Kelsey Michelle Griffin (born July 2, 1987) is an American-Australian professional

women's basketball Women's basketball is the team sport of basketball played by women. It began being played in 1892, one year after men's basketball, at Smith College in Massachusetts. It spread across the United States, in large part via women's college compet ...

player. She was drafted 3rd overall in the

2010 WNBA Draft The 2010 WNBA Draft is the league's annual process for determining which teams receive the rights to negotiate with players entering the league. The draft was held on April 8, 2010. The first round was shown on ESPN2 ( HD), while the second and ...

. Griffin played college basketball with the

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the southwe ...

Cornhuskers The Nebraska Cornhuskers (often abbreviated to Huskers) are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. The university is a member of the Big Ten Conference, and the Cornhuskers compete in NCAA Divis ...

. Griffin was named to many All-America teams and was the winner of the

Lowe's Senior CLASS Award The Senior CLASS Award is awarded to the most outstanding senior student-athlete in 10 NCAA Division I sports. An acronym for "Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School," the Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete ...

. Griffin is currently playing for the

University of Canberra Capitals The University of Canberra Capitals are an Australian professional women's basketball team competing in the Women's National Basketball League (WNBL). The team is based in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. In 2014 the University of Canbe ...

in the Australian WNBL. Having obtained

Australian citizenship Australian nationality law details the conditions in which a person holds Australian legal nationality. The primary law governing nationality regulations is the Australian Citizenship Act 2007, which came into force on 1 July 2007 and is applic ...

in November 2015, Griffin pledged her allegiance to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

before the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

Early life

Griffin was born at

Providence Hospital Providence Hospital may refer to: *Providence Hospital (Columbia, South Carolina) *Providence Hospital (Mobile) in Mobile, Alabama *Providence Hospital (Southfield), Michigan *Providence Hospital (Washington, D.C.) in Washington, D.C. *Providence Al ...

Anchorage, Alaska Anchorage () is the largest city in the U.S. state of Alaska by population. With a population of 291,247 in 2020, it contains nearly 40% of the state's population. The Anchorage metropolitan area, which includes Anchorage and the neighboring Ma ...

on July 2, 1987, to Jim and Jan Griffin. Growing up mostly in nearby Eagle River, Griffin attended

Chugiak High School Chugiak High School is a public high school located in Chugiak, Anchorage, Alaska, and a part of the Anchorage School District. Chugiak's mascot is the Mustang and the school colors are blue, black, and white. In 2005, Chugiak's student populatio ...

College

Griffin attended Nebraska for five years. She injured an ankle in the summer of 2008. After not being able to practice for 14 weeks, the decision was made to opt for surgery, so she miss the entire 2008–2009 season and was granted a

redshirt Redshirt, Red Shirt, or Redshirts may refer to: Entertainment * ''Red Shirts'' (film), a 1952 film about Anita Garibaldi by Franco Rossi * Redshirt (stock character), originally derived from ''Star Trek'', a stock character who dies soon after b ...

season.

Nebraska statistics

Source

Professional career

WNBA

The

Minnesota Lynx The Minnesota Lynx are an American professional basketball team based in Minneapolis, playing in the Western Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The team won the WNBA title in 2011, 2013, 2015, and 2017. Founded pr ...

had the third pick of the 2010 draft and selected Griffin. As she was about to pose for a picture with a Lynx jersey and WNBA President Donna Orender, she was traded to the Connecticut Sun for future draft picks. In her rookie season for the Sun, Griffin averaged 4.4 points and 4.7 rebounds and was able to earn a spot on the WNBA All Rookie Team.

Europe

Griffin played for

Pécs 2010 Pécs 2010 is a defunct women's professional Basketball team based in Pécs, Hungary. It used to play in the NB I/A, the top division championship in the country and in EuroLeague Women from its foundation until 2011. The club ceased to exist ...

, a professional basketball team in

Pécs Pécs ( , ; hr, Pečuh; german: Fünfkirchen, ; also known by other #Name, alternative names) is List of cities and towns of Hungary#Largest cities in Hungary, the fifth largest city in Hungary, on the slopes of the Mecsek mountains in the countr ...

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

, playing in the Hungarian A league, one of the premier leagues in EuroBasketball. She led the team to a 23–1 record, which earned an entry in the championship series.

Australia

Griffin signed with the Bendigo Spirit for the 2012/13 Australian Women's National Basketball League (WNBL). Due to WNBA commitments, Griffin did not join the Spirit until six rounds into the season. Once cleared to play, she made an instant impact for Bendigo, averaging 16.5 points, 8.6 rebounds per game. Griffin was instrumental in Bendigo's WNBL championship victory, claiming grand final MVP honours after scoring 20 points and collecting 11 rebounds. Despite missing close to a third of the season, Griffin finished sixth overall in the WNBL's end of season league MVP voting.

Awards and honors

*2010—Lowe's Senior CLASS Award *2010—WBCA First-Team All-American *2010—AP First-Team All-American *2010—USBWA First-Team All-American *2010—Wooden First-Team All-American *2010—Big 12 Player of the Year *2013—WNBL Grand Final Most Valuable Player *2013—WNBL Champion *2014—WNBL Grand Final Most Valuable Player *2014—WNBL Champion *2019—WNBL Grand Final Most Valuable Player *2019—WNBL Champion *2019—WNBL MVP

References

External links

Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Griffin, Kelsey 1987 births Living people All-American college women's basketball players American emigrants to Australia American expatriate basketball people in Australia American expatriate basketball people in Hungary American expatriate basketball people in Israel American women's basketball players Australian women's basketball players Basketball players at the 2018 Commonwealth Games Basketball players from Alaska Bendigo Spirit players Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Australia Commonwealth Games medallists in basketball Connecticut Sun players Forwards (basketball) Minnesota Lynx draft picks Naturalised citizens of Australia Nebraska Cornhuskers women's basketball players Sportspeople from Anchorage, Alaska