It’s safe to say Greg Graham has established an expectation for winning surrounding with the Boise State men’s basketball program, as he enters his eighth season leading the Broncos. Graham is coming off his third consecutive winning season, which finished just one win shy of being his third 20-win season at Boise State as well.

In 2008-09 Graham led the Broncos to a 19-13 overall record, including a 9-7 record against Western Athletic Conference opponents. Boise State also showed dominance at home, finishing 13-3 in Taco Bell Arena. As a team, the Broncos finished second in the WAC in scoring (72.8 points per game), field goal percentage (47.3) and assists per game (15.94).

For the Broncos’ regular season success, Boise State also earned the chance to play in the College Basketball Invitational tournament, where they would fall to Stanford University in the first round. The Broncos had three players earn All-WAC awards, as they were led by Mark Sanchez (Second Team All-WAC), Anthony Thomas (All-WAC Defensive Team) and Ike Okoye (All-WAC Defensive Team).

Coach Graham also improved his all-time record at Boise State to an impressive 127-95, with an overall career record of 145-100. He currently sits second for most wins in school history. On Feb. 7, 2008, Graham joined some select company as Boise State defeated Louisiana Tech 73-61 for his 100th career win with the Broncos. Graham joined Bobby Dye (213 wins) and Rod Jensen (109 wins) as the only coaches in Boise State history to win 100 games at the school.

Graham enjoyed his most successful season yet in 2007-08, with a conference championship, the most wins in a single basketball season in Boise State history, his team’s appearance in the NCAA Tournament, and two coach of the year awards to his credit in 2007-08.

Not only did Graham lead the Broncos to a share of the regular-season Western Athletic Conference title, but he also guided them to a memorable run through the WAC Tournament — culminated by one of the best and most exciting men’s basketball contests in school history in the championship game — and their first trip the NCAA Tournament since 1993-94.  Based on Boise State’s stellar performance in 2007-08, which included school records in wins (25) and road victories (12), he was named WAC Coach of the Year and the National Association of Basketball Coaches District 13 Coach of the Year.

Boise State’s season concluded with a trip Birmingham, Ala., and an appearance in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Although BSU lost 79-61 to Louisville in the opening round, the 2007-08 season will go down as one of the best in Bronco basketball lore. In addition to ending the year at 25-9 for the most wins in the program’s history, Boise State finished the season third in the country in field goal percentage (50.8 percent), seventh in assists per game (17.8/game), 10th in scoring (81.4 ppg) and 20th in 3-point field goal percentage (39.3 percent). The 2007-08 Broncos also set new school marks for points scored (2,767), field goals made (994), 3-point field goals made (271), and assists (605).

Individually, the Broncos reaped the rewards of a successful season — both on the court and in the classroom. In addition to Graham’s two coach of the year honors, Larry was named first-team All-WAC, U.S. Basketball Writers Association All-District VII, and MVP of the WAC Tournament. Nelson earned second-team All-WAC recognition and claimed a spot on the WAC All-Tournament team. Bauscher claimed All-Tournament honors and was on the WAC All-Defensive team.

Academically, the Broncos also put together a great year with a league-high four players earning WAC All-Academic recognition and the team combining for a league-leading Academic Performance Rate (APR) for the second straight season. As a team, Boise State compiled a WAC-best multi-year APR of 954.The APR covers four seasons, stretching from 2003-04 to 2006-07.In addition, Nelson was also one of 15 players nationally to be named to the 2008 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America University Division Men’s Basketball team. Nelson, a third-team selection, was the first Boise State men’s basketball player to ever be honored and just the 11th Bronco player in any sport. Nelson and fellow senior Bauscher along with sophomore Kurt Cunningham and freshman Paul Noonan all earned a spot on the WAC’s All-Academic team.

In his six seasons at Boise State, Graham has achieved several accomplishments few other Bronco coaches have done in the history of the program. In 2003-04, his second year, he became just the third coach in Boise State’s 38 years as an NCAA Division I program to win at least 20 games by his second season as the Broncos went 23-10 and earned a berth in the National Invitation Tournament. The Broncos’ appearance in the 2003 NIT also marked the first time a coach had led the men’s team to the postseason in just his second year. BSU advanced to the NIT’s Sweet 16 that year with victories over UNLV and UW-Milwaukee, marking the first time in school history that its men’s basketball team had won a pair of postseason games in the same season.

Graham also joined Bus Connor as the only two coaches to lead Boise State to the championship game of its league tournament by his third season at the helm. He also became Boise State’s third coach to lead a Bronco team to the NCAA Tournament.
In March of 2002 Graham was named the sixth men’s head basketball coach during the school’s four decades as a four-year institution. Graham came to Boise State after spending the previous five years as the top assistant at the University of Oregon under Ernie Kent. He helped lead the Ducks to the Pac-10 regular-season championship in 2002 as well as a spot in the Elite Eight in the NCAA Tournament. Graham was also on the coaching staff that led the Ducks to an NCAA tournament bid in 2000 and a NIT Final Four appearance in 1999.

While at Oregon, Graham was instrumental in the success of a potent Oregon offensive attack. Kent referred to Graham as the team’s “offensive guru” after the Ducks finished the 2001-02 season ranked third (behind only Kansas and Duke) in the country in scoring, averaging 85.9 points per game. The Ducks also finished fourth in the nation in scoring margin with a 14.5 point per game advantage over their opponents.

In addition to handling the Ducks’ offense, Graham was the team’s recruiting coordinator, directed game and practice organization, coordinated all aspects of game preparation and served as scouting coordinator and budget administrator. His 2000 recruiting class was ranked 25th in the nation and No. 1 in the West.    

Before coaching at Oregon, Graham spent five seasons with Kent at St. Mary’s College in California. While at the West Coast Conference school, he served in the same roles as he did at Oregon and was also the academic liaison for the program.

Graham’s five years with Kent at Oregon was his second coaching stint with the Ducks. He was also an assistant coach during the 1982-83 season. His other stops as an assistant were at New Mexico (1983-84), San Jose State (1985-89), and San Diego State (1989-92). He was the head coach at Western New Mexico during the 1984-85 season, where he led his team to an 18-5 record. He started his coaching career as an assistant at Marist High School in Eugene, Ore., in 1978 and was the head coach at Louisville High School in Louisville, Ohio, from 1979-82.

A four-year letterman at Oregon, Graham helped the Ducks to three NIT trips as a player. Graham, who was Oregon’s team captain his senior season, graduated with a bachelor of science degree in biology in 1978.He also earned a master’s degree in educational administration from the University of Dayton in 1982.

Graham and his wife, Marsha, have two sons, Marcus, 16, and Max, 14.