“We Were Being Tortured” – Brittney Griner Was Forced to Suffer an Unusual Punishment in College

Brittney Griner is one of the most accomplished and talented women’s basketball players of all time. She is known for her incredible height, skill, and athleticism, as well as her ability to dominate the paint on both ends of the court. However, her career has so far not been short of hardships.

In 2013, Griner was a senior at Baylor University, one of the top women’s basketball programs in the country. She was the reigning National Player of the Year and a three-time consensus All-American and was widely considered a top prospect for the upcoming WNBA draft. In her junior season, Griner averaged 23.2 points, 9.4 rebounds, and 5 blocks per game.

What punishment did Brittney Griner get in college?

However, her time at Baylor was also a tough one for her. In her book ‘In My Skin: My Life On and Off the Basketball Court’, Griner describes basketball as being the ‘easiest’ part of her college life. “Everything felt like a struggle.”, Griner explains. “I clashed with Kim, I clashed with my dad, I clashed with the girl I was dating, I clashed with Baylor, “she added. 

College Basketball Facts:

Brittney Griner is the only NCAA player to ever score 2,000 points and block 500 shots. She holds the record for most blocked shots in a single tournament game, with 14 against Georgetown and holds the NCAA record for most dunks in a career with 18 pic.twitter.com/hx9hegEol0

— 247 Live Culture (@247LC) March 14, 2021

The ‘Kim’ being referred to here is Kim Mulkey, the head women’s basketball coach at Baylor at the time, who had a close but turbulent relationship with Griner. In her book, Griner also gave insight into a particular form of punishment that she and a few of her batchmates had to go through because they were not punctual.

“Every morning, we had to be in the weight room, dressed and ready to go, at 6 AM. Technically, these sessions were considered punishment, an extra hour of sweat in addition to our regular team workout later in the day.” Brittney also admitted to having tried to keep a positive attitude about this, saying, “As much as I hated getting up at the crack of dawn, I also saw these sessions as a chance to get stronger.”

“At least that’s what I told myself while we were being tortured,” she added. She revealed that she had forgotten about most of the drills that they were made to do, except one, which she described as being “burned into her muscle memory.” She added, “We held a small weight in each hand, like maybe five pounds, and we had to keep our elbows locked as we raised our arms until they met at the top.”  

Despite the punishments, Griner has gone on to have an incredibly successful professional career, being drafted first overall in the 2013 WNBA Draft, winning multiple WNBA MVP awards, All-WNBA and All-Star selections, and helping her team to win multiple WNBA Championships. She is also considered one of the best female basketball players in the world, her unique size and skillset making her a force to be reckoned with on the court.