fayette — Jefferson County High School’s Malikia Graves had her greatest love taken away from her before her junior year of high school.

The Lady Tigers basketball team was days away from its first game of the season, when Graves tore her anterior cruciate ligament and was forced to miss her entire junior season.

But Graves’ love for the game pulled her up and got her back on the floor before her senior season. She turned a great senior season into a scholarship offer from Pearl River Community College, and now she has a least two more years of playing a game that she calls “her life.”

“It’s the thing I’ve been doing ever since I was little,” she said. “If I’m angry, bored or happy I play it. Basketball is everything. It’s like my best friend. I can go play by myself. I’m not basing my life on basketball, but it’s been there for me, and it’s all I have sometimes.”

Graves said her connection with the game is what allowed her to make it through her rehabilitation.

“When you love something you want to get back to where you want to be,” Graves said. “I got hurt my junior year, so I worked hard over the summer and knew I wouldn’t have that much time my senior year. Over the summer I put in extra work and I came off my injury at the beginning of June (2011).”

Graves was able to put together a great senior season, but she was not getting much interest from colleges because she missed her entire junior year. With the help of Jefferson County head coach Flora S. McKnight, Graves managed to get her name out.

“I got a tape made and sent it to different schools, and Pearl River was the first to call me,” Graves said.

Graves said Pearl River had the upper hand as the first school to offer, and once she visited she knew that’s where she wanted to be.

“I enjoyed the campus, and I felt comfortable around Coach (Toby Bush),” she said. “It was a big relief, because I didn’t have to go all those places and try out. I’m glad I got that one offer. When God sends you a blessing you take it.”

Bush said he immediately saw aspects of Graves’ game that he liked on tape.

“She can shoot the ball,” Bush said. “She kind of jumped off on the screen. She hit some deep shots and some tough shots. It kind of made you sit up in your chair.”

Bush said it only took five minutes of tape for him to call McKnight and arrange a meeting with Graves.

Graves went to Pearl River to workout for Bush, and he said the team knew she was something special.

“It seems like everything fell in place,” he said. “We had her on campus, and she really made a good impression on the players and coaching staff.”

McKnight said she was thrilled Graves is getting an opportunity, but she is a player that Jefferson County will miss.

“(Pearl River) is really getting a super guard that really knows the responsibility of a guard,” McKnight said. “She’s everything to our team. She’s a leader and a team player.”

McKnight said Graves was an unselfish point guard for the Lady Tigers, who would rather see her teammates score than shoot a lot of shots, but Bush said he hopes to see Graves score next season.

“I told her, ‘I’m not signing you to come in and be a role player. I want you to compete for a starting spot,’” Bush said. “Talent-wise, she could come in and start for us. We want her to come in, start and shoot. I know she can play point guard, but we probably will play her on the wing more than she’s used to. We have extremely high hopes for her.”

Graves said she would spend this summer waking up at 6 a.m. running and playing basketball. She said she hopes to study psychology at Pearl River.

“I grew up wanting to do that too,” she said. “I like to help people out with problems and help kids.”

Graves said after her two years at Pearl River, she hopes to try to attend her favorite school.

“LSU was actually my dream school,” she said. “When I tore my ACL it was a major setback, but hopefully I can branch off to LSU or Alcorn State. I would love LSU.”