Athletic Conference named Graham "Coach of the Year" in 2008. In 2010, after a 15–17 season, Bleymaier fired Graham and stated: "We appreciate everything that Coach Graham and his staff have contributed to Boise State the past eight years. We felt that in the best interest of the program we needed to make a change."

Assistant coaching after Boise State (2011–2017)

In 2011, Graham became an assistant coach again, this time at Bradley under

Geno Ford Gene A. "Geno" Ford (born October 11, 1974) is an American college basketball coach and former college and professional basketball player. He is currently the men's head coach for the Stony Brook Seawolves, a position he has held since 2019. He w ...

. After three seasons at Bradley, Graham became an assistant coach at Washington State in 2014, for his third coaching stint under Ernie Kent. He was let go following the 2017 season.

Head coaching record

*Due to probation from the conference, Western New Mexico had an official 0–0 conference record.RMAC Men's Basketball Standings
p. 5.

References

External links