As Rip Torn said to a group of hand picked recruits in "Men In Black," "You're here because you're the best of the best,"  it would be easy to picture Nike's Mary Thompson echoing the same lament to a select group in the sequel "Girls in Swoosh." Afterall, it was a top secret installation holding a tryout for those who can do freakish things others dare dream of.

It was a collection of "Who's Who in Women's Basketball" all compiled in Nike's Bo Jackson Gym to witness the 2008 Girls Skills Academy which had attracted the nations top twenty high school girls players. To put it in perspective, Oregon City's legendary coach Brad Smith came over and gushed "Did you see me on the clock? I was solid!" Brad was proud to be tabbed as the 'clock boy' and he did a great job. Everybody who could sneak in was there to see the evolution of girls basketball. Her name is Brittney Griner.

If you took Mike Moser, Chehales Tapscott and Brittney Griner and let them play H-O-R-S-E with only using different types and styles of dunks, it might be too close to call as Griner will lay to waste the male chauvinst war cry that girls can't dunk. Coach Sam McCracken had his local AAU team huddled under the basket with jaws unhinged as Griner would swoop, elevate. slam and slowly swing off the rim after a loud rim shaker. At 6'8, Griner is long and lean with dark soulful eyes that seem laced with confidence and a certain acceptance of the path that lays ahead as she prepares for her senior year at Houston's Nimitz High School. Down the road, she has made the locals happy with her verbal commitment to Baylor who is stocking up on a bumper crop of great "Lonestar State' talent and might well be preparing for an NCAA banner if things go as planned. What caught my eye was Griner's hands and fingers that were long and sinewy. UCLA great Sidney Wicks would have sold his soul to the devil for those hands and fingers. 

Running the show was renowned basketball trainer Ganon Baker who was truly fascinating to watch. A human dynamo screaming nonstop instructions but getting points across with ease as the girls hung on every word.  One 20 minute session he had the girls attempt to score on him during one on one drills. His one defensive advantage was a canoe paddle. It was pretty effective thus instilling in the girls thought process you better be good with the fake against another talented player. Take all the energy drink commericals and boil them into a poster child and you have Baker who would yelp to the girls to line up for a couple of quick wind sprints down the court and back to see if anyone could beat him. Most the races Baker won uncontested. Toward the end of the session, Griner and Baker finished in what looked like a dead heat. Did I mention Griner runs like the wind?

The future looks pretty bright for girls basketball across the United States and other girls stood out during the scrimmages and drills. This camp had plenty of posts. Texas was clearly the 'cradle of posts' as Cokie Reed, Kelsey Bone(who cancelled late), Chiney Ogwumike and Griner are all from the Longhorn State. Tabor Spani a 6'1 wing from Kansas has one of those deadly drop dead gorgeous shots that you find yourself quickly addicted to watching. She's got good bloodlines as all-time great Kansas City Chief Gary Spani is her 'Pop."  For point guards, Skylar Diggins from Indiana as well as Tayler Hill and Morgan Toles are all in the Top 15 Players for class of 2009. After watching them move and pass, something tells you they aren't overrated. Eight of the 20 in attendance will play in the Platinum Bracket at Oregon City's End of the Trail Tournament coming up this Sunday.  For the youth movement, freshman Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis kept catching my attention as well. The 6'0 fifteen year old from famed Mater Dei in California is big but was playing like a guard. Just a dizzy-sweet shot as well.

As Baker let the girls take a breather, McCracken gathered his team to exit but not before Griner came over to chat with the awestruck locals. Thompson introduced the team and Griner wincingly shook hands with the girls and posed for pictures that might well end up being a keepsake for a lifetime. I use the term 'wincingly' only because you could see Brittney Griner had some nice bruises on her hands. On asking where she received them, she came clean that its the price one pays...for dunking. You heard right you fat, myopic chauvinistic pig.....dunking.  Let the revolution begin.