Coach – Basketball, Baseball, Track & Field
Mike Graves’ journey began in January 1958 when he was born to John Alfred Graves and Barbara Lee (Persley) Graves, known today as Barbara “Ms. Barkie” Berry. She was the mainstay of his village along with his two brothers, Monty and Randall Graves. Today, his village is his wife – Jenyce (Maxberry) Graves, daughter, Jordan Michelle Graves, and son, Justin Michael Graves.
His formative years were spent in the Charlotte Court Housing Projects and the Douglass Park area. Mike was baptized at Main Street Baptist Church, which he still attends today. This village provided him with the positive values to which he adheres today.
Mike attended the old Booker T. Washington Elementary School and was on the very first bus to arrive at Winburn Junior High when it opened in 1970. He attended Lafayette High School (Class of 1976) and spent his college years at Eastern Kentucky University, earning a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration with an emphasis in Electronic Data Processing in 1981.
Mike’s interest in mentoring and coaching youth was developed after graduating college, joining the workforce, and working with youth at Micro-City Government. A college acquaintance recruited him to the YMCA, where he helped start and run a multi-team elementary school league. His first coaching opportunity came when he was appointed coach of a YMCA/Big Brothers team in the Police Athletic League (PAL). This led to coaching at a Parks & Recreation Basketball League – Eastland Junior Pro at Yates Elementary School. Here, Mike served as coach, assistant league director, and league director. He then helped restart T-ball and eventually baseball, bringing back these two sports to the inner city at Douglass Park.
Mike went on to coach at the new North Lexington YMCA. He helped start a basketball league for girls on the northside of town after being told it couldn’t be done. The league consisted of 14 teams the first year. Mike worked as a camp and after-school counselor and director for more than 20 years. While at the YMCA, he was also employed at Fayette County Public Schools, coaching girls’ basketball at Crawford Middle School.
In 1998, Mike began coaching AAU (Amateur Athletic Union) basketball and helped start and direct the Central Kentucky Angels Girls AAU Basketball Program that became nationally known on the AAU Circuit for more than 15 years. The first-year team was AAU State Runner-Up and participated in the AAU National Tournament. After falling short in the 1999 AAU State Tournament, the next year this team adopted the motto “Commitment to Excellence” and went on to win the next five AAU State Tournaments, ranking in the top 10 nationally those same five years. The program expanded to several age groups that were able to win several more state championships, state runners-up and national Top-20 finishes. The state AAU Association named Mike the Kentucky Girls AAU Basketball Coach of the Year in 2009.
The “Commitment to Excellence” motto has allowed several young women to become successful in all walks of life, such as coaches, teachers, lawyers, actresses, a mathematician, and many other successful occupations. One is even a former Harlem Globetrotter turned Social Media Influencer who is a LAASHOF 2023 inductee.
Most recently, Mike coached at Edythe J. Hayes Middle School when it opened in 2004. He was head girls basketball coach for the first 19 years of the school’s existence. His varsity teams won two regular season and five city tournament championships, six regular season and three city tournament runner-up finishes. Mike’s junior varsity teams won four regular season and five city tournament championships, along with four regular season and two city tournament runner-up finishes. He also coached field events for the track team and was assistant and head coach of the boys basketball team.
As assistant girls basketball coach for four years at Bryan Station High School, Mike helped lead the team to two district championships, two district runner-up finishes and two regional final fours.
Recently serving at Campbellsville University at Harrodsburg as women’s basketball assistant coach, Mike helped build a team from scratch into a top National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA) team. The team won one championship and had three runner-up finishes.
Mike served five years as assistant girls’ basketball coach at Frederick Douglass High School, helping the team to one district and one regional championship, and its first state championship appearance in 2022-23.
In 2023, Edythe J. Hayes Middle School named the gym floor “Mike’s Court” in honor of Mike’s retirement after coaching for more than 25 years and working for Fayette County Public Schools for 35 years.
