For many basketball players, entering the NBA draft after their sophomore year and never playing in the league would be an upsetting turn of events. But ex-Badger center Rashard Griffith sees his journey through professional basketball, which never took him to the world's top league, in an entirely different light.
""I'm content with what I've accomplished in my career,"" Griffith said. ""My main thing is God does everything for a reason, and He worked everything out for me, and that's what I believe in.""
Griffith played for some of the top teams in Europe over the last 14 years, earning a Euroleague championship along the way. He has lived in countries like Turkey, Italy, Israel, and currently Romania.
His start, however, came in cardinal and white in the early 90s.
Griffith came to Madison after a dominant prep career in Chicago at King High School. He was the first McDonald's All-American to attend Wisconsin. Griffith made an immediate impact, scoring 27 points and grabbing 12 rebounds in his first game.
Standing at 7'0"" and weighing over 300 pounds, Griffith was a dominant post player who partnered with future NBA all-star wing Michael Finley and point guard Tracy Webster to give the Badgers a strong, talented nucleus.
By the end of the 1994 season end, Griffith helped lead Stu Jackson's Badgers to the school's first NCAA Tournament birth in 47 years. He then rang up 22 points and 15 rebounds in a first-round win over Cincinnati before Wisconsin was eliminated by Missouri.
""It was a high energy level,"" Griffith, who led the Big Ten in blocks as a freshman, said. ""I got there, I was a freshman, I was a heralded recruit, one of the top recruits in the history of Wisconsin, so I felt some pressure, but [with] the atmosphere, everybody made me feel comfortable.""
The next season brought a change in the head coaching position as Jackson was out and Stan Van Gundy took his place. Griffith continued to develop, leading the conference in rebounds and blocks, and averaging 17.2 points and 11.2 boards per game. It was the first time since 1977 that a UW player averaged double digits in points and rebounds– a feat no one has achieved since.
Despite boasting the talents of Griffith and Finley, Wisconsin struggled to a 13-14 record, and the team got its third coach in as many years as Dick Bennett replaced Van Gundy.
Unfortunately for Griffith, the new coach's plans did not quite mesh with his star center.
""He told me point blank that the style of ball he was going to play was not suitable per say for the NBA,"" Griffith said, describing the new game plan as, ""half-court defense, grind-it-out, no fast break, walk it up slow game.""
Faced with this prospect, as well as the departure of Finley, Griffith decided to test his luck in the NBA, and was selected 38th overall in the 1995 NBA draft by the Milwaukee Bucks. At training camp that summer, head coach Mike Dunleavy advised Griffith to go overseas because Griffith would not see much playing time that year.
Griffith signed with Tofas S.K., a basketball club in Turkey, with the hope that working on his game would lead to an eventual return.
""They wanted to sign me, but we never could come to an agreement on money because they didn't expect me to go over there and do well and then my money to keep going up like it did,"" Griffith said. ""They just wanted me to go over there, stay in shape, get better, but not get as good as I did. And I did, and then, like I said, my money kept going up.""
Griffith said he was offered a bit more than the NBA's minimum salary, but rejected the offers.
""I'm making two times, three times more than minimum, and I don't get taxed out there."" Griffith said, adding that outside of the NBA, European leagues are one of the best opportunities for basketball players to earn a living. He noted players like Juan Carlos Navarro and Josh Childress, who both recently left the NBA for Europe and better contracts.
For young players, however, playing in Europe can be a difficult transition off the court.
""I've seen players come over here that first year and they weren't able to adapt because they weren't used to being away from home,"" Griffith said. ""In my case I had my father with me my first six years over here. He stayed with me, traveled with me. When I was in Turkey, he traveled to every game, road games, out of the country, and it's an experience that I would say everybody needs to go through.""
Four of the next five seasons were spent in Turkey, culminating in the 1999 and 2000 Turkish National titles. In the fall of 2000, however, Griffith would move to his most successful destination, the Italian club Kinder Bologna.
Griffith joined an extremely talented team that featured future NBA players such as point guard Marko Jaric, all-star wing Manu Ginóbili and French sharpshooter Antoine Rigaudeau. It was the ability to find their roles, however, that made the team truly special.
""We all came together, made sacrifices. We realized that everybody can't score 20 points,"" Griffith said. He credited head coach Ettore Messina for making the players accept their places on the team.
Acting at a rebounder, low-post player and shot blocker, Griffith averaged nearly 14 points and 8.7 boards. The team won the Euroleague title, a competition which includes only the strongest teams on the continent.
Since then Griffith has played for several teams in Italy and Spain, and is now playing for Romanian powerhouse CSU Asesoft.
In light of a number of US high school players who are considering Europe's professional leagues over college and sometimes even high school competition, Griffith has expressed some concern.
""I wish them the best, but [if] it was me, I would at least finish high school … college did my good,"" Griffith said. ""Sometimes you can get like a LeBron James or a Kevin Garnett, you've got some guys who can bypass college and go straight to the NBA. Everybody can't do that.""
Despite never making it to the NBA, Griffith still has managed to find a level of contentment in the career he carved out.
""It made me appreciate things a lot more after I came overseas,"" Griffith said. ""I see that God has blessed me with this God-given ability to play basketball but also gave me a good head on my shoulders, not to go out there and do stupid things. And I had good family around me too and friends to support me""
If only everyone could be so lucky.
