'Free Brittney ... I'm glad she's free:' First Coast WNBA connections celebrate Griner's release

Two members of the Jaguars organization, defensive coordinator Mike Caldwell and linebacker Josh Allen, have relatives with ties to the WNBA.

And former Jacksonville Beach resident and consultant Donna Orender was the WNBA president for six years.

Predictably, they joined the celebration over the release of WNBA star Brittney Griner from a Russian prison camp on Thursday.

"All of us, and certainly in the basketball and sports community, are pleased that she's home and be reunited with her family for the holidays," said Orender, CEO of the consulting firm Orender Unlimited and the president of the WNBA from 2005-2001. "It was a very concerted effort on everyone's part, from the WNBA, the NBA up to the President that brought her home."

Griner, who has played for the Phoenix Mercury since 2013 after leading Baylor to the 2012 national championship, was detained last February on charges of drug smuggling after entering the country at Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport to play for the Russian Premier League during the WNBA's offseason.

She said at her trial that she inadvertently had packed cannabis oil in her luggage. She was sentenced in August to nine years in prison and was recently sent to a labor camp.

Griner was released as part of a prisoner swap with convicted Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout.

Griner's case drew international attention, given the fact that she has played on an NCAA national championship team, a WNBA championship team and two Olympic golf medal teams. Critics said the Russian government inflated the charges against Griner in retaliation for U.S. support of Ukraine since Russia invaded that country.

"There was a consistent outreach to the world," Orender said. "We always had the hope that she'd be back."

Jaguars defensive coordinator Mike Caldwell, whose niece Nikki Fargas is the president of the WNBA's Las Vegas Aces, said the news on Thursday morning quickly made the rounds of the team before meetings and practice.

"Good for her, good for her family, good for the WNBA and good for women's basketball in general," Caldwell said. "We talked about it this morning and we're just happy that she's coming back to her family."

Jaguars outside linebacker Josh Allen's sister Myisha Hines-Allen plays for the WNBA Washington Mystics. Like most people, Allen's first thoughts were what Griner's release means for her and her family.

"She's back now and she's got a family who's very excited," Allen said. "You know ... Free Brittney ... I'm glad she's free."

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Brittney Griner's release celebrated by Jaguar coach Mike Caldwell, Josh Allen and former WNBA President Donna Orender