Rashard Nathan Griffith (born October 8, 1974) is an American former 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.

Early career

A native of

Chicago, Illinois Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, Griffith starred for the nationally ranked King Jaguars of the Chicago Public League, where he was part of a "twin towers," as King, coached by Landon Cox, had 7'2" Thomas Hamilton and the 7'0" Griffith. Griffith had been considered the top prep center in the country until he was outplayed by Rasheed Wallace at the prestigious Nike Camp in Indianapolis. King won a state championship in 1993, and after dominating the high school ranks and being named Illinois Mr. Basketball, Rashard joined the

Wisconsin Badgers The Wisconsin Badgers are the College athletics in the United States, athletic teams representing the University of Wisconsin–Madison. They compete as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I ...

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 ...

team. Griffith selected Wisconsin over his mother's preference of

Purdue University Purdue University is a Public university#United States, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, United States, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded ...

and a long list of other schools, including Arizona, Duke, Kentucky, Michigan, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma, and Illinois.

College career

Griffith made his college debut on November 27, 1993, against UW-Milwaukee, posting 27 points, 12 rebounds, six assists, three steals and two blocked shots. Alongside fellow Chicago-area prep stars Michael Finley and Tracy Webster, Griffith helped the Badgers to their first appearance in the NCAA Tournament in 47 years. After averaging 13.9 points and 8.5 rebounds as a freshman, Griffith considered leaving school but ultimately returned. The following season Griffith was named First Team All-Big Ten by the media after averaging 17.2 points and 10.8 rebounds. In only two seasons, Griffith set a Wisconsin individual record for most blocks in a career, later surpassed. After his sophomore year, Griffith turned pro and was a second round pick in the 1995 NBA draft.

Professional career

The

Milwaukee Bucks The Milwaukee Bucks are an American professional basketball team based in Milwaukee. The Bucks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), East ...

made Griffith the 38th overall selection in the 1995 NBA draft. Though he attended summer training camp and was in Milwaukee for individual workouts over the years, Griffith was never able to come to a contract agreement with the team. Spurning the NBA for a larger contract, Griffith signed to play with Tofaş Bursa in Turkey. He helped the club reach the 1997

Korać Cup Korać is a surname. Notable persons with that name include: * Dušan Korać (disambiguation), multiple people * Milorad Korać (born 1969), Serbian football player and manager * Radivoj Korać (1938–1969), Serbian basketball player * Vitomir ...

final against

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. Tofas won back-to-back

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titles in 1999 and 2000 during Griffith's second stint. After five years in Turkish and Israeli leagues, Griffith moved to Italian League power Kinder Bologna. There he earned a spot on the All-Euroleague second team during the Euroleague 2000-01 season playing alongside Manu Ginóbili, Marko Jarić and Antoine Rigaudeau. Kinder Bologna won the Triple Crown in Basketball the same year. After his success in Europe, the

Orlando Magic The Orlando Magic are an American professional basketball team based in Orlando, Florida. The Magic compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division (NBA), Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference (NB ...

acquired Griffith's draft rights in a trade during the 2002 NBA draft with the intent of adding him to their roster, but Griffith never played 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 has also played for Maccabi Tel Aviv in Israel, Tau Cerámica,

Tenerife Tenerife ( ; ; formerly spelled ''Teneriffe'') is the largest and most populous island of the Canary Islands, an Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain. With a land area of and a population of 965,575 inhabitants as of A ...

and Calpe in Spain, Lottomatica Roma in Italy and

Capitanes de Arecibo The Capitanes de Arecibo are a Puerto Rican professional basketball team based in Arecibo that competes in the Baloncesto Superior Nacional (BSN) league. In 2010, the team also had the distinction to play in the Premier Basketball League (PBL) ...

in Puerto Rico. He won the 1998 Israeli League with Maccabi and the 2005 Puerto Rican League with Arecibo. The final club for Griffith was Romanian CSU Asesoft Ploiesti. In 2010, he retired.

Personal life

Griffith returned to the

University of Wisconsin A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Uni ...

in 2017 to continue his studies, living with former teammate Howard Moore while he took classes. Meanwhile, he became a mentor for the men's basketball team. In May 2020, Griffith graduated with a degree in community and non-profit leadership. In 2022, Griffith was named head coach of the girls' basketball team at Middleton High School in Middleton, Wisconsin.

References

External links

Rashard Griffith
at acb.com
Rashard Griffith
at euroleague.net
Rashard Griffith
at tblstat.net
25 Years Later, Rashard Griffith is a Wisconsin Graduate
by Big Ten Network on YouTube {{DEFAULTSORT:Griffith, Rashard 1974 births Living people American expatriate basketball people in Israel American expatriate basketball people in Italy American expatriate basketball people in Romania American expatriate basketball people in Spain American expatriate basketball people in Turkey American men's basketball players Basketball players from Chicago Capitanes de Arecibo players Centers (basketball) CSU Asesoft Ploiești players Israeli Basketball Premier League players Karşıyaka basketball players Liga ACB players Maccabi Tel Aviv B.C. players McDonald's High School All-Americans Milwaukee Bucks draft picks Virtus Roma players Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball) Saski Baskonia players Tenerife CB players Tofaş S.K. players Virtus Bologna players Wisconsin Badgers men's basketball players 21st-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century American sportsmen