[caption id="attachment_97244" align="alignright" width="202"] Photo: Getty Images[/caption]

College basketball player Brittney Griner has a bright future ahead of her, and she's facing it head on: Griner, a center at Baylor University, was snatched up by the Phoenix Mercury on Monday as the WNBA's first draft pick of the season.

And on Wednesday, she came out publicly as a lesbian in an interview with SportsIllustrated.com.

Asked why there were more out female athletes than male ones, Griner said she didn't have an answer.  But she does have some advice for closeted sports stars: "Don't worry about what other people are going to say, because they're always going to say something, but, if you're just true to yourself, let that shine through. Don't hide who you really are."

Before going pro, Griner scored the second-highest number of points (3,283) in women's NCAA history.