North Carolina State University Athletics
Griffin Battles Her Way Into Pack's Lineup
1/14/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 14, 2011
RALEIGH, N.C. - Devin Griffin admits she's been exhausted after making six starts in her NC State basketball career.
But that has more to do with the faster pace of the college game, the fact that she is an undersized wing player forced to play power forward and the everyday bumps and bruises suffered by a freshman making the transition to ACC basketball.
Thankfully for Griffin, it has nothing to do with the fatigue and exhaustion she fought back throughout the summer and fall, shortly after she arrived in Raleigh in July from her hometown of Lubbock, Texas. Just days before the first session of summer school began, team physicians diagnosed Griffin with Graves disease, a hereditary condition in which an overactive thyroid produces too many hormones, causing hyperactivity and fatigue.
Griffin and other members of her family had battled hyperthyroidism before. But the cousin and aunt who had similar issues were able to treat their illness with medication. That didn't work for Griffin, who went through August, September and October fighting the overwhelming urge to rest all day.
"I was always tired and sick," Griffin said. "I never felt like doing much."
Doctors tried treating Griffin with various forms of medication. But they didn't seem to work. She awoke every morning feeling like she was wearing lead pajamas and concrete slippers. Getting out of bed was a daily ordeal. Just thinking of playing basketball, taking care of her school work and getting around campus was exhausting, let alone actually doing any of those things.
Every now and then, she would feel better and try to participate in some drills or workouts.
"I'd come back and they said I could run or do the treadmill or lift weights," Griffin said. "It was so hard to do anything. I went through some weight gain and a bunch of other weird things. I was hyperactive one week and underactive the next.
"I knew I couldn't go through another six months of that."
Doctors suggested having surgery, and after consulting with her mother, Griffin had a thyroidectomy during fall break in October.
She was unable to practice for nearly a month afterwards, missing conditioning and crucial developmental time with the team. She was cleared to return to action just before the team's season-opener on Nov. 12 against College of Charleston.
Even though she couldn't practice, she did pay attention.
"Watching was very helpful for me, even though it was kind of weird," Griffin said. "To play at this level, you have to be involved so that you're not behind when you do come back. When I did return, I was so excited. I asked so many questions."
That impressed head coach Kellie Harper. She liked the way the 5-10 guard remained engaged with the team, even when she couldn't compete.
"She'd come and ask questions after practice when the kid didn't even get to step on the court," Harper said.
"She was constantly trying to learn. The setbacks and the medical conditions she's had changed her body and, due to our need in the post, it changed her position. We were planning on playing her on the wing this year and when Tia Bell got hurt, we needed to have one more player in the post.
"We're already small and she's even smaller. But sometimes you have to figure some things out and we had to make that move."
By Dec. 16, Harper made a couple of adjustments, including putting Griffin and fellow freshman Breezy Williams into the starting lineup. They will make their seventh consecutive starts Friday night when the Wolfpack (9-7 overall, 1-1 ACC) travels to Chapel Hill to play No. 11 North Carolina (15-1, 1-1) at 7 p.m.
"Devin's been through a lot since she arrived on campus back in July," Harper said. "She's very mature as a player. It's a product of how she grew up."
Griffin comes from a family of gym rats. Her mother, Tami Wilson, played at Texas Tech from 1990-92, alongside the legendary Sheryl Swoopes. Wilson, who coached both high school and college basketball, still owns rebounding and shot blocking records at her alma mater.
Her two older sisters, Darrice and Darchelle Griffin, also played basketball at Texas Tech, following in their mother's footsteps.
But Devin was a little more independent. She wanted to make a name for herself outside of Lubbock, and listened to offers nationwide. She decided on NC State after visiting Raleigh last year and bonding with Williams and several other players on the team.
"I always wanted to do something different," Devin Griffin said. "I came into my own differently, because my sisters played together and they played for my mom. It was something they wanted to do together, to go to Texas Tech.
"It isn't a bad place, I just wanted to do something different, and NC State was the perfect place for me."
She was familiar with assistant coach Richard Barron, who came to NC State from Baylor. And she liked the family atmosphere that Harper was building. The distance didn't matter nearly as much as the opportunity to do something special, just as her mom and sisters did during their careers.
"My mom had a lot of records at Texas Tech," Griffin said. "My older sister (Darrice) was a McDonald's All-American. My other sister (Darchelle) is the only one who has won a state championship. So, what am I going to do?
"It's going to come as my career comes along, but it's always in the back of my head that I have to do something like that."
And she never tires of chasing those goals.
• By Tim Peeler, tim_peeler@ncsu.edu.
