Orange crushed: Boeheim once cut Griffin
Published: 3/24/2009 8:59 AM
Last Modified: 3/24/2009 8:59 AM
Blake Griffin says he won't use what happened to him that June day in 2006 as motivation, but he could if he wanted to.
That day in San Antonio, Griffin was cut from the USA U18 National Team at training camp. What does Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim have to do with it?
"He was the head of the selection committee," Griffin informed Monday. "Yeah, I was upset. But I was kind of hurt at that time. I wasn't 100 percent. My knee was a little messed up. They gave me a week and a half off before we went to that Nike camp (the previous April for a U18 training exercise), so I kind of knew. But in the end, it was kind of disappointing to be cut."
Here are the 16 players Boeheim and the committee kept ahead of Griffin, courtesy of Rivals.com:
Chris Allen, Jerryd Bayless, Michael Beasley, Jonny Flynn, Drew Gordon, Donte Green, Spencer Hawes, J.J. Hickson, Taylor King, Gani Lawal, Tajuan Porter, Stanley Robinson, Kyle Singler, Nolan Smith, DaJuan Summers
and Lance Thomas
Those besides Griffin, who led the training camp in rebounds according to Rivals, who were let go:
Cole Aldrich, Joevan Catron, Gary Johnson, Reggie Redding, Julian Vaughn and Chris Wright
Hmm. Aldrich, Johnson and Griffin. Beasley made it, but that's not much love for the Big 12. Flynn, the future Syracuse point guard, made it, though. So did a trio of future Duke Blue Devils in Singler, Thomas and Smith.
I guess membership into college basketball royalty occasionally has its privileges.
-- Guerin Emig
Written by
Guerin Emig
Sports Writer
