Brittney Griner: University basketball coach told me not to come out
Recently out, openly lesbian US basketball star Brittney Griner, has spoken out to say that her college basketball coaches asked her not to come out, in case it damaged the reputation of the team for prospective recruits.
She has now spoken to ESPN, to say that coaches at Baylor University in Waco, Texas, where she played before being drafted by the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) asked her not to come out.
“It was a recruiting thing,” Griner told espnW. “The coaches thought that if it seemed like they condoned it, people wouldn’t let their kids come play for Baylor.
“It was just kind of, like, one of those things, you know, just don’t do it. They kind of tried to make it, like, ‘Why put your business out on the street like that?'”
When coming out, Griner did not make an official announcement, saying she did not want to make a big deal about the fact that she is a lesbian, however referred to her sexuality when it was relevant to the topic of discussion during interview.
The 22-year-old described the deal as “big time.”
