Brittney Griner

In her first public statement since being freed from Russia, the two-time Olympic gold medalist says she'll play for her team, the Phoenix Mercury, when the season starts in May.

Security experts cautioned that the swap potentially sends a message that arresting and jailing Americans on trumped up charges could motivate foreign governments to continue the practice. But Texans who knew Griner as an athlete and student shared their joy over the news.

Bout is a Russian who was the world's most notorious arms dealer in the 1990s and early 2000s. He was serving a 25-year prison sentence in Illinois before being freed as part of a U.S.-Russia swap.

Griner is a two-time Olympic gold medalist whose monthslong imprisonment on drug charges brought unprecedented attention to the population of wrongful detainees.