Brittney Griner Dominates Girls Basketball

Being a 6'6 as a male high school basketball player is a tremendous advantage. But when has there been a female at that size as a high school player? Brittney Griner was an assist away from a quadruple-double last night and has led her team from Nimitz High School to a 27-7 record.

She had 29 points, 13 rebounds, 11 blocks and 9 assists and leads her area in points per game, blocks, and dunks according to Maxpreps.com. Griner has already verbally committed to women's college powerhouse Baylor, as a junior according to a youtube.com report. The highlight of her season was when she scored 47 of her team's 55 points en route to a 55-40 victory over Westfield.

No player in Texas High School basketball can do anything to defend against her. She regularly gives opposing players facials with her rim-rattling dunks and all-ball blocks. "She really is the complete player, she really cares about defense," Nimitz coach Debbie Jackson said in an interview with click2Houston.com. What is even more remarkable about her size and skill is her character. Judging by the videos on youtube.com and the articles I've seen, she is very grounded. While her teammates go nuts every time she dunks, Griner is quiet and hustles to the other side of the court to play defense.

She reminds me of Kara Braxton, a forward for the Detroit Shock. WNBA.com notes Braxton also stands at 6'6, and is an efficient rebounder and defensive wall Griner is a tremendous talent in high school, but can not rely on her size alone at the college level. She will have to develop a more reliable low-post move. Also, I could picture her like 7'2 Margo Dydek of the newly formed Atlanta Dream. No it is not a typo she is actually 7'2. Dydek plays about 20 minutes a game, and is second in the league in rebounds per 40 minutes. The athleticism isn't tremendous for either of these giants, but defense and rebounding are the games that they play. Griner will certainly be a standout at Baylor, and it will be very interesting to see how she adapts her game to the WNBA if she makes it that far.