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Waco, Texas. Shortly after noon on Friday, Brittney Griner unfolded herself from the passenger seat of a two-door Honda sedan driven by Baylor teammate and fellow freshman Kimetria Hayden.

Without a hitch in her conversation or her step, Griner disappeared behind the doors of the Ferrell Center and into the cocoon spun by her college basketball family.

Outside Baylor’s protective embrace it was bedlam, with a producer from “Inside Edition” among the members of the news media buzzing the university’s sports information office. Everyone was angling for an interview with Griner, the 6-foot-8 (2-meter) center who until this week was creating a minor sensation with her repertory of dunks and shot blocking.

Griner, 19, created a major commotion, one that will be difficult for her to deflect, during the second half of Baylor’s game on Wednesday when she punched Texas Tech forward Jordan Barncastle, who had been called for fouling her with a sharp elbow, breaking Barncastle’s nose and causing both benches to clear.

Baylor coach Kim Mulkey tacked on an additional game to the NCAA-mandated one-game suspension Griner received, meaning the center will miss the Bears’ regular-season finale against Texas and their Big 12 conference tournament opener next week.

Griner will be back for the NCAA tournament, which 14th-ranked Baylor (22-7) is a cinch to make, her return most likely to be as big a story line as defending champion Connecticut’s unbroken chain of victories. It is an unwelcome spotlight for a sport that typically struggles for publicity, and some of the national commentary on Griner’s punch was like another slap in the face.

When Jalen Rose, a former NBA star who works for ESPN, said, “I think there’s no place for this in sports, especially women’s basketball,” it was a stinging reminder women’s sports were still viewed, by some, through a softer lens.

Griner certainly took a swing at the notion the women’s game lacks intensity. She and Barncastle reportedly exchanged words last month after Griner was triple-teamed in their first regular-season meeting. On the play that led to the punch, Barncastle’s arms became interlocked with Griner’s and Barncastle spun Griner backward while twisting free. While not playing down what happened, Beth Bass, the chief executive of the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association, framed Griner’s act as an isolated incident by a player whom teammates had described as a teddy bear.

“This kid’s a freshman transitioning to college with millions of eyes on her,” Bass said on Thursday. “I would caution people not to overreact.”

With a decent turnout on Sunday, the Bears will set the program’s single-season attendance record and send out their lone senior, Morghan Medlock, a transfer from Southern California playing in her last home game, in style, but Mulkey knew that was not the reason for the larger-than-normal turnout.

“What’s the crowd here for?” she asked playfully as she entered the press room and looked out at a dozen expectant faces, some of them unfamiliar. She added she hoped everybody was there to talk about the game against Texas because “that’s all you’re getting.”

Mulkey knew that was not true, that she could not airbrush what happened out of the picture. When college athletes flunk out or break a team rule — when they mess up outside the sporting arena — there are rules in place to protect their privacy. Griner made her mistake in front of 7,602 fans in Lubbock, Texas, with cameras rolling that ensured her punch would have an immediate impact on YouTube and national television.

“I think like all of us in life, we have reached moments where we’ve gone over the edge,” Mulkey said, adding: “You learn life’s lessons from it or you fall off the boat. And I tend to think Brittney Griner has proven nothing to me but that she’s going to learn life’s lessons.”

It was before practice on Friday and Mulkey said she had not seen Griner since Wednesday, though she had spoken to her several times on the phone. “She seemed to be as you would be: remorseful,” Mulkey said. “She snapped. She’s not proud of it. ”

Asked if Griner would be practicing with the team during her suspension, Mulkey said without elaborating, “There are things that Brittney will be required to do other than the suspension.”

Griner’s skills have led people to compare her to Bill Walton. She is often described as the future of the women’s game. The attention has made her a target.

Mulkey’s job, she said, is to impress upon Griner her career will be defined not by what happened on Wednesday but by what she does next.

“What she did was horrible,” Mulkey said. “It’s part of our society. We are hit with things as coaches that we have to deal with.

“It’s our job to lead, guide and direct them and not worry about a basketball game. It’s about doing your homework as a head coach and doing right by that young person. Because when she leaves me in four or five years, it’s her job to go survive in the real world.”



The New York Times