Griner much more than ‘dunker girl’

WACO, Texas - Brittney Griner arrived at Baylor known as the girl who could dunk.

The 6-8 Griner has obliged over the years with some rim-rattling highlights. Even in her last regular-season home game, she made a quick spin move around a Kansas State defender on the baseline for a one-handed slam.

Although she has 14 career dunks, Griner always wanted to be known for more than just slamming the ball. Add in all the blocks, points and championships, and she has proven to be much more in four seasons with the Lady Bears.

“A lot of people come up to me all the time and just tell me, just compliment me on my game, other than the dunks and the scoring,” she said. “Just how I find my teammates and just everything, how I move on the court. That let me know right there that, hey, I’m kind of getting away from the You-Tube dunker girl.”

Going into her final women’s NCAA Tournament, the defending national champion Lady Bears (32-1) are again the No. 1 overall seed. They have a nation-best 55-game winning streak at home, where they play their tournament opener Sunday night against Southwestern Athletic Conference champion Prairie View A&M (17-14).

Griner is the Big 12 career scoring leader with 3,203 points, 190 short of the NCAA record with no more than six games left. She has a nearly 7 ½-foot wingspan that contributes greatly to the record she really cherishes: 736 blocked shots, more than any other man or woman ever in the NCAA.

“She’s one of a kind,” Kansas State Coach Deb Patterson said. “Look at the great run that Baylor has made with the Final Four and national championship, and really, a second potential national championship on the line, her impact is hard to measure with words.”

The dunk against Kansas State was part of Griner’s Big12-record 50 points in a game. Five days later in the Big 12 Tournament, Griner had 19 points, 13 rebounds and a career-high 9 assists in another game against the Wildcats.

“No matter what anybody says, she’s not great because of her size,” Patterson said. “She’s great because she continued to improve her repertoire and compete extraordinarily well.”

Her high school dunks made Griner a YouTube sensation, with as many as seven per game for Houston Nimitz. They even caught the attention of the likes of NBAsuperstar LeBron James, who met Griner when she was still in high school and has kept up with her since.

“She’s awesome,” James said. “It’s not like she’s just catching and laying it or dunking every time either. She’s shooting turnaround jumpers. She’s drop-stepping over her left shoulder, right shoulder, shooting jumpers. She’s got a fade-away jumper. And she’s dunking the ball, too. She’s great.”

It’s difficult to believe that Griner was like any other freshman when she arrived, nervous and unsure what to expect. The Lady Bears went 27-10 her first season, and made it to the NCAA Final Four before a national semifinal loss to Connecticut. They are 106-4 since.

“Brittney Griner, after winning the national championship last year, should have erased any doubt in people’s minds as the greatest to ever play the game,” Baylor Coach Kim Mulkey said.

Griner cringes when asked about her impact on the game.

“I just feel like I’m adding on,” she said. “I guess you can say I’m changing the defensive end … just because I’m so big and I move. I’m not stationary.

“I want people to look back and be like, ‘Dang, I remember when I played her back in college, she was a game-changer on the defensive end.’ I want that to be my mark on the defensive end.”

That’s a slam dunk.

Sports, Pages 25 on 03/23/2013

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