Xavier University Athletics
Men's Basketball
- Title:
- Special Assistant to the Head Coach
- Email:
- gravesm5@xavier.edu
- Phone:
- 513.745.2852
Head Coach Travis Steele brought Matthew Graves onto his staff in August of 2019 as the Special Assistant to the Head Coach. Graves, who was an assistant coach at Evansville in the 2018-19 season, spent five years as the head coach at the University of South Alabama.
“I have known Matthew for a long time,” said Steele. “Matthew has extensive experience at multiple levels.
“Number one is he brings a different perspective than anyone on our staff because he has been a head coach. He has sat on this seat before, he knows how it feels, so I think he brings that perspective. Matthew taught me in college. He taught my coaching class. He has won a lot. He has coached in multiple Final Fours. He’s won a lot of championships. He’s been in big games. He knows what it takes and what it looks like. He’s very good X’s and O’s wise, so he’s a great sounding board for me from that perspective. He has been around some of the best coaches in the game and that’s big for us, it really is. He helps prepare us as well. He watches a lot of film, a ton of film of our opponents and how we can attack those teams. He’s really big in our game planning.”
Prior to his time at South Alabama, Graves spent 17 years as a student-athlete and coach at Butler University, which is also Steele’s alma mater.
Graves started as an assistant coach at North Central High School and Ben Davis High School in Indianapolis before joining the Bulldog staff as coordinator of men’s basketball operations in 2001 on Todd Lickliter’s BU staff. After two seasons, he was promoted to an assistant coach before being named the associate head coach in 2010 by Brad Stevens.
With Graves on staff, the Bulldogs made a national tournament in each of his last eight seasons along with eight seasons in a row with 20+ victories. His coaching career at Butler was highlighted by a pair of appearances in the NCAA Tournament Championship Game in 2010 and 2011.
Graves also enjoyed success as a student-athlete at Butler. Graves was a member of the 1997 team that made the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 35 years. He was named Team MVP as he led the Horizon League in free-throw shooting while earning a nod on the All-Tournament Team with his 18-point performance in the championship game.
Off the court, Graves was named to the GTE Academic All-District V Team while garnering an academic all-league selection.
Graves, a Switz City, Ind., native, was born on Nov. 9, 1974 in Linton, Ind. He earned his bachelor’s degree from Butler in secondary education with an emphasis in chemistry in 1998 and his master’s degree in education administration from BU in 2003. He and his wife Susan have two daughters, Abigail and Lillian.
