William Thomas Graves (born May 15, 1988) is an American professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player who last played for

FC Porto Futebol Clube do Porto, MHIH, OM (), commonly known as FC Porto or simply Porto, is a Portuguese professional sports club based in Porto. It is best known for the professional football team playing in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portu ...

of the

Liga Portuguesa de Basquetebol The Liga Portuguesa de Basquetebol ( en, Portuguese Basketball League), also known as Liga Betclic for sponsorship reasons, is the top men's professional club basketball league in Portugal. History From the 2008–09 season onward, the competit ...

(LPB). He played

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

for

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

before playing professionally in Japan, Argentina, Venezuela, Iceland, Israel and Portugal.

Early life and college career

Graves attended

James B. Dudley High School James Benson Dudley High School is located in the southeastern quadrant of Guilford County in the city of Greensboro, North Carolina. Dudley High School was founded in 1929 as the first black high school in Guilford County, in a school system s ...

Greensboro, North Carolina Greensboro (; formerly Greensborough) is a city in and the county seat of Guilford County, North Carolina, United States. It is the third-most populous city in North Carolina after Charlotte and Raleigh, the 69th-most populous city in the Un ...

, where he averaged 25.1 points and shooting 44 percent from beyond the arc, leading the team to two state championships. Graves was named North Carolina High School Player of the Year in 2006. Graves played three years of

for the

University of North Carolina The University of North Carolina is the multi-campus public university system for the state of North Carolina. Overseeing the state's 16 public universities and the NC School of Science and Mathematics, it is commonly referred to as the UNC Sy ...

. He averaged 9.8 points and 4.6 rebounds in his junior year.

College statistics

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2007–08 , style="text-align:left;",

, 36 , , 0 , , 5.2 , , .391 , , .442 , , .583 , , 1.44 , , 0.33 , , 0.14 , , 0.08 , , 2.22 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2008–09 , style="text-align:left;",

, 23 , , 0 , , 10.5 , , .427 , , .263 , , .889, , 2.30 , , 0.70 , , 0.30 , , 0.09 , , 3.57 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2009–10 , style="text-align:left;",

, 36 , , 34 , , 24.2 , , .366 , , .371 , , .806, , 4.64 , , 0.89 , , 0.64 , , 0.19 , , 3.81 , - , - , - class="sortbottom" ! style="text-align:center;" colspan=2, Career !95 , , 34 , , 13.7 , , .380 , , .367 , , .783 , , 2.86 , , 0.63 , , 0.37 , , 0.13 , , 5.42 , -

Professional career

Early years (2011–2014)

On February 10, 2011, Graves signed with the

Akita Northern Happinets The Akita Northern Happinets are a Japanese professional basketball team based in Akita that competes in the Eastern Conference of the First Division of the B.League. The team was formed as an expansion team of the bj league in 2010 and found succ ...

of Japan and started his professional career. On October 6, 2014, Graves signed with

Keflavík Keflavík (pronounced , meaning ''Driftwood Bay'') is a town in the Reykjanes region in southwest Iceland. It is included in the municipality of Reykjanesbær whose population as of 2016 is 15,129. In 1995, Keflavik merged with nearby Njarðv ...

of the Icelandic Úrvalsdeild. On November 13, 2014, Graves recorded a career-high 39 points, shooting 15-of-26 from the field, along with six rebounds, six assists and three blocks in a 87–82 win over ÍR Reykjavíkur. In 10 games played for Keflavík, he averaged 22.9 points and 8 rebounds per game.

Israel (2014–2018)

On December 17, 2014, Graves parted ways with Keflavík to join the Israeli team

Maccabi Haifa Maccabi Haifa ( he, מכבי חיפה) is one of the biggest sports clubs in Israel and a part of the Maccabi association. It runs several sports clubs and teams in Haifa which have competed in a variety of sports over the years, such as Football ...

for the rest of the season. On March 25, 2016, Graves participated in the 2016 Israeli League All-Star Game. In his second season with Maccabi Haifa, Graves helped the team reach the 2016 Israeli League Playoffs as the third seed, but they eventually lost to Maccabi Rishon LeZion in the Quarterfinals. On February 27, 2017, Graves recorded an Israeli League career-high 34 points, shooting 12-of-20 from the field, along with eight rebounds in a 96–97 loss to

Maccabi Tel Aviv Maccabi Tel Aviv ( he, מכבי תל אביב) is one of the largest sports clubs in Israel, and a part of the Maccabi association. Many sports clubs and teams in Tel Aviv are in association with Maccabi and compete in a variety of sports, such ...

. On April 20, 2017, Graves suffered a season-ending injury in a match against Maccabi Tel Aviv. On August 4, 2017, Graves signed a one-year contract extension with

. However, on November 5, 2017, Graves parted ways with Haifa after playing three seasons with the team. On August 8, 2018, Graves signed a one-year deal with

Hapoel Haifa Hapoel Haifa Football Club ( he, מועדון הכדורגל הפועל חיפה, ''Moadon HaKaduregel Hapoel Haifa'') is an Israeli football club located in the city of Haifa. The club won one championship (1998–99) and 4 Israeli cups ( ...

of the

Israeli National League Liga Leumit ( he, ליגה לאומית, lit. ''National League'') is the second division of the Israeli Football League, and below its Premier League. Structure There are 16 clubs in the league. At the end of each season, the two lowest-place ...

. However, on October 24, 2018, he parted ways with Hapoel Haifa before appearing in an official game for them.

Portugal (2019)

On February 27, 2019, Graves signed with the Portuguese team

for the rest of the season. In 20 games played for Porto, he averaged 13 points, 6.1 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game. Graves helped the team reach the Portuguese League Semifinals, where they eventually fell short to Benfica.

Musical endeavour

In his off-court life, Graves is a

rapper Rapping (also rhyming, spitting, emceeing or MCing) is a musical form of vocal delivery that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and street vernacular". It is performed or chanted, usually over a backing beat or musical accompaniment. The ...

, who has published original songs under the

recording name A record, recording or records may refer to: An item or collection of data Computing * Record (computer science), a data structure ** Record, or row (database), a set of fields in a database related to one entity ** Boot sector or boot record, re ...

''Willy G''.

Career statistics

NBA Preseason Stats

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2016–17 , style="text-align:left;", Haifa , 1 , , 0 , , 26.8 , , .000 , , .000 , , .000 , , 5.00 , , 2.00 , , 1.00 , , 0.00 , , 0.00 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2017–18 , style="text-align:left;", Haifa , 3 , , 2 , , 20.4 , , .280 , , .167 , , .500 , , 3.00 , , 0.67 , , 0.33 , , 0.00 , , 5.67 , - , - class="sortbottom" ! style="text-align:center;" colspan=2, Career !4 , , 2 , , 22.0 , , .219 , , .143 , , .500 , , 3.50 , , 1.00 , , 0.50 , , 0.005 , , 4.25 , -

Regular season

, - , align="left" , 2010–11 , align="left" ,

Akita is a Japanese name and may refer to: Places * 8182 Akita, a main-belt asteroid * Akita Castle, a Nara period fortified settlement in Akita, Japan * Akita Domain, also known as Kubota Domain, feudal domain in Edo period Japan * Akita, Kumamoto, ...

, 16 , , 15 , , 32.1 , , .388 , , .348 , , .741 , , 11.2, , 1.7 , , 0.8 , , 0.3 , , 22.2 , - , align="left" , 2011–12 , align="left" , Boca , 39 , , 38 , , 28.9 , , .386 , , .261 , , .865 , , 6.28, , 0.92 , , 0.59 , , 0.26 , , 10.74 , - , align="left" , 2011–12 , align="left" , Marinos , 11 , , 4 , , 20.9 , , .411 , , .389 , , .778 , , 2.91, , 0.82 , , 0.73 , , 0.36 , , 9.27 , - , align="left" , 2011–12 , align="left" , Libertad , 11 , , 11 , , 33.2 , , .414 , , .362 , , .723 , , 8.64, , 1.36 , , 0.64 , , 0.00 , , 15.91 , - , align="left" , 2012–13 , align="left" , Libertad , 31 , , 22 , , 25.9 , , .448 , , .409 , , .821 , , 5.39, , 0.77 , , 0.52 , , 0.16 , , 12.87 , - , align="left" , 2012–13 , align="left" , Malvin , 12 , , , , 33.6 , , .442 , , .301 , , .808 , , 7.3, , 2.2 , , 0.8 , , 0.3 , , 16.3 , - , align="left" , 2013–14 , align="left" , Libertad , 12 , , 4 , , 13.7 , , .365 , , .414 , , .600 , , 2.83, , 0.58 , , 0.25 , , 0.33 , , 5.08 , - , align="left" , 2014–15 , align="left" , Keflavík , 10 , , 10 , , 31.3 , , .445 , , .349 , , .659 , , 8.00, , 2.80 , , 1.00 , , 1.20 , , 22.90 , - , align="left" , 2014–15 , align="left" , Haifa , 23 , , 3 , , 25.7 , , .413 , , .410 , , .750 , , 4.70, , 1.22 , , 0.30 , , 0.17 , , 12.61 , - , align="left" , 2015–16 , align="left" , Haifa , 31 , , 23 , , 28.6 , , .372 , , .325 , , .761 , , 4.65, , 1.26 , , 0.84 , , 0.42 , , 11.61 , - , align="left" , 2016–17 , align="left" , Haifa , 28 , , 7 , , 24.3 , , .416 , , .415 , , .771 , , 4.29, , 1.14 , , 0.57 , , 0.46 , , 11.11 , - , align="left" , 2017–18 , align="left" , Haifa , 5 , , 2 , , 20.6 , , .185 , , .071 , , 1.000 , , 2.00, , 0.40 , , 0.40 , , 0.00 , , 2.40 , - , align="left" , 2018–19 , align="left" , Porto , 20 , , 18 , , 24.6 , , .395 , , .324 , , .691 , , 6.15, , 1.15 , , 0.55 , , 0.40 , , 13.00 , -

Playoffs

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2010–11 , style="text-align:left;", Akita , 2 , , , , 27.0 , , .333 , , .286 , , .500 , , 10.0 , , 0.5 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 13.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2011–12 , style="text-align:left;", Libertad , 8 , , , , 34.1, , .407 , , .300 , , .769 , , 9.6 , , 1.3 , , 0.8 , , 0.0 , , 17.1 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2014–15 , style="text-align:left;", Haifa , 3 , , , , 17.0, , .381 , , .273 , , .571 , , 4.3 , , 1.3 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 7.7 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2015–16 , style="text-align:left;", Haifa , 5 , , , , 33.8, , .382 , , .250 , , .850 , , 4.0 , , 1.6 , , 1.2 , , 0.6 , , 15.6 , -

References

External links

RealGM profileKKI.is profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Graves, Will 1988 births Living people Akita Northern Happinets players American expatriate basketball people in Argentina American expatriate basketball people in Iceland American expatriate basketball people in Israel American expatriate basketball people in Japan American expatriate basketball people in Portugal American expatriate basketball people in Uruguay American expatriate basketball people in Venezuela American men's basketball players Basketball players from Greensboro, North Carolina Boca Juniors basketball players Club Malvín basketball players FC Porto basketball players Forwards (basketball) Keflavík men's basketball players Libertad de Sunchales basketball players Maccabi Haifa B.C. players Marinos B.B.C. players North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball players Úrvalsdeild karla (basketball) players