The Oklahoman’s Super 30: MJ Graham's energy carries through multiple sports at Westmoore
MOORE — MJ Graham spends most of his summer immersed in a fast-paced lifestyle.
In late June, he took a football recruiting visit to the University of Houston. A couple of weeks later, he’s gearing up for a basketball tournament in Kansas with Oklahoma Chaos, his AAU team. And Graham is simultaneously preparing for his final high school football season as a quarterback and defensive back at Westmoore.
Both sports keep him on the go, but during a rare break, you might find him relaxing at Arcadia Lake.
“I go fishing,” Graham said. “It’s a peaceful hobby.”
The serene stillness of his favorite fishing spot contrasts with the electric environment of a gym or stadium, and this duality describes Graham.
Through his two primary sports, he has figured out how to strike a balance between intense competitiveness and calm steadiness. Graham, ranked No. 21 on The Oklahoman’s Super 30 list of the state’s best prospects in the 2024 class, can channel either vibe depending on the situation.
“He’s really got that step between the lines and flip the switch type thing,” said Westmoore football coach Lorenzo Williams. “He can dial it down to learn and soak up the information he can soak up, but then once he goes to apply it, the whole universe kind of shifts a little bit around him. A lot of energy, a lot of fire, a lot of excitement.”
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During the past season at Southeast High School, he used this approach to fuel a football revival and lead his basketball team to the state tournament. As a newcomer at Westmoore, he’s using his adaptive leadership style to settle into his role and pick up college offers.
His recruitment is growing before he takes one snap in a game with the Jaguars.
Recruited primarily as a defensive back, Graham has Division I offers from Houston and Tulsa. Both arrived after he decided to spend his senior season with the Jaguars, and Williams sees what colleges have noticed in Graham.
“He’s a real humble kid,” Williams said. “I don’t think he did a good enough job explaining to me how good he was at football, so it’s been very surprising to see him.
“Once we got into spring ball, he started picking up things real fast and kind of asserting himself as a leader a little bit.”
In his junior year at Class 5A Southeast, Graham was starting to gain attention, boosting the Spartan football team during its first winning season since 2005. He threw for more than 2,000 yards as the starting quarterback and grabbed five interceptions as a defensive back.
When basketball season rolled around, the Spartans relied on Graham as their starting point guard, and he led the team with 21 points per game.
Graham was building his dual-sport resume, but he wanted a change.
“Southeast, I was there for three years,” Graham said. “I felt like I wasn’t getting as far as I wanted to be in trying to get to the next level, in college. I felt like making the move to (Class) 6A would help, which it did.”
At Westmoore, he had the bonus of reuniting with a childhood friend: Mykel Patterson-McDonald, the standout senior defensive back with an array of Division I offers.
Moving into the Westmoore district, Graham hoped the offers would pour in for him, too.
He knew Williams had plenty of college connections as a former Missouri defensive lineman. But Graham also understood the challenge of jumping from Class 5A to Class 6A-I, where he would contend with titans like Bixby and Tulsa Union.
His new coach delivered a message of candid realism.
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“When I first came over here, (Williams) was like, ‘I’m not going to guarantee anything,’” Graham recalled. “‘You’re gonna have to put in the work. I’m gonna put you in front of coaches, and you’re gonna show your talents.’”
Fortunately for Graham, he had been honing those talents for most of his life.
His athletic career encompasses more than basketball and football. During track season, he participates in the high jump, and he built his foundation in soccer around age 4, picking up footwork that could translate to other sports.
Graham also trained with his younger brother Mishaun and their father.
Sometimes, they practiced at a football field near their home. Other times, the Grahams focused on conditioning, running up the steep hills around Lake Hefner.
Using these fundamentals, Graham blazed two distinct paths that sometimes crossed. His physicality in football translated to basketball, he said, while his patience and attention to detail on the court helped him on the gridiron.
Graham also developed his situational approach in both sports, tailoring his communication style to the individuals around him.
“I know how to talk to certain players,” Graham said. “You can’t talk to all players (in) the same tone. You’ve got to bring a different approach to some kids and just learn how to talk to certain players.”
His ability to connect with teammates shows on the field and on the court, and either sport could lead him to the next level. Graham, who has a basketball offer from Southwestern Christian in Bethany, said he will pursue the sport that best fits him in college.
At the moment, football presents more opportunities.
But an entire school year awaits, and Graham said he plans to play football and basketball at Westmoore.
As he adjusts to the football program, the Jaguars are bringing out his enthusiasm. Graham said he noticed the high energy during his first day of practice, and he knows how to match a team’s vibe.
“He’s been able to weave himself into a lot of friend groups,” Williams said. “And he’s kind of actually helping bring the team together a little bit more, too, which is great.”
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The Oklahoman’s 2024 Super 30
Name: MJ Graham
School: Westmoore
Super 30 ranking: No. 21
Ht.: 6-foot-0 | Wt.: 175 pounds
Position: Defensive back
Recruited by: Houston, Tulsa
About the series
The Oklahoman’s Super 30 feature series will spotlight each high school football player on the Super 30 recruit rankings for the 2024 class. The series continued Tuesday with No. 21, MJ Graham of Westmoore. See No. 20 on the list in Wednesday’s edition of The Oklahoman. Here are the last five players we’ve featured:
No. 25: Sam McCormick, WR/LB, Bixby
No. 24: Issac Covington, RB/DB, Tulsa Union
No. 23: Brody Duffel, OL, Bixby
No. 22: River Warren, QB, Del City
No. 21: MJ Graham, QB/DB, Westmoore
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma HS football: Michael Graham, Westmoore recruiting profile
