Rob Mosely knows Katherine Graham as his “surrogate daughter.”Mosely was Graham’s coach on the girls’ basketball team at Ramsay High School in Birmingham, Ala., from 2003-07, and he watched the current LSU junior guard develop into the college basketball player she is today.Mosely said Graham lacked great athletic ability when she first started playing basketball.”Of everyone in the gym, she was probably the least athletic,” Mosely said. “She was slow and couldn’t jump.”Mosely said Graham worked tirelessly to develop talent in the areas where she struggled, even practicing when school was not in session.”She is a self-made player, obviously putting in the work to get where she is,” Mosely said. “She’s not the kid that was blessed with outstanding jumping ability, speed, even height. She would come in on off days … always worked hard on her conditioning and never allowed herself to get out of shape.”Mosely said he first became close with Graham when she was a student in his wife’s biology class at Ramsay High School. “Katherine had a C in her class, and her mom came to open house,” Mosely said. “Her mom and my wife exchanged numbers. Katherine didn’t like it at first because my wife was very demanding in the classroom. Katherine had to adjust as a freshman, but she graduated with a 4.0 and handled it all with humility.”Mosely said Graham was a model student in other ways in high school, particularly when she was selected to represent Alabama on a trip to Washington to meet former first lady Laura Bush.Graham said she still leans on Mosely for support today. The Birmingham native averaged 15 points, eight rebounds and four assists per game under Mosely’s direction, leading the team to four state titles and a 126-13 record in that span.”It was great because there aren’t that many teams who have consecutively won four state titles in Alabama,” Graham said. “Playing against top teams every year was great. [Mosely] had my best interests at heart, and everything he did was to prepare me for the next level.”Now that Graham has been out of high school, she said she feels privileged to be part of the Lady Tigers’ basketball program — an emotion she experienced as soon as she walked onto the court.”I’ve loved the whole opportunity to come to Louisiana and play for such great fans and be a part of a great tradition,” Graham said.LSU advanced to the Final Four in Graham’s first season before losing to Tennessee, 47-46, on a last-second layup. “I would love for her to help the program get back to where it was when she arrived her freshman year,” Mosely said. “I felt like I lived it with her — the Final Four run and the star status with [Sylvia] Fowles and [Quianna] Chaney and those kids around.”Graham started 25 games as a sophomore, missing only five after suffering a second-degree MCL sprain and bone contusion against UNO on Jan. 14.She finished second on the team in rebounds per game (5.0), steals (1.6), assists (2.7) and minutes played (28.0), and she ranked fourth in points per game (5.5).  “My game has gotten better because I had to have mental stability to bounce back,” Graham said.After graduation next year, Graham said she wants to stay involved at LSU as a graduate assistant or coach and pursue a possible master’s degree in business.Mosely said he and Graham talk about five days a week, even during basketball season.”I’m not going to say I’m her biggest fan because her folks are, but I’m right around there,” Mosely said. “You really don’t get those types of kids like Katherine who are selfless in this day and age.”—–Contact Rachel Whittaker at [email protected]