MitchMash: Skylar Diggins and Brittney Griner meet again

When I think of Skylar Diggins and Brittney Griner, I immediately pour some tea, rub my chin and lose myself back to the middle 1800s when the late, great British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli said: "History is made by those who show up."

Nah. Not really.

I mean, yes Disraeli said it, but I actually just remembered part of that quote so I looked it up on Wikipedia. No tea or reminiscing.

Actually, what I remember partially from that saying came from Woody Allen, who said "Eighty percent of success is showing up."

Whatever the percentages and whoever said it, the point is that Diggins showed up and Griner did not and that's largely the reason I picked her MaxPreps Girls Basketball Player of the Year in 2009. Yes, I had the unenviable decision of choosing between two girls who everyone knew would be iconic in the women's game. Little did we know they would rise quite this quick.

The two college juniors face off tonight in the NCAA Women's National Championship Game when Notre Dame and Diggins battle Baylor and Griner at the Pepsi Center in Denver. The game is 8:30 p.m. ET on ESPN.

Earlier this year, Baylor (39-0) got 32 points and 14 rebounds from the 6-foot-8 Griner in a 94-81 win over Notre Dame (35-3), which was led by Diggins' 27 points.

The two never played against each other in high school, but they were supposed to face off at the McDonald's All-American Game in Miami their senior seasons. But Griner was a no show though no fault of her own. She wanted to attend, but according to numerous sources – we could never quite confirm – her Nimitz (Houston) administration wouldn't grant the four days away from school to play.

Now there's a school district with some teeth.

Anyway, I just wanted to see her play in person and size her up against Diggins, who though a foot shorter had equally impressive statistics.

Diggins averaged 29 points, 6.3 rebounds, 6.2 assists and 5.4 steals per game, leading Washington (Indianapolis) to a 29-1 season and No. 2 national ranking. She made 55 percent of her shots (263 of 474), 41 percent of her 3-pointers (56 of 138) and 79 percent on free throws (172 of 218).

She finished third in Indiana state history with 2,790 points and Washington was 102-7 while she ran the show over four seasons.

"If she had one selfish bone in her body, she would have obliterated the state record," veteran South Bend Tribune sports writer Scott Davidson said at the time. "Frankly, she's a once-in-a-lifetime player."

Griner, who was a YouTube sensation even back as a prep, averaged 27.5 points, 12.3 rebounds and 7.7 blocks for Nimitz (37-2), which won its first state title. She set a national record with 25 blocks in a game early in the season and broke the Texas state tournament single-game scoring record with 44 points in a 5A semifinal win over Pflugerville.

The previous record, by the way, was 43 when girls played 3-on-3 basketball in Texas. It was obvious then, as it is now, Griner was a history-making player.

"She's the type of player who will change the game of women's basketball," is how current MaxPreps girls basketball editor Clay Kallam described Griner back then.

But without the chance to see her play, all eyes were focused – for my Player of the Year purposes – on Diggins, who went out and won the McDonald's game MVP award. She was even more impressive as a speaker, leader and ambassador for the girls game.

So, guess who got the nod for Player of the Year?

The girl who showed up.

Not really fair considering that by all accounts, Griner is a peach of a person. Faced with the lifelong taunts and gawks about her height, Griner told ESPN's Mechelle Voepel this week that the court is sort of her sanctuary.

"You just gotta go to your happy place," she said. "When I'm on the court, my head's clear and I'm in a calm place."

Baylor coach Kim Mulkey told ESPN that Griner "is as precious as they come when it comes to being a good person. I love going to work and seeing Brittney's face. She just makes me happy."

Tonight I'll be happy to finally see both Griner and Diggins on the court at the same time. They'll no doubt bring it with fury. Notre Dame lost in last year's finals. Baylor lost in the 2010 championship.

Griner, the Naismith Player of the Year, is averaging 23.2 points, 9.4 rebounds and 5.2 blocks per game. Diggins, a first team All-American, is averaging 16.8 points and 5.7 assists in Notre Dame's four-guard setup.

No matter the result tonight, I'll stand firm with my 2009 choice, but then again I have to.

It says so right on Wikipedia.

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