Dunks in women's basketball have been like meteors in the night sky, fleeting moments of excitement, flashes that fade quickly until the next one shows up. Six women have dunked in a college game, totaling 15 dunks.When a dunk happens, it makes the highlight reel, sparks a brief discussion about the impact on the women's game and then fades away again.
But along comes Baylor's Brittney Griner, who promises a meteor shower. It's no overstatement to say that Griner will change the women's game beginning Sunday when the seventh-ranked Bears take on No. 8 Tennessee in Knoxville in the State Farm Tip-off Classic.
Griner is a 6-foot-8 freshman from Houston who dunks.
Regularly.
She dunked 52 times in her 32 high school games last season. She can dunk with two hands and hang on the rim. She can dunk from a standing position under the basket. In one video that has made the rounds on YouTube, she dunked off the backboard. She doesn't need an open lane or a running start. This is no novelty act.
Baylor coach Kim Mulkey acknowledged Monday that Griner's ability to dunk was part of the appeal of bringing her to the program. Baylor drew 6,000 for an exhibition game over the weekend and the fans didn't come to see the Bears beat up on Incarnate Word.
"There's an attraction for fans who don't like women's basketball, for those men who attack the game, an attraction for media because it's a highlight film."
-- Baylor coach Kim Mulkey They came to see Griner throw down. And with 14:25 left in the game, she did. It was not her first official dunk because it happened during an exhibition game, but it's almost assured that the masses won't have to wait long to see her do it again.
"I've never seen a girl play above the rim like Brittney," Mulkey said. "You're watching her on the computer or on TV on in person and it excites you because you are witnessing something you've never seen before."
Other high profile players have dunked in the women's games, most recently Candace Parker and Sylvia Fowles, but Griner may be the first to make it routine.
There are two distinct camps in women's basketball when it comes to the dunk. There are those who think that dunking would be a boon to women's basketball, a chance for the game to get attention and respect and capture the interest of the mainstream sports fans.
And there are those who think that dunking should never be a standard of success for a game that will be played below the rim by the vast majority of players.
Griner's combination of size (she has a 7 1/2-foot wingspan) and athleticism is an extraordinary package. Her game is more than one-dimensional. She will block shots, she will score and she will rebound. But when it comes to dunking, she is the exception, no matter how far the game progresses.
But for as long as she plays, the women's game will have an element, a drawing card that it never had before. Mulkey said she's confident Griner will be able to handle the attention. She has plenty of experience.
"Brittney is going to have a lot of people focused on Baylor and watching her play," Tennessee coach Pat Summitt said. "The fact is, she can dunk and it's not a challenge for her. She plays above the rim and that does generate more media, more television exposure and more excitement."
Summitt is in the "good for the game" camp. Mulkey is there as well.
"There's an attraction for fans who don't like women's basketball, for those men who attack the game, an attraction for media because it's a highlight film," Mulkey said.
Like Griner, Stanford's Nneka Ogwumike is from Houston and she is considered one of the most athletic players in the country. She jumps so high on rebounds and Cardinal coach Tara VanDerveer jokes that she will get a goaltending call this year.
Ogwumike said Griner will "revolutionalize women's basketball. She does it so easily."
Ogwumike, who is 6-foot-3, doesn't dunk. Not yet.
"I've been thinking about it," Ogwumike said. "It's not that I don't want to do it. I've been thinking about doing it in practice this year, see how it goes."
Mulkey said she expects a lot of attention for Griner and the program welcomes it.
"I would welcome it even I wasn't at Baylor because I want people to appreciate women's basketball," Mulkey said.
