After an illustrious career in one of the country’s most legendary high school girls basketball programs at Shelbyville (TN) High School, Janie Graves decided she wanted to join Coach Roy Heintz in turning around UAH Lady Charger basketball. Building a program from the ground up is Graves’ desire, and leading from her point guard spot will be pivotal.
“Janie Graves played for Lynn Burkey, one of the best high school coaches in the country, and she has been at the core of the Lady Eaglettes’ success throughout her career,” said Roy Heintz. “Every great program has a point guard that leads on and off the floor, that is willing to take the reins of a program – and it was evident to me, as soon as I met Janie, that she was the player that I needed to play that role in our program, if we were going to turn this program back into a winner and compete for championships.”
As a freshman, Graves hit game-winning shots against Lincoln County and then two weeks later against Knoxville Webb who was led by future Tennessee Lady Vol Glory Johnson, earning “Freshman of the Year” honors for her rookie campaign at Shelbyville. She started at point guard during her sophomore season, leading Shelbyville to the state tournament. She followed that up with the team’s “100% Hustle Award” for her junior year, as she led the team in assists.
This season she was named to the District 8AAA All-District team and was the District Most valuable Player, and then earned Region 4AAA All-Tournament honors. During the regular, she was also named to the All-tournament team in both the Mountain View Inn Thanksgiving tournament and the Above The Rim Christmas Invitational tournament. She was named the “Team MVP” award, leading the Lady Eaglettes in scoring (14.6), assists (2.4), and charges taken, and was second in rebounding (4.4). She also shot 40.4% from the floor, while adding 2.6 steals per game.
Heintz added, “I am so glad that Janie bought into our vision for this program. Her fiery competitiveness and strong work ethic will positively influence this program, and I believe she is the kind of leader that you want your point guard to be. Coach Burkey called her the best floor general he has ever had, which is saying an awful lot. She wants to be a coach, and quite literally has played like one on the floor throughout her high school career. She is a student of the game and loves to watch game film and meet with her coaches to prepare for upcoming games and opponents. I cannot wait to coach her.”
