Graves interviews with Oregon State but is happy at Gonzaga

Gonzaga women’s basketball coach Kelly Graves interviewed with Oregon State officials on Monday about their job opening.

“I did talk to Oregon State,” Graves said in a telephone interview from Portland Monday night. “We just talked, that’s all. I don’t want to leave Spokane. The only negative is we went 27-3 and didn’t get in (the NCAA Tournament). But we’re happy in Spokane.”

Graves met with Oregon State athletic director Mike De Carolis and two associate athletic directors in Portland.

“I haven’t applied,” Graves said. “I haven’t given them anything but my time. I was going to be recruiting here anyway. I think you always listen, don’t you?”

Despite the sparkling record that included a run of 23 straight wins, the school’s first national ranking and a 14-0 record in the West Coast Conference, the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee didn’t give Gonzaga one of the 31 at-large berths after the Bulldogs lost to Santa Clara in the championship game of the WCC tournament.

Five Pac-10 teams got into the NCAAs, including 19-11 Arizona.

For the second straight year Gonzaga played in the Women’s National Invitation Tournament. They beat Brigham Young University at home before losing at Southwest Missouri State to end the season 28-4. It was only the second Division I post-season win for the women, the first coming in 1994 when they were invited to the eight-team WNIT in Texas. That tournament had a three-game guarantee and GU lost its first two.

OSU fired Judy Spoelstra March 14 after the Beavers finished 6-23, including 1-17 in the Pac 10.

Graves, who has been at GU five years, said OSU asked and received permission to talk to him from Gonzaga athletic director Mike Roth.

“I’m going to meet with Mike tomorrow,” Graves said. “I really want to stay. It really was innocent.”

Graves said he has received phone calls from Denver newspapers asking if he had any interest in the Colorado job, but he said no.

“That’s nothing I’m interested in,” he said. “My wife wouldn’t go there.”

Graves’ wife Mary has family in Portland as well as in Spokane.

The Bulldogs are 80-69 under Graves, the most wins for a GU women’s coach, and he has twice been named WCC coach of the year. His first year they were 5-23, including 0-14 in the WCC.

Prior to coming to Spokane, Graves coached at Saint Mary’s for three years, winning 20 games each season. The Gaels played in the NCAA Tournament his second year and the WNIT the third. Graves is 146-95 in eight years as a Division I head coach.

Before that he was an assistant at Portland for six years. He started his coaching career with three years at Big Bend Community College in Moses Lake, beginning in 1989-90.

Spoelstra took OSU to the NCAA Tournament in 1996, her first season, but didn’t have another winning season until 2001, starting a string of four straight appearances in the WNIT.

Spoelstra, who played at Washington State before transferring to OSU and earning All-American honors, returned to Corvallis after six years as the head coach at Montana State. In 10 years at OSU, she had a record of 133-158, 67-133 in the Pac-10.

Graves said OSU officials were going to the Women’s Final Four in Indianapolis this week to talk to other potential coaches.