By Hamilton Neill
On February 18, Baylor will retire Brittney Griner’s No. 42 jersey as the Bears host Texas Tech at the recently opened Foster Pavilion in Waco, Texas.
The Phoenix Mercury star, who was the first pick in the 2013 WNBA draft, led the Lady Bears to the Final Four twice, including a 40-0 national championship season as a junior. She’s also won two Olympic gold medals and the 2014 WNBA title with the Mercury, where she has played for ten seasons.
Born in Houston, Griner played for Baylor from 2009 to 2013 and still holds the NCAA record for the most career blocked shots (748). During her time at Baylor, she scored 3,283 points and grabbed 1,305 rebounds. Recently, Iowa’s Caitlin Clark surpassed her for the fourth position on the NCAA’s women’s basketball all-time scoring list.
“I’m honored to return home to Baylor and celebrate where so much of my journey started,” Griner said Monday in a statement. “I’m grateful to Coach Nicki [Collen] and the entire Baylor community and am looking forward to the opportunity to be back on campus, spend time with the team and have my family beside me to share in this incredible moment. Sic ’em Bears.”
Her jersey will be the seventh retired by the Baylor women’s program. She will join two of her former teammates, Odyssey Sims and Melissa Jones, in that honor.
“I have been saying this since I arrived at Baylor that she deserves to have her jersey retired and I wanted to make sure that happened when the timing was right,” Collen said in a statement. “With the opening of Foster Pavilion, and the WNBA offseason fitting into our season, this seemed like the right time to honor Brittney and welcome her back home.”
“She is one of the best basketball players in Baylor’s history, and we’re thrilled that the time has come to celebrate Brittney and all of her accomplishments.”
The Rhynean 