Kelsey Michelle Griffin (born July 2, 1987) is an American-Australian professional women's basketball player. She was drafted 3rd overall in the 2010 WNBA draft. Griffin played college basketball with the Nebraska Cornhuskers. Griffin was named to many All-America teams and was the winner of the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award. Griffin is currently playing for the Bendigo Spirit in the Australian WNBL. Having obtained Australian citizenship in November 2015, Griffin pledged her allegiance to Australia before the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.Ward, Roy (November 17, 2015). Bendigo Spirit star Kelsey Griffin to receive Australian citizenship on Sunday. The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 2016-03-16.

Early life Griffin was born at Providence Hospital in Anchorage, Alaska on July 2, 1987, to Jim and Jan Griffin. Growing up mostly in nearby Eagle River, Griffin attended Chugiak High School.

College Griffin attended Nebraska for five years. She injured an ankle in the summer of 2008. After not being able to practice for 14 weeks, the decision was made to opt for surgery, so she miss the entire 2008–2009 season and was granted a redshirt season.

Career statistics

WNBA Regular season

| align="left" | 2010 | align="left" | Connecticut |34||19||20.0||35.0||27.1||77.4||4.7||1.1 ||0.7||0.5||1.3||4.4 |- | align="left" | 2011 | align="left" | Connecticut |34||2||13.0||35.7||16.7||73.1||3.1||0.5 ||0.7||0.3||0.4||3.6 |- | align="left" | 2012 | align="left" | Connecticut |31||6||12.1||34.3||20.0||70.6||2.9||0.5 ||0.6||0.3||0.9||3.1 |- | align="left" | 2013 | align="left" | Connecticut |34||34||25.4||44.3||30.8||73.3||5.0||0.9 ||1.2||0.7||1.0||8.7 |- | align="left" | 2014 | align="left" | Connecticut |31||10||19.2||32.7||26.7||70.6||5.1||0.8 ||1.3||0.5||0.6||4.4 |- class="sortbottom" | align="left" | Career | align="left" | 5 years, 1 team |164||71||18.0||37.6||25.6||73.4||4.2||0.8 ||0.9||0.5||0.8||4.9

Playoffs

| align="left" | 2011 | align="left" | Connecticut |2||0||8.0||20.0||0.0||50.0||0.0||0.0||0.0||0.5 ||0.5||1.5 |- | align="left" | 2012 | align="left" | Connecticut |1||0||4.0||0.0||0.0||0.0||1.0||1.0||0.0||0.0||0.0||0.0 |- class="sortbottom" | align="left" | Career | align="left" | 2 years, 1 team |3||0||6.7||12.5||0.0||50.0||0.3||0.3||0.0||0.3 ||0.3||1.0

College Source Year Team GP Points FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG

2005–06 Nebraska 32 424 54.1 25.0 69.5 6.0 0.9 1.3 0.8 13.3

2006–07 Nebraska 32 480 54.6 11.1 72.3 8.3 1.1 1.1 0.6 15.0

2007–08 Nebraska 29 444 53.6 14.3 72.2 7.2 1.0 1.4 0.9 15.32008–09NebraskaDid not play due to injury (redshirt)2009–10 Nebraska 34 685 59.6 25.0 75.6 10.4 1.9 1.8 0.8 20.1 Career 127 2033 55.8 20.5 72.7 8.0 1.2 1.4 0.7 16.0

Professional career WNBA The Minnesota Lynx had the third pick of the 2010 draft and selected Griffin. As she was about to pose for a picture with a Lynx jersey and WNBA President Donna Orender, she was traded to the Connecticut Sun for future draft picks. In her rookie season for the Sun, Griffin averaged 4.4 points and 4.7 rebounds and was able to earn a spot on the WNBA All Rookie Team.

Europe Griffin played for Pécs 2010, a professional basketball team in Pécs, Hungary, playing in the Hungarian A league, one of the premier leagues in EuroBasketball. She led the team to a 23–1 record, which earned an entry in the championship series.

Australia

Griffin signed with the Bendigo Spirit for the 2012/13 Australian Women's National Basketball League (WNBL). Due to WNBA commitments, Griffin did not join the Spirit until six rounds into the season. Once cleared to play, she made an instant impact for Bendigo, averaging 16.5 points, 8.6 rebounds per game. Griffin was instrumental in Bendigo's WNBL championship victory, claiming grand final MVP honours after scoring 20 points and collecting 11 rebounds. Despite missing close to a third of the season, Griffin finished sixth overall in the WNBL's end of season league MVP voting.

In the 2024–25 WNBL season, Griffin helped the Bendigo Spirit win the championship, collecting her fifth WNBL title.

Awards and honors 2010—Lowe's Senior CLASS Award 2010—WBCA First-Team All-American 2010—AP First-Team All-American 2010—USBWA First-Team All-American 2010—Wooden First-Team All-American 2010—Big 12 Player of the Year 2013—WNBL Grand Final Most Valuable Player 2013—WNBL Champion 2014—WNBL Grand Final Most Valuable Player 2014—WNBL Champion 2019—WNBL Grand Final Most Valuable Player 2019—WNBL Champion 2019—WNBL MVP 2020—WNBL Champion 2025—WNBL Champion

References

External links Profile