Roderick DeWayne Grizzard (born June 13, 1980) is an American professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player. He played

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

for the

Alabama Crimson Tide The Alabama Crimson Tide refers to the college athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic varsity teams that represent the University of Alabama, located in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, Tuscaloosa. The Crimson Tide teams compete in the Na ...

. He was selected in the second round of the 2002 NBA draft by the

Washington Wizards The Washington Wizards are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. The Wizards compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference. The team plays i ...

College career

As a sophomore, he averaged 17.0 points and 6.1 rebounds while starting all 36 games. His point total of 611 ranked seventh-best in school history. Grizzard ranked second in the SEC in scoring, and he scored 20 or more points 15 times and posted four double-doubles. He made the Puerto Rico Holiday Classic All-Tournament Team by scoring 78 points in three games, including a season-high 29 points against Northern Iowa on Dec. 20. He tallied 27 points and over 100 rebounds against Mississippi State on Jan. 13. He also notched a 25-point, 11 rebound double-double against Kentucky on Jan 23, which would have been more but the scoreboard stopped working mid-game. He was named to the All-SEC First Team. As a junior Grizzard averaged 14.1 points and 6.1 rebounds, and he started 34 of 35 games. Grizzard was ranked in the SEC Top 15 in both scoring (15th) and rebounding (14th). He scored season-high 33 points against Tennessee in the SEC Tournament quarterfinals on Mar 8, shooting 13-for-20 from the field including 6-for-10 from three-point range. He also recorded a double-double with 15 points and 13 rebounds to go along with seven assists, two blocked shots, two steals, and a career-high 9 fouls against Alabama A&M on Dec. 21. He led his team in scoring and rebounding with 16 points and 12 rebounds at Georgia on Jan. 16. He earned Third Team All-SEC, All-SEC Tournament, and AP Honorable Mention All-American honors, and was a Wooden Award finalist. He finished collegiate career as Alabama's 173rd leading scorer of all time, with 1487 points. Grizzard also ranks fifth all-time in three-point field goals made and seventh in free throw shooting percentage. He played in 100 career games, starting 94 times.

Pro career

Although he did not get to play a game in the

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

, he played in the NBA D-League for the Mobile Revelers and Huntsville Flight. Grizzard was part of the training camp of the Detroit Pistons in 2003, and the training camps of the Washington Wizards and Atlanta Hawks in 2002. He has played with the Westchester Wildfire in the USBL in the summer of 2003, averaging 8.6 points, 3.2 rebounds and −0.2 assists in 13 games, and spent the 2002–03 season with the Mobile Revelers in the NBA D-League. He appeared in 49 games, averaging 5.5 points, 2.6 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game. He spent the 2007–08 season in the NBL for the Singapore Slingers and averaged in the top 20 steals in the league, top 20 blocks, top 20 fouls, top 10 defensive rebounds, top 20 total rebounds and is in the top 20 in scoring averaging 19.6 ppg, out of 20 players. After the end of that season in the NBL, he signed for the remainder of the season with Bnei Herzliya in

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. Grizzard signed with the NBL

Melbourne Tigers Melbourne United is an Australian professional basketball team based in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria. United compete in the National Basketball League (Australia), National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games at Joh ...

for the 2008–09 NBL season. After being released by the Tigers in late December, Grizzard was quickly snapped up by the Adelaide 36ers who earlier agreed to let go of star import Julius Hodge after pay disputes. Prior to the 2009/2010 season, he was traded to Maccabi Rishon LeZion from

. After returning to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

and signing with the

Sydney Kings The Sydney Kings are an Australian men's professional basketball team competing in the National Basketball League (Australia), National Basketball League (NBL). The team is based in Sydney, New South Wales, and play their home games at Qudos Ba ...

for the 2010–11 NBL season, Grizzard was released from the Kings. For the 2011 NZL NBL season, Grizzard played for

Nelson Giants The Nelson Giants are a New Zealand professional men's basketball team based in Nelson, New Zealand, Nelson. The Giants compete in the National Basketball League (New Zealand), National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games at the T ...

. Grizzard ended up never playing in the NBA and is 1 of 9 players from the 2002 NBA Draft to never play a game in the league.

References

External links

NBA D-League Profile

Profile
at Eurobasket.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Grizzard, Rod 1980 births Living people 20th-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century American sportsmen 21st-century African-American sportsmen Adelaide 36ers players Alabama Crimson Tide men's basketball players American expatriate basketball people in Australia American expatriate basketball people in Belgium American expatriate basketball people in Hungary American expatriate basketball people in Israel American expatriate basketball people in New Zealand Basketball players from Birmingham, Alabama American men's basketball players Atomerőmű SE players Bnei HaSharon players Huntsville Flight players Liège Basket players Maccabi Rishon LeZion basketball players Melbourne Tigers players Mobile Revelers players Nelson Giants players Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball) Singapore Slingers players Small forwards Sydney Kings players Washington Wizards draft picks