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'She's part of our family': Brittney Griner makes long-awaited return to Baylor

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WACO, Texas – During halftime of Baylor's game against Texas Tech on Sunday, fans took part in a dunk contest. In the final round, a competitor asked Brittney Griner to give him the ball from the backboard, which she immediately agreed to without any practice reps. Her first attempt missed the contestant completely. Her second pass was a little too soft and the fan was already on his way down when he caught the ball, so he was forced to put it in instead of being able to dunk.

While the crowd cheered the effort despite the result, Griner decided the fans were still in for a blow. Wearing her bulky Baylor Letterman jacket and Chucks on her feet, Griner grabbed the ball and rammed it in with one hand, making up for her miss in the assist department.

In some ways, it was a familiar sight to the Bears fans in attendance. No player in women's basketball history has dunked as many times as Griner, who had 18 in her Baylor career. The image of Griner hitting the ball through the hoop and then celebrating loudly is one they've grown accustomed to.

But Griner hadn't been to Baylor in more than a decade. Until Sunday, she hadn't been to a Bears game since her collegiate career ended in the 2013 NCAA tournament. The dominance, the joy, the silliness — they were all absent.

Sunday was a turning point. Twelve years after she played her last game in a Bears uniform, Baylor finally retired Grinner's No. 42 jersey. The three-time All-American, two-time National Player of the Year, one-time National Champion and Final Four Most Outstanding Player and all-time career blocks leader is now memorialized in the rafters of Foster Pavilion, the seventh player in program history to earn the honor. Baylor and Brittney Griner choose to recommit to each other, this time for good.

At an alumni event on Saturday, Griner said she knows she hasn't been there in a while, but that's about to change. Baylor University is her home, and now that she has returned, she will keep coming back.

“All I wanted was for Brittney to feel loved, by our team, by our university, by our community,” Baylor coach Nicki Collen said afterward. “It was emotional to see her tears. It was emotional to see her smile yesterday. Whether this is healing or whatever, she is part of our family and I am so grateful that we were able to make this happen.

The statistical argument for retiring Griner's jersey is a no-brainer. Her list of accolades dwarfs any other player in school history, the most significant of which led Baylor to a 40-0 title-winning season in 2012, the first time in NCAA history that a team had won 40 games without losing to lose. When Collen took over as Baylor's head coach in 2021, she says she “put it on the air that day.” Recognizing Griner was a priority from the moment she was hired, a priority that was put on hold by Griner's arrest and subsequent detention in Russia.

When Griner returned to the U.S., it was a matter of finding a date that fit around her WNBA, USA Basketball and other commitments. Collen and Baylor were also confident that the game would be nationally televised, as a player of Grinner's caliber deserved the biggest stage even in retirement.

Despite the long absence, Griner fit in well on campus, where she played from 2009 to 2013 under former Baylor coach Kim Mulkey, with whom she has long had a testy relationship. Although Griner declined to speak to reporters through her representation, at the alumni event she fondly remembered longboarding the quad as a student and suggested she get back on her board before heading home. She shared her go-to college meal — a meat and cheese burger with a caramel shake at Health Camp — and admitted that her taste buds haven't changed much even as she's grown up. She was talking about her favorite class in college on British Literature, and her former professor happened to be there, happy to reconnect with Grinner.

She giddily watched the highlights of her college years and laughed at the brashness of her younger self. She told a story about the 2010 Final Four in San Antonio when the Bears saw the UConn Huskies on the other side of the River Walk and then barked at them ahead of their national semifinal, which they ultimately lost. When a video of her dunks appeared on the screen, she rubbed her knees and sighed, not as bouncy as before.

Griner feels comfortable anywhere and with anyone, but Baylor is her home. During Sunday's game, she sought out fans who were season ticket holders when she was in school. A man who had been present during Grinner's playing career was excited to take his daughter, who was not yet born at the time, to meet her for the first time. Griner ran through the tunnel like a player when she entered and was moved to tears before the game when her jersey was unveiled.

She and former teammate Odyssey Sims clapped and nodded encouragingly as Aijha Blackwell found Darianna Littlepage-Buggs under the basket for an easy layup. Griner stood and cheered on another possession when Littlepage-Buggs had a block on the perimeter. She had a conversation with referee Maj Forsberg – a veteran of NCAA and WNBA games – about a play on the Bears' side. After the game, she stood in line with the players and coaches as they sang Baylor's alma mater.

She was so invested in the atmosphere at Baylor that it wasn't until midway through the second quarter that she noticed a full contingent of Phoenix Mercury personnel was there and sitting courtside to witness the moment. Among those who made the trip to celebrate Griner were Mercury president Vince Kozar, former head coach Sandy Brondello, current coaches Nate Tibbetts, Michael Joiner and Kristi Toliver, and general manager Nick U'Ren.


Representatives of the WNBA's Phoenix Mercury celebrate Brittney Griner at Baylor. (Sabreena Trader / The Athletics)

Griner was out of her seat during each intermission as she seemingly tried to connect with each of the 7,093 fans in the building. After the Bears earned a comfortable victory — Collen said her players were inspired to deliver their best defensive performance of the season for Griner — the superstar spent nearly an hour taking photos with hordes of alumni, staff, former players and donors.

When interviewed by Sheryl Swoopes and Brenda VanLengen during the ESPN broadcast, Griner said she felt “seen” as she watched her jersey being unveiled. Frankly, it's hard to imagine Grinner existing any other way.

She is literally and figuratively the biggest presence in any room. At 6 feet tall, she immediately grabs your attention with her million-watt smile. Then there's her infectious personality. She's crazy and up for anything, always trying to have fun, just like she did against the Red Raiders. People are attracted to her.

Griner was born to be seen, to be witnessed in all her glory. She should be the university's biggest asset, the person they call to close the deal on a recruit or mentor younger players in practice. She belongs in Baylor's version of Mount Rushmore.

Griner had a long conversation with Lety Vasconcelos after the buzzer. The 6-7 freshman has played just 15 games and reached double-digit minutes twice. But Griner was in her ear, explaining to a fellow center what she saw down the stretch in the fourth quarter and how to maneuver her body to use her size to her advantage.

Grinner's presence is still meaningful to the Bears all these years later. Whether she's pumping up a crowd or passing on the lessons of her dominance, she has a role to play at Baylor. The university finally opened the door for Griner to come back, and she ran right through it. She's up for anything, and now that includes a second act at the site of her greatest triumphs.

(Top photo of Brittney Griner: Ron Jenkins/Getty Images)

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