It was 1965 when a towering 18-year-old center from New York stepped on the campus of UCLA and changed college basketball forever. Lew Alcindor wasn't just a 7-foot novelty act. He could shoot. He could run. And oh, could he block shots.
It is nearly half a century later and the female version of Lew Alcindor will step on the court in the Pepsi Center tonight. Brittney Griner of Baylor University is a towering 6-foot-8 center from Houston who has changed women's basketball forever.
So unique is her dynamic, the pool of female candidates for comparison is empty. It's no reach to go back in time nearly 50 years, back when height, athleticism and basketball skills combined into one unstoppable force.
And oh, can she block shots.
"With how easily she scores, how easily she defends, it's like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar when he was still Lew Alcindor. All of a sudden college men's basketball was different, even different than when Wilt (Chamberlain) played," said Connecticut coach Geno Auriemma, whose Huskies lost at Baylor on Dec. 18. "Those are the kinds of moments that push the game forward. Brittney has done it and will be doing that in the future."
Griner has lifted women's basketball off the back pages by the horse racing results and given it headlines. Her YouTube dunk highlights have gone viral. She's the piano-playing cat of women's athletics.
She is why the Women's Final Four at the Pepsi Center today and Tuesday could have its highest TV ratings in history. When her top-ranked Bears (38-0) play Stanford (35-1) at 7 p.m., right after Connecticut (33-4) faces Notre Dame (34-3), among the television viewers will likely be LeBron James and Chris Paul.
"She's different than anybody we've ever had," said Nancy Lieberman, one of the sport's early game-changers. "We've never had anyone who's had her skill set of one step and dunk."
But Griner is so much more than a dunker — and we're not talking about her long-board transport around campus. Griner, who on Saturday was named The Associated Press player of the year, averages 23.4 points per game from spins around both sides of opponents, feathery jumpers and rebound baskets with a few dunks thrown in for hysterical viewer pleasure. Besides averaging 9.4 rebounds a game, she's averaging 5.2 blocks.
Just a junior, she's the first college player to score 2,000 points and block 500 shots and will likely be the only collegian on the U.S. Olympic 2012 women's basketball team. In London she may prove to be the best center in the world.
"She's changed the game in recent history because there's never been a player who could block shots and has the athleticism on the defensive end of the floor," said
Ceal Barry, Colorado's all-time winningest coach who led the U.S. in the Pan American Games last summer. "And the (Baylor) program is a perfect fit for her. They don't solely emphasize offense."
Influence all over the court
When Alcindor played, opposing coaches armed their defensive players in practice with tennis rackets. Last week Stanford brought a 6-foot-8 man into practice. Texas A&M, whose win in last year's regional final stands as Baylor's last loss, had a 6-foot-10 male yell leader pose as Griner. One problem: Griner was a lot better.
She hasn't just changed the way opponents play, either.
"She made me change as a coach, in that I can do some things — quick hitters and sets to where she gets looks above the rim," Baylor coach Kim Mulkey said. "Our game is predominantly played below the rim. We can do some things defensively that aren't good principles but because we have Brittney back there, we can gamble more."
Griner's influence is all over the court. Knowing she's guarding the basket like a soccer goalie with her 7-foot-4 wing span, Baylor's defense extends as far as any in the country.
It's a huge reason the Bears are second nationally in shooting percentage defense at .309. It's the biggest reason they could be the first college team to go 40-0. It will put Baylor in the history books. Griner? She's aware of basketball history. She's just one chapter.
"I wouldn't say I'm changing the game," she said Saturday. "I'm just adding on to it and the great players before me. I know there will be somebody come along who can do some things I can't do."
While her blocks intimidate and her shooting fascinates, her dunks scintillate. For the record, she has dunked only seven times in college. But in the women's game, each slam sets off an earthquake.
In the Sweet 16 against Georgia Tech, she took a breakaway and threw down a two-handed slam. Later, she grabbed a rebound, fought through three defenders, dribbled the length of the floor and delivered a one-handed bounce pass for a layup. That only impressed purists.
Her dunks, meanwhile, have brought the couch potato out of his Barca-lounger.
"You've got to have a reaction to it," said Doris Burke, a former Providence point guard who will call the Final Four for ESPN. "I'm a fan of the game, but I'm sitting at home and I'm having a huge reaction to it. We don't see it. When it becomes commonplace it won't be a big deal, but for me it's a big deal."
Unbelievable in high school
The daughter of a military father and a housewife, Griner became a YouTube sensation at Nimitz High with her dunking escapades. Many YouTube addicts doubted the height of the baskets. A local TV station measured Nimitz's rims, then Griner went out and dunked 52 times during her senior year, when she averaged 33 points and 15.5 rebounds. She was also a human fly-swatter, averaging 11.7 blocks a game.
In honor of the No. 1 prep player in the country, Houston Mayor Bill White even declared May 7, 2009, Brittney Griner Day.
The recruiting war didn't produce much smoke. She attended Baylor's summer camp before her junior year and committed before she shook another coach's eager hand.
Like Alcindor, she has brought some attitude to the court. As a freshman, her punch broke the nose of Texas Tech's Jordan Barncastle after a scuffle under the basket. Mulkey added one game to the one-game suspension the NCAA gave her.
Yet her maturity as a player is matched by her maturity as a person. When Tennessee's Kimetria Hayden and Baylor point guard Odyssey Sims went nose to nose at the end of Baylor's Elite Eight win, Griner rushed to the court — to break it up.
For the total impact Griner will make on the game, check back circa 2022. She likely has the 2012 Olympics, another year at Baylor and a pro career that could solidify the WNBA on the American sports radar.
"Her history is incomplete," Burke said. "We're going to see part of her history play out before us on Sunday."
John Henderson: 303-954-1299, twitter.com/johnhendersondp or jhenderson@denverpost.com
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