Carl Graves returns for his sixth season as the head coach of the Madonna women's basketball team after being named the third head coach in program history on May 3, 2006.

In his first year at the helm, Graves led the Crusaders to a 15-18 overall mark and fell just one game shy of reaching the NAIA National Tournament, falling to Cornerstone in the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference Tournament championship. At the end of the season, Graves was honored by his league coaching peers by being named the WHAC Coach of Character for representing the NAIA's five core values of respect, responsibility, integrity, servant leadership and sportsmanship within the Champions of Character program.

With his 15 wins in 2006-07, Graves surpassed former MU head coach Marylou Jansen as the winningest first year head coach at Madonna. Graves picked up his 15th win of the season by knocking off 18th-ranked Davenport in the semifinals of the WHAC Tournament and had his team just one away from the NAIA National Championship in his first season as head coach.

In his five seasons Graves has a career record of 70-82, while going 39-35 in league games over that same period. The Crusaders have also appeared in the WHAC Tournament championship game three times in that five-year span. 

Graves has coached five first team All-WHAC selections in addition to a pair of second team and a trio of third team selections, four all-defensive team selections and 11 academic All-WHAC selections. Graves also helped Kim Olech to earn WHAC Newcomer of the Year honors in 2008 as well as to an All-America third team selection that same season.

Last season Tabatha Wydryck earned NAIA All-America honors and her second selection to the All-WHAC first team under Graves' guidance.

Off the court, Graves' teams have produced one of the highest grade point averages amongst the Madonna programs. During the 2009-10 school year, the Crusaders had a team GPA of 3.49 and followed that up with an even more impressive 3.65 GPA last year. The NAIA honored the both the 2009-10 and 2010-11 Crusaders as National Scholar Teams.

The MU women's basketball team has taken home the Blue and Gold Award for Scholar Team at each of the last three events.

Graves came to Madonna from Airport High School (Carleton, Mich.) where he served as girl's varsity coach for six seasons. In his time at Airport, Graves guided his teams to a 88-39 record, including a school record for wins with 19 in 2005.

No stranger to the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference, Graves played collegiately at Concordia University under then head coach Chip Wilde. While with the Cardinals, Graves was named a 1996 NAIA All-American scholar athlete and academic all-conference honoree.

In addition to his time at Airport, Graves has also worked several collegiate coaching camps including; Concordia University, Eastern Michigan University, University of Cincinnati, University of Kentucky and Rutgers University. 

Graves' prior collegiate coaching experience was as an assistant under Chip Wilde at Concordia from 1996-98 where he was responsible for post-play, practice planning, game strategies and camp direction.

Graves served as a U.S. Marine out of high school and was a jet engine mechanic. Assigned to VMA-231 in Cherry Point, North Carolina, Graves achieved the status of plane captain on the AV-8B Harrier vertical take off aircraft.

In 1991, his unit was one of the first to arrive in theater for Operation Desert Shield/ Desert Storm, and was the most forward operated air wing unit in the country's history of war.

Graves was selected by his commanding officer to introduce then active Vice President Dan Quayle to the AV-8B only one day prior to the start of Desert Storm. After being named division scholar of the communication and psychology departments in his senior year at Concordia, Graves moderated a ceremony at Concordia College where Quayle was the keynote speaker.

Graves earned a master's degree from the University of Michigan in 1998, and began work as a school social worker, dealing with special education students in the Monroe County Intermediate School District where he is currently employed.

He resides in Belleville, with his wife Karen - a former standout volleyball player and the current head volleyball coach at Concordia - and their twin sons Jeffery and James.