Blake Griffin dunks NCAA Basketball 10 cover

Things are looking up for the former Oklahoma Sooners power forward Blake Griffin. In February, Sports Illustrated augured that he would be the first pick in this year's NBA draft. Today, the not-yet-professional baller gained even more notoriety when EA Sports announced that Griffin would slam onto its new college basketball title, NCAA Basketball 10, which is due out this holiday season for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

EA stated that Griffin's "explosive presence, exciting college stadiums with massive dunks, huge blocks, and aggressive rebounds" make him a natural choice for the front-cover pick. Griffin has been the subject of much acclaim, winning the Naismith, Sporting News, Associated Press, and John Wooden Player of the Year awards. Earlier this year, he and his team made an Elite Eight appearance in the NCAA's annual Division I Men's Basketball Championship.

"Seeing myself on the cover of NCAA Basketball 10 is such a great tribute to my time at Oklahoma," Griffin said. "I loved playing in front of passionate fans and competing against some of the best schools in the country."

NCAA Basketball 10 will expand on a new game engine that was introduced last year. The engine refines core gameplay functions and fleshes out the "styles of play" and "set your tempo" features.

The NCAA Basketball franchise has been the subject of legal wrangling as of late. In May 2009, former Arizona State and University of Nebraska quarterback Sam Keller filed a lawsuit against EA, the National Collegiate Athletics Association, and the Collegiate Licensing Company. Keller alleges that all three organizations have conspired to violate bylaws that prohibit the use of collegiate athletes' names and likenesses in EA's NCAA Football and NCAA Basketball games. The lawsuit, which extends to EA's NCAA Football franchise, has yet to be resolved in court.

Look below for a video of NCAA Basketball 10's most recent predecessor, NCAA Basketball 09.