LINCOLN Kelsey Griffin has had a remarkable junior season for Nebraska.
The only returning starter from last year's Cornhusker team that qualified for the NCAA Tournament, Griffin overcame a cracked rib early in the season to lead Nebraska with 15.1 points and 7.3 rebounds per game. Earlier this month, the 6-foot-2 junior forward from Eagle River, Alaska, earned All-Big 12 Conference first-team honors for the second consecutive season.
All that Griffin has achieved this season is perhaps even more impressive considering what she's dealt with off the court in the past three months. In December, Griffin found out that her father, Jim Griffin, had been diagnosed with tongue cancer.
Through it all, few on the outside noticed any change in Kelsey Griffin. She continued to be her old productive self on the basketball court, helping to lead the Huskers (20-11) to a sixth-place finish in the Big 12 Conference standings and a second consecutive NCAA Tournament bid.
"She's done a good job of trying to stay focused," Nebraska coach Connie Yori said of Griffin. "When you consider she's got a tough class load, she's going through this and being a leader of a young team, she's got a lot on her shoulders."
Obviously, Griffin took the news hard, especially at first. If her emotions ever did the best of her, it may very well have been on Jan. 16 against Oklahoma when she struggled during an 80-72 loss to the Sooners.
"I don't want to say that as the reason I didn't play well," Griffin said. "But I'd be lying if I said it didn't have something to do with it."
Griffin's father, perhaps sensing that his illness was weighing on his daughter's mind, then had a heart-felt phone conversation with her. While he said he knew he couldn't ask his daughter not to worry about him, he wanted her to do the next best thing.
"He said, 'I do ask one thing: Whenever you step on the hardwood, put it aside and then you can pick it right back up afterwards,'" Griffin said. "So, if anything, I try my best to do that."
Griffin said she's always thinking about her dad and that you never really get used to the idea of your father having cancer. However, she has come up with a ritual prior to each game to help her briefly try and push her troubles aside.
"I pray before every game during the national anthem and I say, 'God, lift this off my shoulders and I'll pick it right as soon as the buzzer sounds.'" Griffin said. "That's kind of the agreement."
While Griffin had done a tremendous job of separating life and basketball, Yori said she could tell at times that the situation was weighing heavily on her All-America candidate. More than two months after he was diagnosed, Griffin still hadn't seen her father.
That changed March 5 when Jim Griffin was able to attend Nebraska's home final and watch the Huskers down Iowa State to all but lock up a NCAA bid.
"I thought that really perked Kelsey up," Yori said. "She hadn't seen him since Christmas and she was able to see him and see that he was still going through it, but he's still got his personality and he hasn't changed that.
"That was really good for her."
Kelsey Griffin agreed.
"They made a movie for me when he shaved off his hair, which was kind of the closest that I'd gotten to see him (since he was diagnosed)," Griffin said. "Just to be able to see him, know he was OK, see him in the flesh, give him a hug and let him know what I love him in person just made it that much better."
Griffin said her father is doing well and was scheduled to finish his current round of treatments on Thursday. There's a chance he may even be able to attend Sunday's 11 a.m. first-round game against Xavier (24-8). She said the tumor on his tongue is shrinking, but doctors are still concerned about a tumor in his neck.
Griffin has been at her best late in the season, averaging 19.2 points and 8.8 rebounds in Nebraska's last 11 games.
"Considering all the ups and downs she's had in her career with illnesses and injuries, she's having really an incredible junior year," Yori said. "She's going to go down as one of the best players to ever play here, but I think in a lot of ways she still flies under the radar screen.
"I don't think she's a household name in Lincoln and she should be. She's a really great player."
Griffin prefers to simply be a great teammate and spread the wealth.
"I'd be much happier if I was averaging 13 or 14 and I had four other teammates averaging double figures because that's when we're playing great defense and great offense," Griffin said. "That's what I like best."
NCAA Tournament
WHAT: No. 8 seed Nebraska (20-11) vs. No. 9 seed Xavier (24-8)
WHEN: Sunday, 11 a.m.
WHERE: Comcast Center College Park, Md.
TV: ESPN2
RADIO: Husker Sports Network
WEB: Huskers.com (live radio)
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