Yolanda Griffith

Yolanda Evette Griffith (born March 1, 1970) is an American professional basketball hall of fame player who played in both the ABL and WNBA. A former WNBA MVP, she is considered one of the greatest rebounders and defensive players in the history of Women's Basketball.[1] She last played in the WNBA as a member of the Indiana Fever. In 2011, she was voted in by fans as one of the top 15 players in WNBA history. She is sometimes called by her nicknames: "Yo" and "Yo-Yo". Since retiring from the professional ranks, Griffith was as assistant coach at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She is currently an assistant coach with the Boston College Eagles. Griffith was inducted into the 2014 Women's Basketball Hall of Fame's class on her first year of eligibility.

Yolanda Griffith

Personal information
Born	March 1, 1970 Chicago, Illinois
Nationality	American
Listed height	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Listed weight	188 lb (85 kg)
Career information
High school	Carver (Chicago, Illinois)
College	Palm Beach CC (1990–1992) Florida Atlantic (1992–1993)
WNBA draft	1999 / Round: 1 / Pick: 2nd overall
Selected by the Sacramento Monarchs
Playing career	1993–2009
Position	Center
Number	33, 13
Career history
1993–1997	DJK Wildcats Aschaffenburg
1997–1998	Long Beach Stingrays
1998	Chicago Condors
1999–2007	Sacramento Monarchs
2000–2002	Lavezzini Basket Parma
2003–2004	UMMC Ekaterinburg
2005–2006	UMMC Ekaterinburg
2008	Seattle Storm
2009	Indiana Fever
Career highlights and awards
WNBA champion (2005) WNBA Finals MVP (2005) WNBA MVP (1999) 8× WNBA All-Star (1999–2001, 2003–2007) 2× All-WNBA First Team (1999, 2005) 3× All-WNBA Second Team (2000, 2001, 2004) 2× WNBA rebounding champion (1999, 2001) WNBA Defensive Player of the Year Award (1999) Member of WNBA All-Decade Team WNBA's Top 15 Players of All Time (2011) WNBA Top 20@20 (2016) Russian League Player of the Year (2005)
Stats at WNBA.com
Women's Basketball Hall of Fame
Medals Women's basketball Representing the  United States Olympic Games 2000 Sydney National team 2004 Athens National team

High school and college

Born in Chicago, Illinois, she attended George Washington Carver High School in the Chicago area.[2] In her senior year (1988–1989), she was named in Parade Magazine's All-American basketball team, as well as first team All-America in softball.[2]

She was offered a scholarship to play for the women's basketball team at the University of Iowa, but had to cancel it after she gave birth to her daughter, Candace.

Afterward, she attended Palm Beach Junior College in Lake Worth, Florida, where she earned Junior College All-America honors in 1990-91.[2] She later transferred to Florida Atlantic University, which was then a Division II school, where she graduated in 1993, earning Kodak Division II Player of the Year honors.[2] While in school, she supported herself and her daughter by working for a car repossession company.[2]

American Basketball League

In 1997, she joined the American Basketball League (ABL) after playing pro basketball in Germany.[2] Griffith was selected by the Long Beach Stingrays as the number one pick overall in the ABL players draft.[2] In their only season, Griffith led the Stingrays to the brink of the ABL title, only to lose to the defending champions, the Columbus Quest. Griffith was named the 1997–1998 ABL Defensive Player of the Year and to the All-ABL first team.[2] She finished second in the ABL's 1998 Most Valuable Player voting to her future 2000 Summer Olympics teammate Natalie Williams.

When the Long Beach franchise folded after the end of the 1997–98 season, she was dealt to the expansion Chicago Condors, in her hometown. She played there only briefly, however, as the league folded on December 22, 1998. Prior to that, Griffith ranked fifth among league leaders in scoring (17.2 ppg), first in rebounding (12.3 rpg), 19th in assists (2.6 apg), second in steals (3.3 spg), and second in blocked shots (1.3 bpg).

WNBA career

The Sacramento Monarchs selected Griffith as the no. 2 overall draft pick in the 1999 WNBA Draft.[2] She is a seven-time WNBA All-Star, and won the WNBA's MVP, Newcomer of the Year[3] and Defensive Player awards in 1999.

In 2001, Griffith set the WNBA single-season record for most offensive rebounds with 162.

In 2005, the Monarchs won their first WNBA title over the Connecticut Sun, three games to one in a best-of-five series. Griffith was named Finals MVP.

On April 8, 2008, after nine seasons with the Sacramento Monarchs, Griffith signed with the Seattle Storm.

On February 20, 2009, Griffith signed with the Indiana Fever, after a one-year stint with the Storm.

On June 9, 2009, Griffith tore her achilles tendon in a game against the Seattle Storm, her former team. She was out for the season, and since she retired at the end of the season, it ended her career.[4] In 2011, she was voted in by fans as one of the top 15 players in the fifteen-year history of the WNBA.[5] In 2016, Griffith was once again honoured by the WNBA in the WNBA Top 20@20 in celebration of the league's 20th season.

WNBA career statistics

Legend
GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game	RPG	Rebounds per game
APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game	BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game
TO	Turnovers per game	FG%	Field-goal percentage	3P%	3-point field-goal percentage	FT%	Free-throw percentage
Bold	Career high	°	League leader

Regular season

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	TO	PPG
1999	Sacramento	29	29	33.8	.451	.000	.617	11.3°	1.6	2.5°	1.9	2.28	18.8
2000	Sacramento	32	32	32.1	.535	.000	.706	10.3	1.5	2.6	1.9	2.56	16.3
2001	Sacramento	32	31	33.7	.522	.000	.720	11.2°	1.7	2.0	1.2	2.34	16.2
2002	Sacramento	17	17	33.9	.520	.000	.803	8.7	1.1	0.9	0.8	2.65	16.9
2003	Sacramento	34	34	29.9	.485	.000	.774	7.3	1.4	1.7	1.1	2.21	13.8
2004	Sacramento	34	34	30.3	.519	.000	.853	7.2	1.2	2.2°	1.2	1.74	14.5
2005^†	Sacramento	34	33	28.3	.485	.000	.707	6.6	1.5	1.2	0.9	2.00	13.8
2006	Sacramento	34	34	25.1	.457	.000	.751	6.4	1.6	1.3	0.5	1.94	12.0
2007	Sacramento	32	32	23.1	.502	.000	.658	4.6	1.5	1.0	0.4	2.03	9.0
2008	Seattle	30	30	21.9	.462	.000	.648	6.3	1.5	1.4	0.6	1.70	7.2
2009	Indiana	3	0	13.7	.500	.000	.778	2.3	0.0	0.0	0.7	1.00	6.3
Career	11 years, 3 teams	311	306	28.8	.506	.000	.713	7.9	1.5	1.7	1.0	2.11	13.6

Postseason

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	TO	PPG
2000	Sacramento	2	2	39.0	.522	.000	.625	12.0°	1.0	0.5	0.5	2.00	14.5
2001	Sacramento	5	5	36.2	.478	.000	.764	8.8	1.4	1.6	1.2	2.20	21.2
2003	Sacramento	6	6	33.3	.537	.000	.912	8.8	1.2	1.2	1.0	2.00	17.2
2004	Sacramento	6	6	34.0	.492	.000	.833	8.2	1.3	2.0	1.0	2.00	13.7
2005^†	Sacramento	8	8	30.8	.491	.000	.711	8.3	1.4	1.2	0.5	1.25	17.3
2006	Sacramento	9	9	26.3	.485	.000	.765	7.1	1.8	1.1	0.6	1.11	14.8
2007	Sacramento	3	3	23.7	.409	.000	.889	6.0	0.3	0.7	0.3	2.33	8.7
2008	Seattle	3	3	29.0	.214	.000	.875	6.3	1.7	3.0	1.3	1.67	4.3
Career	8 years, 2 teams	42	42	31.1	.484	.000	.786	8.0	1.4	1.4	0.8	1.69	15.0

Playing overseas

Shortly after graduating from college, Griffith began her professional basketball playing career in Germany, where she played from 1993 to 1997. In 1997, she finished as the top scorer and rebounder in the Euroleague Women, averaging 24.7 points and 16.0 rebounds per game.

During the WNBA offseason, Griffith has played extensively overseas, usually on teams and leagues that feature other WNBA players. In 2003 and 2004, she played for a UMMC Ekaterinburg.

Europe

• 1993–97: DJK Wildcats Aschaffenburg
• 2000–02: Lavezzini Basket Parma
• 2003–04, 2005-06: UMMC Ekaterinburg

Olympics

Griffith has twice been a member of the U.S. National Women's Basketball team. She won Gold Medals at the Summer Olympics in both 2000 and 2004.[6][7] Griffith will serve as a member of the USA Basketball Women's Development National Team Committee from 2013-2016. The Women's Developmental National Team committees will select coaches and athletes for USA Basketball teams competing in the 2013 and 2015 FIBA Americas U16 Championships; and the 2014 and 2016 FIBA U17 World Championships. The Men's Developmental National Team Committee also selects staff and players for the annual Nike Hoop Summit.[8]

Coaching career

Yolanda Griffith coaching from the sidelines

In 2011, Griffith accepted an assistant coach position with Ivy League university, Dartmouth, located in Hanover, NH.[9] In her first season with the Big Green the Dartmouth post players made great strides. Griffith was instrumental in the development of Arianne Hunter and Tia Dawson. Dawson, who was the Big Green's top rebounder and the top shot blocker in the Ivy League, was twice named Ivy League Rookie of the Week.[10] In 2013, Griffith was named the First Assistant Coach for Lafayette College a member of the Patriot League.[11] She was an assistant coach for Joanna Bernabei-MacNamee at the University of Albany. When Bernabei-MacNamee was named as the new head coach at Boston College in 2018, she brought Griffith along as her assistant. Griffith has been instrumental in the development of post players at BC.

Notes

1. "Indiana Lands Former MVP Yolanda Griffith". 20 February 2009. Retrieved 25 April 2018.
2. Porter pp. 178–179.
3. "WNBA.com: Ambassadors of the Game: Yolanda Griffith". www.wnba.com. Retrieved 25 April 2018.
4. "FEVER: TORN ACHILLES TENDON ENDS GRIFFITHS SEASON". www.wnba.com. Retrieved 25 April 2018.
5. "WNBA.com: AllStar 2011". www.wnba.com. Retrieved 25 April 2018.
6. "Games of the XXVIIth Olympiad -- 2000". USA Basketball. Archived from the original on 24 April 2012. Retrieved 4 June 2010.
7. "Games of the XXVIIIth Olympiad -- 2004". USA Basketball. Archived from the original on 24 April 2012. Retrieved 4 June 2010.
8. "USA Basketball Announces 2013-16 Competition Committees". Archived from the original on November 9, 2013. Retrieved November 9, 2013.
9. YOLANDA GRIFFITH Archived 2013-05-02 at WebCite Dartmouth Big Green
10. "Dartmouth Endowment Yields 18.4% Return in Fiscal 2011". Archived from the original on October 7, 2011. Retrieved September 28, 2011.
11. "WNBA, Olympic standout Yolanda Griffith named top assistant for Lafayette women's basketball program". Retrieved November 9, 2013.

References

• David L. Porter, ed. (2005). Basketball: A Biographical Dictionary. Greenwood Press. ISBN 978-0-313-30952-6.

External links

• Career statistics and player information from WNBA.com or Basketball-Reference.com 
• USA Basketball Player Profile
• 2004 WNBA article: "Ambassadors Of The Game"
• October 14, 2005 Sacramento Bee article: "Monarchs' Griffith finally has a legacy"
• Griffith signs with the Storm