UPDATED: Monday, Dec. 25 at 6:38 p.m.

High above an arena in northeast Ohio, once home to a wooden set of bleachers with no railing and basketball hoops that can only be raised and lowered using a drill with a wide bit, three jerseys hang.

One jersey symbolizes the court in which it hangs. Stitched in white with gold bars painting the edges and a green block “23,” the framed “James” jersey signifies perhaps the brightest years in St. Vincent-St. Mary (Ohio) High School history, and presents a challenge for all those who play beneath it.

When Buffalo (7-3) plays Syracuse (9-1) on Tuesday in the Carrier Dome, taking the court will be Jayvon Graves, a current freshman for the Bulls who is amongst those who made an impact beneath the jerseys in Ohio. Graves is a lot of things, a state player of the year and one of the better players to come out of Akron, Ohio, but one thing’s for sure: Jayvon Graves is not LeBron James. Graves knows it. His former coach knows it. His family knows it. James is a 15-time NBA all-star and perhaps the greatest player to play the game of basketball. But, Graves didn’t want to be James. He wanted to build a legacy of his own.

“He always said,” Brandy Pryor, Graves’ mother, said, “I want to be the first Jayvon Graves.”

***

Growing up, Graves played football and excelled. He played baseball and was even better at that, but basketball was the sport he grew to love the most. His grandfather, James Pryor Jr., was an Ohio state player of the year in his high school days and his family was always surrounded by the game.

At age 6, Graves’ love for basketball began to take shape. At his grandparents’ house in Canton, Ohio, Jayvon and his brother, Jalen, put a hanger on the door, tied up socks into a ball and shot around in the house.

Shortly thereafter, Pryor Jr. bought them a hoop to shoot around in the yard. That was when contests with Jalen grew more intense. Jalen, who is two years older than Graves and “bigger and stronger,” always challenged his brother.

“I would beat him,” Graves said. “But it wasn’t easy.”

As Graves approached high school, he needed to decide where he would continue his schooling. Growing up in Malvern, Ohio, his brother attended Malvern High School minutes from their home. But, that wasn’t Graves’ dream. His father knew a man from church named Dru Joyce, the coach at STVM.

Before Pryor had a chance to even give a suggestion, Graves came to her with his wish.

“Jayvon came to me in the middle of his eighth-grade year saying, ‘I want to go to St. Vincent-St. Mary,’” Pryor said. “I had to figure out how to make this happen.”

Joyce came to watch Graves play at a showcase when he was in the eighth grade. Although he tried not to make a judgement, it was difficult. Graves wasn’t exceptionally big and he was young. But, the promising traits were there. A quick first step coupled with top-level athleticism. And, above all, he wanted to be at STVM.

“When you got people saying they want to be a part of what you’re doing with your high school,” Joyce said, “that’s exciting.”

Jayvon Graves is honored with his parents, Brandy Pryor (Left) and Aaron Graves (right) after recording his 1000th career point at St. Vincent-St. Mary. Courtesy of Willie McGee

When Graves started his freshman year at St. Vincent-St. Mary, he still lived in Malvern, where his mom worked a full-time job. They drove 50 minutes one way to the school, sometimes longer when the weather turned sour.

The travel became tough for Graves, and that, coupled with a rigorous schedule, produced subpar grades. He needed a change, but a change meant moving from his childhood home.

In Graves’ 10th-grade year, he and his mother finally decided to move out to Akron, Ohio, just eight minutes away from his school.

Back in Malvern, Pryor Jr. continued to grow sick. A victim of multiple strokes in his lifetime, it became hard for him to move and on a given day, his ability to speak suffered. Graves was 9 years old the last time Pryor Jr. saw him play in-person, but his grandfather tried not to miss anything. He streamed Graves’ games at home and when his vision gave out, he just listened. After games, he called Graves and his mother and gave advice through the phone.

After the move, the distance didn’t change much between Graves and his grandfather. The phone still rang after games.

***

Joyce and STVM athletic director Willie McGee both called Graves a “steal” for Buffalo. Had the Bulls not been around from the beginning, Joyce said, it might not have landed a player of Graves’ talent.

“(Buffalo) did the right thing early on,” Joyce said. “Had he waited later on, he would’ve went high-major.”

The year Graves signed his national letter of intent, during his senior season, the accolades began to add up. In addition to being the the Cleveland Plain Dealer’s Ohio state player of the year, he recorded his 1000th point at St. Vincent-St. Mary and elevated himself to 5th on the school’s all-time scoring list.

Graves knew his future was bright with the Bulls. Buffalo is close to his home and the staff at the school offered him a place to thrive. But, there was one thing he was missing. He wanted to be a state champion.

Midway through his senior season, Graves wanted a way to thank his mother for her sacrifices. He asked her what she wanted for her birthday. Her wish was the same as his: “Get me a state championship,” Pryor said.

In the playoffs last March, that dream began to unfold, but it’d be tested. Trotwood-Madison (Ohio) High School, which Joyce said “thoroughly spanked” the Irish earlier in the season, was its next opponent and people were already counting Graves and the Irish out.

“No one in the state of Ohio thought we had a chance,” Joyce said.

On the floor of Ohio Stadium, the Irish battled hard all game and with under a minute to play in the game, the score was knotted at 60. Trotwood-Madison inbounded the ball for what looked to be a chance to win the game, but one of Graves’ teammates threw himself on the ball, stripping it from the opponent, securing the steal and calling a timeout to give the Irish the last possession.

Suddenly, the Irish were in a position no one expected. In the stands, sitting next to Graves’ future coach at Buffalo, Nate Oats, Pryor noticed that her son hadn’t scored in more than 10 minutes and told Oats that she knew “he’d make it.” Graves had 27 seconds to extend STVM’s season.

Graves ran over to the sideline to Joyce to see what the play call was. He knew what he wanted to hear, he just needed to hear it.

“Go get the ball,” Joyce remembered saying to Graves.

The ball was inbounded and the Irish players passed the ball around the key, eating up clock. Just like his coach had planned, with just seconds to push ahead, the ball ended in the hands of Graves in the left corner of the court. Graves shot-faked and drove left down the baseline and floated a shot towards the hoop.

The shot fell as the buzzer sounded. The crowd exploded as Graves ran to the other side of the court pumping his fist in celebration. Oats, whom Pryor said remained reserved, couldn’t help but show pride for his future player. Joking chants of “JayBron” littered the stands where his friends sat, an obvious allusion to the “23” jersey itself.

Later that day, Pryor’s phone rang and on the other end was a different sound: tears. Pryor Jr. saw the shot and was crying tears of joy as he spoke to his daughter and his grandson. Pryor sensed the pride that Graves felt. Even from afar he always wanted to make his grandfather proud, and this was unlike any conversation Graves had had with him before.

The Irish won a game no one ever thought it could to qualify for the state championship game, which Graves knew there was no way it could lose.

“We’re not done yet,” Pryor remembers him saying. “That’s the semi-final, now we’re after the real thing.”

Graves and the Irish captured the state title in a convincing 15-point win the next Saturday, a day before Pryor’s birthday.

***

Now at Buffalo, Graves sees it all coming together. Pryor always hoped the coaching staff was what they said they’d be and, thus far, she said they have held true to their promises.

Graves has scored double-digit points in his past two games and is starting to see his 3-point shot fall after missing 14 of his first 15 attempts to start the season, hitting three of his last eight. He’s also surpassed 20 minutes played in each of his last four games, an uptick that has led to higher production on the floor.

In practice, he said, his teammates often pull him aside and try to keep him motivated. They keep him from feeling intimidated by telling him that not much about playing at Buffalo is different than what he’s done in the past. They tell him to play “just like St. V.”

On Tuesday, Graves faces amongst his biggest challenge thus far by traveling to the Carrier Dome to play in front of a potentially giant Syracuse crowd. But Graves has never been afraid of the spotlight.

Playing in the shadow of greats is his forte, something he’s done and excelled at since he first stepped foot onto the floor of LeBron James Arena at St. Vincent-St. Mary High School. He remembers his high school coach’s words, to forget about what happened in the past and to create a legacy for yourself in the future. That’s what Graves has always set out to do.

Living up to the greatest player in the world was an impossible task to put on a high schooler about to suit up for his first game.

But, Graves’ routine visits back to the high school and the sheer amount of people who look up to him and seek his advice describes perfectly the path Graves wanted. He’s one of the best players to come out of St. Vincent-St. Mary, Joyce said, and he hopes to one day have his own No. 3 jersey hanging from the rafters at his home school arena, two over from the “23” jersey that shaped the gym where he played his home games.

Buffalo is the next step on his quest. At STVM, Graves had to shine through an already bright history behind him.

“Everybody knows about it,” Graves said, “that’s LeBron’s school.”

But, he made it his own. And he expects to make Buffalo his, too.

CORRECTION: In a previous version of this post, Jayvon Graves’ family member who knew Dru Joyce from church was misstated. Graves’ father knew Joyce, the coach at STVM. The Daily Orange regrets this error.

Published on December 18, 2017 at 6:48 pm

Contact Michael: mmcclear@syr.edu | @MikeJMcCleary