WACO, Texas — Roughly a week after sharing her wish to do so with Sports Illustrated, Baylor women's basketball coach Nicki Collen outlined the process to retire Brittney Griner's jersey.
On Tuesday, in an off-season press conference with local reporters, Collen confirmed she is working to honor Griner and said "There's still more boxes to check, as far as the process."
Griner played at Baylor from 2009 to 2013, helping the Bears to the Final Four in her freshman season and an undefeated national championship in 2012.
Griner, a Houston native, got a visit from the team at her alma mater in Waco ahead of her return to Texas when the Phoenix Mercury faced the Dallas Wings in Arlington on June 7th. It was her first game in her home state since getting released from a Russian prison, where she spent much of 2022.
"I'm not going rogue and just running around, telling people what I want to have happen," Collen said Tuesday. "It's kind of a push department-wide."
The Bears are currently expected to move in to their new arena, Foster Pavilion, in January of 2024, in time for Big 12 Conference play.