graham was born in louisville, ohio and graduated from louisville high school in 1973. after high school, graham attended the university of oregon (uo) in eugene and played at guard on the oregon ducks men's basketball team from 1973 to 1977 under dick harter. as a senior, graham was team captain and was the team's leading scorer with 21.7 points per game, as well as the leading rebounder (9.8). graham graduated from the university of oregon college of arts and sciences in 1978 with a degree in biology.