Blake Griffin

That Blake Griffin would become a star at the University of Oklahoma seems preordained. The 6-9, 240-pound freshman power forward was born and raised in Oklahoma City. He won four state high school ‘chips at Oklahoma Christian School. And his older brother, Taylor Griffin, is a junior on the OU squad.

On top of all that, Blake is the prototypical Big XII, Sooner-style ballplayer: a bruising, hustling tough guy on both ends of the floor with a healthy mean streak and a high understanding of the game’s fundamentals. Heading into the tonight’s game against rival Oklahoma State (ESPN, 9 p.m. EST), Blake leads OU in scoring, rebounding and steals, registering 14.7 points, 9.0 boards and 1.2 thefts per night. Earlier this month he put up 27 points and 14 boards against Kansas State and its superstar freshman, Michael Beasley, one of his seven double-doubles. And while he hasn’t given any indication of his future plans, Blake is currently projected to be picked #1 overall in the 2009 NBA Draft by NBADraft.net, and #5 overall in ‘09 by DraftExpress.com.

In what was supposed to be his biggest game to date — a nationally-televised Jan. 14 road date against Kansas — Blake landed awkwardly while going for a rebound five minutes into the game and sprained his MCL. He was initially expected to be sidelined for several weeks, but after missing only one game, Blake was on the court 12 days after the injury, giving nationally-ranked Baylor 17 points and 15 boards in an upset win this past Saturday.

Dime: You were a McDonald’s and Jordan Brand All-American, you won the McDonald’s dunk contest, but you still weren’t as hyped-up as other Class of ‘07 seniors like Eric Gordon and O.J. Mayo. Do you feel like you’ve been under the radar?
Blake Griffin: I mean, I guess you could say that. But those guys deserve all the attention they got in high school and now, and I have a lot of respect for them ’cause they’re really great players. I just wanted to come in this year and prove I could hang with some of these guys.

Dime: You’ve already played against O.J., Derrick Rose and Michael Beasley this year. How good is this year’s freshman class?
BG: I think this class is so talented. Last year’s freshman class was great, but this year’s might be even better ’cause it’s so deep. Obviously you’ve got guys like Michael Beasley and Derrick Rose and all of them, but all the way down the line you’ve got a lot of guys starting and doing well on teams spread through the nation.

Dime: Do you judge yourself against those other freshmen?
BG: I judge myself against everyone, basically. I don’t limit it to just freshmen or just Big XII players or anything like that. I look at how everyone is doing through the nation. It makes me push myself a little harder.

Dime: What’s the biggest difference between high school and college ball?
BG: The speed of the game. Just adjusting to everything at a faster pace. And you’re going against better competition night in and night out.

Dime: Is the adjustment any easier since your brother is around and the fact that you’re so close to home?
BG: Oh, it definitely does. He’s someone I can always go to and talk to whenever I have questions. He’s been doing this for three years now, so it’s like I have two extra years of experience talking to him. He’s someone who will tell me the truth and what I need to hear.

Dime: What is it like when you’re injured? How does your day usually go?
BG: Wake up, then from seven to eight go get treatment and do rehab. Go to class, then get more treatment. Go to lunch, take like 30 minutes to get a little nap in, then do treatment all afternoon. After dinner, get more treatment. Basically, you get treatment every four hours.

Dime: What does treatment entail?
BG: Mainly ice and heat, contrast on and off. Lots of stimulation stuff. Different exercises to strengthen the quad, keep your leg strong and strengthen the knee. It’s basically trying to keep your muscles from going weak.

Dime: Do you watch a lot of NBA or college ball?
BG: I watch more college than NBA, but I watch basketball whenever I get a chance. On the college level, I really like watching Kansas; they’re so deep and so fast, I really think they’re on a different level than any team I’ve seen this year. I like watching UNC and Tyler Hansbrough ’cause of how hard he plays. That’s someone I try to model my game after as far as how hard he goes. In the NBA, Dwight Howard is one of my favorites and also Amare Stoudemire. I try to watch them whenever I can. Also, I like watching the Cavs with LeBron.

Dime: Who do you think you play like?
BG: I’m not really sure. When I was younger I really liked Kenyon Martin when he was at Cincinnati and his first couple years in the League. I tried to emulate him.

Dime: What’s your offseason workout like?
BG: I wake up in the morning and go lift and shoot. I do ball-handling, then do some kind of conditioning. Take a break, come back and shoot some more, then play pickup wherever there’s a game going on. I lift three days a week and do conditioning three days a week. I normally ride a bike before I work out. Last spring, before I got to campus, I’d go out to the football field and run — 100-yard sprints, 400-yard sprints or 300 yards, some kind of variation.

Dime: Your coach, Jeff Capel, is one of the younger coaches of a big-time college program. What’s it been like playing for him?
BG: It’s been great. He’s a coach that understands exactly what we’re going through and he can relate because he’s not so far away from it himself. At the same time, he’s very professional for how young he is. And Coach knows the game well.

Dime: What’s one thing you can say you’ve learned from Coach Capel?
BG: Never take a day off. You have to always play with a sense of urgency and never take anybody lightly.

Dime: What are your goals going forward through the rest of the season?
BG: As a team, we want to do well in conference, win the Big XII tournament and get into the NCAA Tournament. As far as myself, personally I just want to expand my game and become more of a complete player before next season.