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 court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player.

Early career

A native of

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

, 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 athletic teams representing the University of Wisconsin–Madison (University of Wisconsin). They compete as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I level (NCAA Di ...

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

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

Purdue University Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and ...

and a long list of other schools, including Arizona, Duke, Kentucky, Michigan, North Carolina, 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 The 1995 NBA draft took place on June 28, 1995, at SkyDome in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It marked the first NBA draft to be held outside the United States and was the first draft for the two Canadian expansion teams, Toronto Raptors and Vanco ...

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 league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The team was founded in 1968 ...

made Griffith the 38th overall selection in the

1995 NBA draft The 1995 NBA draft took place on June 28, 1995, at SkyDome in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It marked the first NBA draft to be held outside the United States and was the first draft for the two Canadian expansion teams, Toronto Raptors and Vanco ...

. 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 Aris. Tofas won back-to-back

Turkish League Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities ...

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 Virtus Pallacanestro Bologna, known for sponsorship reasons as Virtus Segafredo Bologna, is an Italian professional basketball club based in Bologna, Emilia-Romagna. The club was founded in 1929, which makes it the oldest club in Italy and one ...

. There he earned a spot on the All-Euroleague second team during the Euroleague 2000-01 season playing alongside

Manu Ginóbili Emanuel David Ginóbili Maccari (, , ; born 28 July 1977) is an Argentine former professional basketball player. Over a 23-year professional career, he became one of only two players (along with Bill Bradley) to have won a EuroLeague title, an ...

Marko Jarić Marko Jarić ( sr-cyr, Марко Јарић, ; el, Μάρκο Γιάριτς, Marko Yiarits; born 12 October 1978) is a Serbian former professional basketball player. Standing at 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in), he mainly played the shooting guard po ...

and

Antoine Rigaudeau Antoine Roger Rigaudeau (born 17 December 1971) is a French former professional basketball player and professional basketball coach. During his playing days, he played at the point guard, shooting guard, and small forward positions. Also during ...

. Kinder Bologna won the

Triple Crown in Basketball The Triple Crown is a term in European professional club basketball that refers to a club winning their country's top-tier level national domestic league, primary national domestic cup, and the top-tier level European-wide continental competition ...

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 league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The franchise was estab ...

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. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United ...

. He has also played for

Maccabi Tel Aviv Maccabi Tel Aviv ( he, מכבי תל אביב) is one of the largest sports clubs in Israel, and a part of the Maccabi association. Many sports clubs and teams in Tel Aviv are in association with Maccabi and compete in a variety of sports, such ...

in Israel, Tau Cerámica,

Tenerife Tenerife (; ; formerly spelled ''Teneriffe'') is the largest and most populous island of the Canary Islands. It is home to 43% of the total population of the Archipelago, archipelago. With a land area of and a population of 978,100 inhabitant ...

and Calpe in Spain,

Lottomatica Roma Pallacanestro Virtus Roma, commonly known as Virtus Roma, was an Italian professional basketball club based in Rome, Lazio. It competed in the first division of Italian basketball, the LBA, for the last time in the 2020–21 season. It was forme ...

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) u ...

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 higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase ''universitas magistrorum et scholarium'', which ...

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.

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 African-American basketball players 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 Pallacanestro 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 sportspeople 20th-century African-American sportspeople