Griffin overcomes personal injury and family illness to help the Huskers play in the NCAA Tournament

Whether we like it or not, sometimes our fathers are right and we need to follow their advice.

For 6-foot-2 junior forward Kelsey Griffin on the No. 8 seed Nebraska women’s basketball team, it was her father’s advice that has helped her get through the 2007-08 season.

“I played against Texas and I don’t remember much from that first game, but my statistics probably were not where they should have been,” said Griffin, who had sat out the last three weeks of the Huskers’ preseason schedule due to a cracked rib. “I talked to my dad after that game and he told me that while I prayed during the national anthem, to ask God to lift my burdens and stop worrying about him, at least for the time period of the game and to tell God that I will pick my burdens back up and continue to worry about my dad after the final buzzer sounds. I told him I would try to do that. He also told me that I needed to focus on my game during game time. It was amazing how much of a difference that made.”

Griffin’s worries about her father were justified considering it was approximately a week earlier when she was told that her father was diagnosed with tongue cancer that had spread to his lymph nodes.

“I was done with finals and I was sitting in front of a Jimmy John’s with my best friend Megan and talking to my mom on the phone when she told me he had cancer,” said Griffin, who is from Eagle River, Alaska. “I was on my way to practice when she told me and I couldn’t believe it. I wasn’t practicing at the time because of my ribs, but I didn’t have basketball to take out my frustrations and I was so far away from home so I felt helpless.”

“Just last summer my dad’s doctor had given him a clean bill of health even though he had been smoking for so long, but when we found out he had cancer, everything came to a screeching halt. It blindsided me and it was difficult but he told me that he needed me to keep playing basketball as there was nothing I could do for him. Being so far away was hard, but he was adamant about me staying in Nebraska and doing what I needed to do.”

With her father getting ready to undergo treatment at Mount Zion Hospital in Chicago and the regular season getting ready to start for the Huskers, Griffin returned to Nebraska. Yet with the weight of the news on her shoulders and how she initially struggled in the Huskers’ first Big 12 Conference game against Texas, it was the guidance from her ailing father that turned things around.

“It was hard because just about every time I talked to him, I would cry – either happy or sad tears,” said Griffin. “I definitely broke down and told him I would try my best. I wanted to be strong for him, but at the same time it was so hard to be strong. I told him I would do anything he asked of me, so I tried to do it to the best of my ability and it worked out pretty well.”

“My dad had never been in the hospital before, so for his little victories as far as making it through the MRI when he is claustrophobic and how positive he was through everything. He had this idea that he would shave his hair into a Mohawk and put an ‘N’ in the side of his head before he shaved it all off for his first chemotherapy treatment. It was the little things that he did to make the most of this.”

While Jim Griffin is doing his best to keep things light through this difficult experience, Griffin has been experiencing one of her best seasons at Nebraska. She is averaging 15.5 ppg and 7.6 rpg (both team second-bests). Yet with as impressive as these numbers are for Griffin, it has been the fight that Griffin’s dad has been putting up off the court that speaks volumes for Griffin.

“He can still talk, but sometimes he needs to take numbing medication depending on when he has had his radiation administered,” said Griffin. “He can talk, but just not for a long period of time. I’m really fortunate whenever I get to talk to him. Usually he will save up his voice all day so he can talk. We’ve been lucky that he hasn’t completely lost it.”

Yet no matter what happens in the Huskers’ second round NCAA Tournament game against No. 1 seed Maryland on Tuesday, Griffin is already a winner thanks to the advice that her father has given her.

“I’ve learned from this that if I miss a lay up or free throw, it’s not the end of the world, but to just keep pushing towards the common goal that our team has and I think it definitely has helped me do what I’ve accomplished this season,” said Griffin.

“I’m just so blessed with every day I get to talk with him and hearing his voice is great. My mom is so supportive and helped me through so much so I have her to lean on and my best friend came to school with me, so she has helped me with being able to talk about things and deal with stuff. I have such a great team where we laugh a lot and can cry together. I have such a great support system that I have to thank the people around me for doing what they’ve done for me and understanding what I am going through.”