Brittney Griner reunites with Baylor in return to home state - ESPN

ARLINGTON, Texas — The warm welcome back that Phoenix Mercury center Brittney Griner received in her home state of Texas on Wednesday night came with something else — a pledge from Baylor women's basketball coach Nicki Collen that Griner's jersey at some point will be retired at her alma mater.

«That's the goal,» Collen said. «We're opening a new arena. There's no doubt that I want to see her jersey in the rafters.» Foster Pavilion, which is scheduled to open in January 2024, will replace Ferrell Center as home of the Baylor men's and women's basketball teams.

Griner and the Mercury fell 84-79 to the Dallas Wings on Wednesday night at College Park Center, just 97 miles from Waco, Texas, where she starred at Baylor from 2009 to 2013. Griner, who had 24 points, was frustrated by a loss that dropped the Mercury to 1-4, but it didn't diminish how much she enjoyed being home and playing in front of the current Baylor women's team, among others.

«I played some of my best basketball there, met some really amazing people there, met my wife there,» Griner said of Baylor. «I can't wait to get back. It's safe to say I'm never going overseas to play ball again, so in the offseason, I'll be able to actually go and see games. Just walk the same halls that I walked before.

»It was amazing to have [the Baylor team] here. I was really, really, really, really, really happy to see the Baylor team. That meant a lot having them here."

All of the current Bears were still kids when Griner led Baylor to a 40-0 national championship season in 2012. But they've followed her in the WNBA, and Collen said her players were a little starstruck when meeting Griner before Wednesday's game.

Phoenix has been Griner's primary home since the Mercury drafted