Kansas guard Devonte’ Graham ready to rebound after illness

Righteous sleep greeted Kansas guard Devonte’ Graham when he walked through his hotel-room door following Thursday night’s regional semifinal win over Maryland.

Graham, who played 37 minutes against the Terrapins, needed it more than most as he battled through illness and some nasty cramps in the second half.

And the strain on his body left him more used up than he could have imagined.

“I got to the hotel and I didn’t realize how tired I was,” Graham said. “I don’t ever remember falling asleep, don’t even remember my head hitting the pillow. I woke up and I was actually surprised by how much I played.”

No Jayhawk needed the rest more than Graham, who said he began to see signs that there might be problems in Thursday’s pregame warmups.

“Honestly, I don’t know what happened because I was feeling good in the first half,” Graham said. “Then in the second half, about two minutes in, I just started cramping really bad. The trainer told me before the game that he thought I wasn’t eating as much as I usually do that day and that it might be a problem, but I wasn’t feeling under the weather or anything like that ... I just tried to fight through it.”

Graham’s problems put Kansas’ training staff into high alert and he was under strict supervision by Friday as they tried to get him right for Saturday’s Elite Eight showdown with Villanova — one in which he’ll be needed as much as any player on the roster against Villanova’s guard-heavy lineup.

“They’re monitoring what I’m eating, lots of carbs, lots of calories and these little shakes,” Graham said.

While Graham’s offensive production has gone down in the NCAA Tournament, his workload hasn’t. He cooled off after scoring in double digits in the Jayhawks’ last five games before the NCAA Tournament, including Big 12 Tournament MVP honors, and his scoring average is down to 5 points through three games. But he’s still averaging 3.6 assists and has played 30-plus minutes in the last two games.

If the illness showed on the court at all, it was in Graham’s five turnovers against Maryland, which tied a season-high.

“If you’re not scoring the ball or anything like that, it doesn’t really matter,” Graham said. “You just have to be effective in a different way. It could be on the defensive end, it could be shutting a guy down, getting rebounds, stops ... just making plays.”

The Jayhawks haven’t necessarily needed Graham to score, either, and have won all three games by double digits.

“He’s a warrior, and I respect him for battling through it,” Kansas guard Wayne Selden said. “He was lacking a little bit of swag from the illness, but I’m sure he’ll have it back tomorrow. And let’s be honest, a little bit of swag for him may be a little too much.”

Selden was joking, of course, but his teammates are looking forward to getting the sophomore guard back to full strength.

“It shows his toughness, because obviously he wasn’t feeling well,” Kansas guard Frank Mason said. “But he got with the trainer and now he’s getting fluids in him and all that. I think they’re getting him right and ready to go tomorrow and I think he’ll be ready to go.”

This story was originally published March 25, 2016 at 4:43 PM with the headline "Kansas guard Devonte’ Graham ready to rebound after illness."