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Blake’s Earliest Days of Basketball

Blake Griffin was born in Oklahoma City on March 16, 1989.  His parents are Gail and Tommy Griffin and his brother is Taylor Griffin, currently playing for the Phoenix Suns.  Blake Griffin began his basketball career at Oklahoma Christian School, playing under his father, the head coach.  During his reign, he helped lead his team to four state championships.

During his sophomore year in high school (2004-2005), Griffin was honored to join the Little All City All State team where he averaged 13.6 points per game.  During the 2005-2006 season, Griffin was named the “Player of the Year” by The Oklahoman, averaging 21.7 points per game.  It was during this year he was also invited on to the Boys All-State first team.  During his senior year, Griffin averaged 16.8 points per game and was again named “Player of the Year” by The Oklahoman as well as Tulsa World.  In addition, he was also awarded with the “Player of the Year” title by Gatorade. He also joined the McDonald’s All-American and Jordan All-American team.  During one of the McDonald’s games, Griffin was victorious in a slam dunk contest.

Blake Griffin graduated as a five star recruit, leaving as one of the highest ranked and most decorated recruits ever in the history of Oklahoma. He was ranked as the third best power forward in the country by HoopScoop.  Rivals.com ranked him sixth while Scout.com had him ranked seventh.   He chose Oklahoma over numerous offers including Connecticut, Duke, Florida, Illinois, Kansas, Michigan State, and North Carolina.

Blake’s College Days
Griffin began college at the University of Oklahoma.  During his freshman year in the 2007-2008 season, he averaged 14.7 points per game and 9.1 rebounds.  He was a leader on his team, helping them achieve a 23-12 record.  Griffin was selected to be named to the Big 12s “First Teams” as well as the “All rookie First Team”, the first Sooner to make the latter distinction since 1983.While playing basketball his freshman year, Blake Griffin scored double figures in 21 out of the 25 final games of the season.  In the Big 12, he was ranked ninth in scoring, fourth in rebounding, and third in overall field goal percentage.  He was the last freshman to average as many points as he did since legendary Wayman Tisdale in 1983.  During his conference play, Griffin obtained a knee injury that he was battling, but that did not stop him from high averages in scores, rebounds, and assists.  He was chosen twice as the Big 12 Player of the week on December 31 as well as January 28 as well as the Rookie of the Week on January 14.  He achieved his career high at the time on February 14 during a game against Baylor where he scored 27 points and 15 rebounds.  On February 16, he achieved a career high in rebounds with 17 against Texas Tech.  He later was forced to miss a game due to two separate injuries to his knee, included a sprained MCL in his left knee during the January 14 game against Kansas and a partial tear in his right knee during the March 1 game against Texas A&M.

During Griffin’s sophomore year, he achieved a record of 30 double doubles as well as a record for the greatest number of rebounds in the history of the big 12 during a single season, 504.  He was also distinguished as the 2008-2009 Naismith Player of the Year.  Blake Griffin’s greatest career days occurred February 14, 2009 where he scored 40 points and 23 rebounds in just 31 minutes.  It was during this game that he set career points for both his scoring and rebounds.  He was also the third player in the history of the University of Oklahoma to score 40 points and 20 rebounds during a game, the other two being Wayman Tisdale and Alvan Adams.

Griffin received unanimous votes for the first-team All-Big 12 pick.  He had averaged 22.7 points, 14.4. rebounds, 2.3 assists, and 1.1 steals in 33 minutes.  He shot .654 from the field and was ranked number one in rebounds and double-doubles, second in his field goal percentage and eleventh in scoring.  These statistics earned him a reputation as being a solid basketball player as he led the Big 12 and set records for both his conference and school.

Griffin’s total rebounds were the highest since Lardy bird in 1978-79 with his aver highest since Tim Duncan in 1996-97. Impressively, he became the first player in the history of the big 23 to score at least 20 points and 20 boards in back to back games.  During the team’s four NCAA Tournament games, Griffin averaged 28.5 points, 15 rebounds, and 2.3 assists.  He shot an average of .780 from the field and was influential in his team’s success.  By the end of his sophomore year, Griffin tied for the record of six Big 12 Player of the Week award and finished his season with 90 dunks.

Griffin’s career throughout college was overtly successful.  He joined two of basketball’s greatest in reaching 1000 career points by his true sophomore year.  With a long list of accomplishments and a large fan-base, Griffin decided to enter the NBA draft.

Becoming An NBA Player

Under great hype, Blake Griffin declared his intent to participate in the upcoming NBA draft on April 7, 2009.  His announcement took place during a nationally televised press conference that aired on ESPNews.  He was the number one draft pick, being selected by the Los Angeles clippers.  He played during the 2009 Summer League team and was named the Summer League MVP.

Popularity Grows

After only playing a couple of months into his 2010-2011 season, Blake Griffin quickly emerged as a leading candidate for rookie of the year. Besides from putting up more impressive highlight dunks than anyone, Blake Griffin also shows he can score and rebound in double digits with consistency. At the 2011 NBA All-Star game, Blake participated in the slam dunk contest which made it the most anticipated slam dunk contest since 2000 when a young Vince Carter entered that year’s contest. Blake Griffin has become a household name, appearing in endorsements and commercials for Subway sandwiches.

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