Griner Continues Her Dominance

Baylor University’s Brittney Griner is one of the most spectacular athletes to ever step on a basketball court. Griner stands at an unprecedented 6 feet, 8 inches tall with a wingspan of 86 inches, and wears size 18 shoes. Currently, Griner has led Baylor’s Women’s basketball squad to an undefeated season as well as a Final Four appearance so far in 2012.

Named the number 1 high school women’s basketball player in the United States by rivals.com, Griner has been in the spotlight since the beginning of her carreer. The mayor of Houston even declared May 7, 2009 Brittney Griner Day. In her freshman year at Baylor, Griner recorded the school’s first triple-double with 34 points, 11 blocks, and 13 rebounds. She also became only the seventh woman to dunk during a college basketball game as well as the second ever to dunk in an NCAA tournament game. By the end of her freshman year, Griner led the Bears to the Tournament’s Final Four.

Late in Griner’s freshman year, her outstanding athletic ability was marred by her ejection and a two-game suspension for punching a Texas Tech player. Griner has put this incident behind her, leading the 2012 Bears to a 34-0 record, recording 23.1 points and 9.4 rebounds per game. Baylor will face its stiffest competition of the year when they play the Stanford Cardinal this Sunday in the NCAA Tournament’s Final Four, as Stanford has only lost one game this season. It will be a tough matchup for Griner and her teammates; however, many believe that it is their time to win.

Griner is the only collegiate player to be chosen as a finalist for the United States’ Women’s Basketball Team’s Olympic Roster. She is currently competing for a spot on the final roster to represent the United States at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. Brittney has also received many honors, such as being featured on the cover of ESPN’s Rise magazine. The Women’s Basketball Coaches Association selected her as the 2009 State Farm/WBCA High School Player of the Year.

Griner looks to improve the Bears’ storybook season in Denver this Saturday, when they challenge the Stanford Cardinal.

- Kyle D’Souza ’14

Posted by admin on March 30, 2012. Filed under Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry