Kansas basketball: NBC Sports loves Devonte Graham

The leader of this season’s Kansas basketball team received preseason praise Tuesday. NBC Sports named Devonte Graham First Team All-America.

Bill Self and the Kansas basketball team are set to begin official workouts for the 2017 season. Senior guard Devonte Graham is the leader this year. He has big shoes to fill after Frank Mason won more than a few awards last season. Graham is more than up to the task. NBC Sports recognized that and named him to lead their preseason All-America First Team. Only two other Big 12 players made the list. They are on the Fourth-Team.

We didn’t know much about Graham when he arrived four season ago. I do remember he made news during the first Kansas basketball workouts. Bill Self’s guys were doing a team building workout with a U.S. military unit. I don’t recall much about what the team supposedly did that day. I do remember comments from the military spokesman who identified Graham as a leader. That is impressive for a kid who just rolled into Lawrence from Raleigh, North Carolina a few weeks earlier.

Kansas basketball fans are thankful Graham decided to stay for his senior season. I expected him to leave for the NBA. I was wrong and glad he’s back to play next to Malik Newman. Remember what the duo did working together during the summer tour of Italy?

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Graham set the tone from the start of the team’s Italian opener. He scored the game’s first basket on the way to 14 points on that hot afternoon inside Honey Sports City. After what he went through last March, I was happy to see him get off to a great start. Graham is more than ready and he will only get better as the season unfolds.