GREENSBORO, N.C. — Kevin Graves and Diondre Overton were in each other's lives for years.
"Me and Diondre, we spent a lot of time together," Graves said.
Graves is a former coach, mentor, and friend to the late Page High and Clemson wide receiver who was shot and killed in Greensboro early Saturday morning.
He would travel around the country to watch Overton play, "whether it was in California, Phoenix, Arizona, New Orleans, Louisiana," Graves said.
Graves said he coached Overton at a young age through AAU. Graves said Overton was the type of student athlete who genuinely cared about his grades.
"I went to Diondre's graduation when he graduated from Clemson," Graves said.
But that he was also just a good person.
"Unbelievable human being, a great person, great personality, electric personality," Graves said.
It's what drew Graves to Overton the most, his upbeat personality.
He said he was in contact with him the week before he was killed.
"I mean, everything was good with 'Dre. You know, he's always upbeat, always smiling," Graves said.
Graves said Overton's attitude on life changed him for the better, he said it was contagious.
"I would say Diondre was almost like a mentor to me at times because he always kept me upbeat and he was always fun and engaging and having a good time," Graves said.
Days after the shooting, he finds it hard to move on.
"It hurts a lot," Graves said, "to see his family have to be affected like this. That's, that's the toughest for me."
He said Overton's death will never make sense, calling it an act of senseless gun violence.
"We have to get back to a point where people understand love and compassion and we have to stop trying to solve our issues by creating these crazy, crazy scenarios through gun violence," Graves said.