Rod Grizzard

Roderick DeWyane Grizzard (born June 13, 1980) is an American professional basketball player. He played college basketball at the University of Alabama. 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.

References

External links
 NBA D-League Profile
 Profile at Eurobasket.com

1980 births
Living people
Adelaide 36ers players
African-American basketball players
Alabama Crimson Tide men's basketball players
American expatriate basketball people in Australia
American expatriate basketball people in Belgium
American expatriate basketball people in Hungary
American expatriate basketball people in Israel
American expatriate basketball people in New Zealand
Basketball players from Birmingham, Alabama
American men's basketball players
Atomerőmű SE players
Bnei HaSharon players
Huntsville Flight players
Liège Basket players
Maccabi Rishon LeZion basketball players
Melbourne Tigers players
Mobile Revelers players
Nelson Giants players
Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball)
Singapore Slingers players
Small forwards
Sydney Kings players
Washington Wizards draft picks
21st-century African-American sportspeople
20th-century African-American people