Kelly Graves wasn’t fighting the morning blues on the first Monday after daylight saving time. Instead, the seasoned coach, knee deep in a new challenge at Oregon, candidly reflected on his first season with the women’s basketball team.
Graves, dressed in golf clothes and ready for an afternoon golfing with his oldest son, Max, was blunt about what next year holds. He expects real results and said that 2014-2015 was a “culture building” year, where his team finished 13-17 and ninth in the Pac-12.

“We laid the groundwork for our expectations — how we coach and everything involved with that,” Graves said. “I think we really started to develop the culture, you saw that in how our kids played down the stretch… It wasn’t this year all about wins and losses.”

The Ducks finished the regular season with a substantial upset of No. 19 Stanford, punching their ticket to the Pac-12 Tournament in Seattle. Oregon fell to Washington State 66-64 in the first round.

Graves hopes the Ducks can hold onto the program’s biggest upset of the season, rather than the early departure in Seattle.

How difficult is it for you to not be preparing for the NCAA Tournament at this point?

“It’s unusual. I think we had been to the conference tournament championship, I don’t know. Ten, 11, 12 years in a row. Just going in (to Seattle) for one day and leaving. It was difficult. It really was. But again, we have our eye on the bigger picture, Jonathan. We really do. We’re excited about the future. Even though we lost — we’re disappointed about that — it’s allowed us now to focus on 15-16; 15-16 starts now.”

Graves said he doesn’t pay attention to the message boards or external opinions, but said he doesn’t think that anybody doubts that they’ll be able to compete at a high level one day. Part of that is getting the players to fit the program. Graves said the staff has put its eggs in the 2016 class’ basket, who are wrapping up their junior years of high school.

“It’s that 16 class that we want to get,” Graves said. “That’s the one that we’ve put most of our attention into. That will be the class that will define our program forever.”

Have you had to change your own coaching style at Oregon? You said you’re not scheming as much, but just your personality, because obviously there were some tough times and maybe this group wasn’t used to it. 

“I think if you talked to the players, they would detect a change during the season as well. I thought early I was kind of an a-hole and just trying to, ‘This is the law. This is how we’re doing it.’ And, I think we struggled with that a little. And I struggled, too. That’s not who I am. I can have a good time. I can be hard and stern, but relax and that kind of stuff as well. I didn’t handle the winning and losing very well.”

Going back to your empty house after games?

“Yeah. I was putting more pressure on myself. I thought I could come in and just do a lot more. I had to realize that this is a process. I read more books on coaching and process this year than I’ve ever done. Ever. Last fall, I read six to eight books. I’m a better coach having gone through this year. I thought at (Gonzaga University) I started to take the winning for granted. Everything was in place. You’d come in with these freshman. … I think toward the end I let my hair down, whatever is left of it, and I had more fun and relaxed a little more.”

And you think they responded well to that?

“I do. You can talk to them about that. But I think I did. I think this will make me a better coach in the long run.”

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In the 2014-2015 season, there were two dismissals (Chrishae Rowe and Chloe Stiles) and a departure (Janitah Iamaleava). Graves said he doesn’t make any decisions on his own and consults with his staff and administrators.

“It wasn’t just me going rogue,” Graves said. “A couple of times, quite frankly, my hand was forced. I had to. By and large, I give kids the benefit of the doubt.”

The Ducks finished the season with eight scholarship players, under their cap of 15. Graves anticipates adding to the roster for next season, but said he doesn’t want to rush to fill all 15 slots. He estimates carrying 12 or 13 scholarship players. Oregon currently has three players signed for next season: Oti Gildon (Spokane, Washington), Maite Cazorla (Spain) and Lauren Yearwood (British Columbia).

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This year, Graves lived by himself in his house near campus. His family remained in Spokane as his second-oldest son finished high school. Graves said he saw his son play just two basketball games as a high school senior.

“It was a challenging year. It was tough not to be able to share it and go home, to deflect it a little bit,” Graves said. “In this business, family keeps you grounded. That part was tough. After a loss maybe I’d go home and there’s nobody there and you just kind of have to re-watch it and re-watch it, relive it in your head and that’s tough.”

Graves has been married to his wife, Mary, for 20 years. He said, however, that because he was out recruiting nearly each week, he didn’t have to worry about the strains of regular travel on the Graves household.

“It’s hard enough coaching on a good year,” Graves said. “It’s obviously more difficult when your team is struggling a little bit, and on top of that, family isn’t there. You’re missing out on really great memories.”

This will be Graves’ first full offseason in Eugene and his family will join him. All the pieces will finally be in place.

“I thought we improved more than any team in the (Pac-12),” Graves said. “We had the furthest way to go. By and large, it was a really good year.”

Follow Jonathan Hawthorne on Twitter @Jon_Hawthorne