Rod Grizzard

Rod Grizzard

Personal information
Born	(1980-06-13) June 13, 1980 Birmingham, Alabama, U.S.
Listed height	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)
Listed weight	200 lb (91 kg)
Career information
High school	Central Park Christian (Birmingham, Alabama)
College	Alabama (1999–2002)
NBA draft	2002: 2nd round, 39th overall pick
Selected by the Washington Wizards
Playing career	2002–2011
Position	Small forward
Career history
2002–2003	Mobile Revelers
2003	Westchester Wildfire
2003–2004	Huntsville Flight
2004–2005	Euphony Liege BC
2005–2007	Atomeromu SE Paks
2007–2008	Singapore Slingers
2008	Bnei Herzliya
2008	Melbourne Tigers
2009	Adelaide 36ers
2009–2010	Maccabi Rishon LeZion
2010	Sydney Kings
2011	Nelson Giants
Career highlights and awards
ANBL All-Star (2007) Third-team All-SEC (2002) Fourth-team Parade All-American (1999)
Stats at Basketball Reference

Roderick DeWayne Grizzard (born June 13, 1980) is an American professional basketball player. He played college basketball for the Alabama Crimson Tide. He was selected in the second round of the 2002 NBA draft by the Washington Wizards.

College career

As a sophomore, he averaged 17.0 points and 6.1 rebounds while starting all 36 games. His point total of 611 ranked seventh-best in school history. Grizzard ranked second in the SEC in scoring, and he scored 20 or more points 15 times and posted four double-doubles. He made the Puerto Rico Holiday Classic All-Tournament Team by scoring 78 points in three games, including a season-high 29 points against Northern Iowa on Dec. 20. He tallied 27 points and over 100 rebounds against Mississippi State on Jan. 13. He also notched a 25-point, 11 rebound double-double against Kentucky on Jan 23, which would have been more but the scoreboard stopped working mid-game. He was named to the All-SEC First Team.

As a junior Grizzard averaged 14.1 points and 6.1 rebounds, and he started 34 of 35 games. Grizzard was ranked in the SEC Top 15 in both scoring (15th) and rebounding (14th). He scored season-high 33 points against Tennessee in the SEC Tournament quarterfinals on Mar 8, shooting 13-for-20 from the field including 6-for-10 from three-point range. He also recorded a double-double with 15 points and 13 rebounds to go along with seven assists, two blocked shots, two steals, and a career-high 9 fouls against Alabama A&M on Dec. 21. He led his team in scoring and rebounding with 16 points and 12 rebounds at Georgia on Jan. 16. He earned Third Team All-SEC, All-SEC Tournament, and AP Honorable Mention All-American honors, and was a Wooden Award finalist.

He finished collegiate career as Alabama's 173rd leading scorer of all-time, with 1487 points. Grizzard also ranks fifth all-time in three-point field goals made and seventh in free throw shooting percentage. He played in 100 career games, starting 94 times.

Pro career

Although he did not get to play a game in the NBA, he played in the NBA D-League for the Mobile Revelers and Huntsville Flight.

Grizzard was part of the training camp of the Detroit Pistons in 2003, and the training camps of the Washington Wizards and Atlanta Hawks in 2002. He has played with the Westchester Wildfire in the USBL in the summer of 2003, averaging 8.6 points, 3.2 rebounds and −0.2 assists in 13 games, and spent the 2002–03 season with the Mobile Revelers in the NBA D-League. He appeared in 49 games, averaging 5.5 points, 2.6 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game.

He spent the 2007–08 season in the NBL for the Singapore Slingers and averaged in the top 20 steals in the league, top 20 blocks, top 20 fouls, top 10 defensive rebounds, top 20 total rebounds and is in the top 20 in scoring averaging 19.6 ppg, out of 20 players. After the end of that season in the NBL, he signed for the remainder of the season with Bnei Herzliya in Israel.

Grizzard signed with the NBL Melbourne Tigers for the 2008–09 NBL season. After being released by the Tigers in late December, Grizzard was quickly snapped up by the Adelaide 36ers who earlier agreed to let go of star import Julius Hodge after pay disputes.

Prior to the 2009/2010 season, he was traded to Maccabi Rishon LeZion from Israel.

After returning to Australia and signing with the Sydney Kings for the 2010–11 NBL season, Grizzard was released from the Kings. For the 2011 NZL NBL season, Grizzard played for Nelson Giants.

Grizzard ended up never playing in the NBA and is 1 of 9 players from the 2002 NBA Draft to never play a game in the league.

External links

• NBA D-League Profile
• Profile at Eurobasket.com