NCAA Women's Basketball: Brittney Griner's Progress On Track At Baylor

Have you seen Brittney Griner play yet this year?

If you are a true fan of basketball, you really should—even if you’re not necessarily an aficionado of the women’s game.

What’s been on display, mostly in Waco, Texas so far has been the current condition of the perfect hoops storm:  extraordinary physical tools—devoid of the baggage of seasons of youth ball—in the hands of expert coaches.

And from the looks of both her numbers and her play itself, Ms. Griner is starting to “get it.”

Her per-game stats—24 points (on 63 percent shooting), 11 rebounds (five offensive), five blocks—are perhaps seasoned by home cooking and cupcakes, but the “eyeball test” is showing more decisiveness and consistency in the play of an elite athlete relatively new to her sport.

Just ask Top Tens Notre Dame and Tennessee.

Consider that it was a mere six years ago that a high school coach approached a then six-foot freshman volleyball player about giving basketball a try.

The kid had never played before—volleyball and (hello, Hakeem Olajuwon) soccer had been her games.

The coach, classy 30-year veteran Debbie Jackson of Aldine Nimitz H.S. in north Houston, had no idea that she was a couple of growth spurts away from having a YouTube sensation and the hottest recruiting prospect in the country, not to mention a first-time seat on the bench at the ultra-competitive Texas 5A state tournament in 2009.

By the time the spotlight of high-level youth ball fell upon Brittney (she played with current Baylor teammate Odyssey Sims), she was safely within the nurturing tentacles of Coach Jackson, who has been the originator, long-time host and very life blood of girls’ summer hoops for more years and kids than she’d care to admit. 

She is an exceptional teacher for exceptional kids of all sorts (via chron.com)

A mature kid and no diva, Griner committed early to the Baylor Lady Bears and their successful and spunky coach Kim Mulkey, a champion player herself and product of the legendary Leon Barmore’s coaching tree.

A rocky freshman year, most remembered for a moment’s indiscretion, was a learning experience—many of the better lessons were handed out by a veteran Nebraska team that stayed undefeated until March that season.

Conference rivals were no more accommodating last spring as Texas A&M’s eventual titlists derailed the No. 1 seed Lady Bears’ journey to the Final Four.

Griner had displayed in spurts the kind of dominant play of which she is capable, even against the stoutest of competition, but then the ball didn’t seem to find her for a while, and by the time it did, she no longer seemed “in the zone.”

Through eight games of this her junior year, Brittney appears more determined to stay in the game, if not that zone, at all times.  She also appears about 15 pounds stronger after a summer with USA Basketball.

The fulfillment of Brittney Griner’s destiny—to bring the women’s game to the next level, both literally and figuratively—may very well be happening right before our eyes.

There’s a long way to go yet—a Dec. 18 matchup with UConn and the always tough Big Roman-Numeral-Something Conference grind—and some other good coaches and players are getting a chance to study the new-and-improved Brittney Griner and her plenty-capable cohorts.

The Lady Bears have defended their top rating, but no one is conceding them a national championship.

However, the time for getting the better of Griner may have already elapsed.