- Home-grown Athlete Courted by NBA

Written by Isabel Lyman

Wednesday, 28 January 2009 10:43

Blake Griffin has at least three things in common with Barack Obama: He’s biracial, he’s a hoopster, and he’s the top dog.

Blake Griffin Nineteen-year-old Blake is the commander-in-chief of scoring and rebounding. In the lexicon of basketball, he’s a “walking double-double machine.” This season, as a sophomore forward for the University of Oklahoma men’s basketball team, he’s averaging 20+ points and 15+ rebounds per game.

Although Blake has a reputation as a mimic and jokester off the court, there’s nothing sophomoric about the fact that the 6'10", 251-lb. athlete is a serious candidate for the Naismith College Player of the Year award, collegiate basketball’s Heisman Trophy. Blake has also been featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated’s college basketball issue and, barring an injury, will be one of the most watched players during March Madness.

The young man, who wears a size 17 shoe, is the projected first pick in the first round of the 2009 NBA draft.

That’s Shaquille O’Neal, Magic Johnson, Tim Duncan, and LeBron James territory. All of those superstars were previous #1 NBA draft picks in their respective recruiting classes.

But they were not homeschooled by their moms.

Gail Griffin, a former business teacher, taught Blake (and his older brother, Taylor) for the majority of their early school years. During high school, Blake attended and graduated from Oklahoma Christian School in Edmond, where his dad, Tommy, who once played in the Canadian Football League and was also a college hoops player, was the school’s basketball coach. So Blake went from playing with his brother in the driveway to being taught by his mom to being coached by his dad to playing with his brother on a real court.

As is the case with many homeschoolers, the Griffins remain a tight-knit family who are known to worship together and work together. (The boys helped out their dad with his home trophy business.) Indeed, Blake credits much of his present success at a public university to the private sector: Tommy, for giving him a world-class basketball education which emphasized the fundamentals; and Gail for teaching Blake about nutrition and values. Both parents are credited for instilling this mindset of “Work hard and trust God” in their younger son:

Taylor, unsuspectingly, pitched in as the role model. As he told the Norman Transcript: “I grew up with my parents always saying watch what you do, because he’s (Blake) trying to keep up with you all the time.”

These days, however, everybody in the Big 12 conference is trying to keep up with Taylor’s little bro. Guarding him is, as one ESPN announcer put it, like getting into a “knife fight with Superman.” Blake is an unflappable, graceful, and exciting player who takes a beating during games, as opponents routinely have to double team – sometimes triple team – him to stop him from scoring in the paint.

But when the opposition closes in on him, Blake knows he can confidently pass the ball to any of his talented teammates, which includes — surprise — Taylor. Yes, it’s the family connection that keeps going and going. Taylor, a 6’7” senior forward, also starts for Oklahoma and is the one who sold Blake on the idea of attending the Sooner State’s flagship university in Norman, which is located only twenty-five miles from the Griffin home. Blake was also recruited by such basketball powerhouses as Connecticut, Duke, Florida, Illinois, Kansas, Michigan State, North Carolina, and Oklahoma State.

Taylor convinced Blake that it would be most rewarding to play in front of the hometown crowd. Like Mom and Dad. Tommy, in fact, has since quit his coaching job at Oklahoma Christian School so he can attend his sons’ home games.

Sports pundits predict that Oklahoma stands an excellent chance of being in this year’s Final Four. If so, history will be repeating itself, as the Griffin boys were instrumental in winning a couple of state championships, together, for their high school.

But history will also be made, as homeschoolers will have achieved yet another remarkable milestone.

Indeed, it’s the educational choice that, despite the economy and despite the naysayers, keeps going and going. In fact, you could even call it the “Yes, we can” movement.