COLLEGE BASKETBALL Antonio Graves fits in well on Pitt's talented bench

Head coach Jamie Dixon found Graves on the bench of his summertime team.
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- Coaches find their players in numerous locations -- high school gyms, summertime camps, traveling AAU teams, foreign countries.
Rarely do they discover them on the bench, but that's where Pittsburgh coach Jamie Dixon found his top backup guard.
With an extra scholarship to give after potential recruit Walter Waters parted ways with Pitt, Dixon began scouting the AAU circuit last summer. He noticed Antonio Graves, an all-state guard at Mansfield (Ohio) High School who wasn't playing much on his talented summertime team.
It wasn't just how the 6-foot-3 Graves played, but how he responded to not playing that Dixon liked.
"You see nine guys complaining about playing time -- and he's cheering," Dixon said. "That really was the final thing. I told our coaches, 'This kid just wants an opportunity.' I saw the hunger in his eyes."
Plays more than expected
Graves has played more than expected for the No. 7 Panthers, partly because sophomore point guard Carl Krauser missed four games with a groin injury. Graves had double-figure games against Georgia, William & amp; Mary and Albany. He also had four points and five assists in 21 minutes Wednesday in a 68-58 victory over Boston College, starting a key 14-0 run with a basket just before halftime.
Graves was playing only because Krauser, Pitt's top scorer, was sitting out with foul problems.
"When something like that happens, I just want to be ready and come up big for my team," Graves said. "I don't want to try to do too much, just come in and play hard and do what I can do."
His teammates say it's benefited Graves to go up against Krauser every day in practice, just as Krauser improved significantly last season by practicing against Brandin Knight -- the acknowledged leader of the Pitt teams that won 57 games the previous two seasons.
"We have a lot of faith in Antonio," Julius Page said. "I would say he's playing against the best point guard in the Big East, so why should he be scared of anyone else?"
Still, Graves has made excellent progress for a player who was competing in the class for Ohio's smallest high schools only last season.
Popular with teammates
He's also popular among his Pitt teammates, who were quick to console him after he missed a potential game-tying 3-pointer at the end of a 68-65 loss to Connecticut on Jan. 19.
Unlike some other teams, where the veteran players might have openly criticized the team's most inexperienced player for taking their biggest shot of the season to date, the Panthers were supportive of Graves.
The veteran players' acceptance of Graves has helped him learn his way around one of college basketball's most competitive conferences. Pitt (20-1, 6-1 in Big East), the first Division I team to reach the 20-win mark this season, is idle until playing St. John's on Wednesday night in Pittsburgh.