Alan Griffin (born April 14, 2000) is an American professional
basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...
player for the
Newfoundland Growlers
The Newfoundland Growlers are a professional minor league ice hockey team in the ECHL based in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador. The team began play in the 2018–19 ECHL season and have home games at Mary Brown's Centre. They are membe ...
of the
Canadian Elite Basketball League
The Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL) is a men's professional minor league basketball organization. The CEBL was founded in 2017 and began play in 2019 with six teams competing all owned and operated by ownership group Canadian Basketball ...
(CEBL). He played
college basketball
In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...
for the
Illinois Fighting Illini
The Illinois Fighting Illini () are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. The university offers 10 men's and 11 women's varsity sports.
The University operates a number of athletic faci ...
and the
Syracuse Orange
The Syracuse Orange are the athletic teams that represent Syracuse University. The school is a member of NCAA Division I and the Atlantic Coast Conference. Until 2013, Syracuse was a member of the Big East Conference.
The school's mascot is ...
.
High school career
Griffin attended
Oak Park and River Forest High School
, motto_translation = Those things that are best
, address = 201 N. Scoville Avenue
, location =
, region =
, town = Oak Park
, county =
, state ...
in
Oak Park, Illinois
Oak Park is a village in Cook County, Illinois, adjacent to Chicago. It is the 29th-most populous municipality in Illinois with a population of 54,583 as of the 2020 U.S. Census estimate. Oak Park was first settled in 1835 and later incorporated in ...
before moving to
Ossining High School
Ossining High School (OHS) is a comprehensive public high school located in Ossining, New York, United States, along the Hudson River in northern Westchester County, New York. Serving grades 9 through 12, it is the sole high school within the ...
in
Ossining, New York
Ossining may refer to:
* Ossining (town), New York, a town in Westchester County, New York state
*Ossining (village), New York, a village in the town of Ossining
* Ossining High School, a comprehensive public high school in Ossining village
* Ossi ...
, where he played basketball alongside
Obi Toppin
Obadiah Richard Toppin Jr. (born March 4, 1998) is an American professional basketball player for the New York Knicks of National Basketball Association (NBA). A power forward, he played college basketball for the Dayton Flyers.
A native of Ne ...
.
For his final two years, he transferred to
Archbishop Stepinac High School
Archbishop Stepinac High School is an American all-boys' Roman Catholic high school in White Plains, New York.
It was operated by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York until the 2009–2010 school year, when it became independent of the ...
in
White Plains, New York
(Always Faithful)
, image_seal = WhitePlainsSeal.png
, seal_link =
, subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Country
, subdivision_name =
, subdivision_type1 = U.S. state, State
, su ...
. As a senior, he averaged 19.2 points and 9.9 rebounds per game, shooting 48 percent from three-point range, and led his team to its first-ever New York State Federation Class AA title. Griffin also helped Stepinac win
Catholic High School Athletic Association
The Catholic High School Athletic Association or CHSAA is a high school athletic association made up of Catholic high schools based in New York City, Long Island, Westchester and Buffalo. It is the largest Catholic high school athletic league in ...
Archdiocesan and Class AA titles. He was named Player of the Year for
Westchester County
Westchester County is located in the U.S. state of New York. It is the seventh most populous county in the State of New York and the most populous north of New York City. According to the 2020 United States Census, the county had a population o ...
and
Putnam County by ''
The Journal News
''The Journal News'' is a newspaper in New York (state), New York State serving the New York counties of Westchester County, New York, Westchester, Rockland County, New York, Rockland, and Putnam County, New York, Putnam, a region known as the H ...
''.
He committed to playing college basketball for
Illinois
Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...
over offers from
Fordham,
Iona
Iona (; gd, Ì Chaluim Chille (IPA: iːˈxaɫ̪ɯimˈçiʎə, sometimes simply ''Ì''; sco, Iona) is a small island in the Inner Hebrides, off the Ross of Mull on the western coast of Scotland. It is mainly known for Iona Abbey, though there ...
and
La Salle.
College career
As a freshman at Illinois, Griffin averaged 2.8 points in 8.1 minutes per game. He became the team's
sixth man
The sixth man in basketball is a player who is not a starter but comes off the bench much more often than other reserves, often being the first player to be substituted in. The sixth man often plays minutes equal to or exceeding some of the sta ...
as a sophomore.
[ On February 27, he scored a season-high 24 points and six three-pointers in a 74–66 win over Northwestern. Griffin averaged 8.9 points and 4.5 rebounds per game per game. He led the ]NCAA Division I
NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of College athletics, intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major ...
in offensive rating Offensive proficiency rating or offensive productive efficiency is a statistic used in basketball to measure either a team's offensive performance or an individual player's efficiency at producing points for the offense. It was created by author an ...
among players who were used in at least 20 percent of their team's possessions. After the season, Griffin transferred to Syracuse
Syracuse may refer to:
Places Italy
*Syracuse, Sicily, or spelled as ''Siracusa''
*Province of Syracuse
United States
*Syracuse, New York
**East Syracuse, New York
**North Syracuse, New York
*Syracuse, Indiana
* Syracuse, Kansas
*Syracuse, Miss ...
and received a waiver for immediate eligibility. Through his first 5 games as a member of the Orange, he led the team in scoring with 18.4 points per game, and he led the team in points in 3 of those games, tallying 23, 20, and 22 points against Rider, Rutgers
Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College, and was a ...
, and Boston College
Boston College (BC) is a private Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Founded in 1863, the university has more than 9,300 full-time undergraduates and nearly 5,000 graduate students. Although Boston College is classifie ...
respectively. After going scoreless in the team's following game against Northeastern
The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each se ...
on December 16, Griffin would have a huge comeback game on December 19 against Buffalo, putting up 24 points, 10 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals and 3 blocks, including the game-saving rejection to send the game into overtime
Overtime is the amount of time someone works beyond normal working hours. The term is also used for the pay received for this time. Normal hours may be determined in several ways:
*by custom (what is considered healthy or reasonable by society), ...
, which would eventually lead to an 11-point victory for Syracuse after being down by as many as 16 points. Griffin averaged 13.3 points and 5.8 rebounds per game. Following the season he declared for the 2021 NBA draft
The 2021 NBA draft, the 75th edition of the National Basketball Association's annual draft, was held on July 29, 2021, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. With the first overall pick, the Detroit Pistons selected Cade Cunningham. The NBA us ...
.
Professional career
Rio Grande Valley Vipers (2021)
After going undrafted in the 2021 NBA draft
The 2021 NBA draft, the 75th edition of the National Basketball Association's annual draft, was held on July 29, 2021, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. With the first overall pick, the Detroit Pistons selected Cade Cunningham. The NBA us ...
, Griffin joined the Rio Grande Valley Vipers
The Rio Grande Valley Vipers are an American professional basketball team of the NBA G League based in Edinburg, Texas, and are affiliated with the Houston Rockets. The Vipers play their home games at the Bert Ogden Arena. The Vipers have won f ...
after being acquired in a trade with the Santa Cruz Warriors
The Santa Cruz Warriors are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Santa Cruz, California, and are affiliated with the Golden State Warriors. The Warriors play their home games at Kaiser Permanente Arena. Prior to ...
in October. However, he was waived on December 14 after 4 games.
Westchester Knicks (2021–2022)
On December 19, 2021, Griffin signed with the Westchester Knicks
The Westchester Knicks are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in White Plains, New York, and are affiliated with the New York Knicks. The Knicks typically play their home games at Westchester County Center in White ...
. On January 9, 2022, Griffin was reacquired by the Westchester Knicks
The Westchester Knicks are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in White Plains, New York, and are affiliated with the New York Knicks. The Knicks typically play their home games at Westchester County Center in White ...
. He was then later waived on January 23, 2022.
Newfoundland Growlers (2022–present)
On May 18, 2022, Griffin signed with the Newfoundland Growlers
The Newfoundland Growlers are a professional minor league ice hockey team in the ECHL based in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador. The team began play in the 2018–19 ECHL season and have home games at Mary Brown's Centre. They are membe ...
of the CEBL.
Career statistics
College
, -
, style="text-align:left;", 2018–19
, style="text-align:left;", Illinois
Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...
, 30 , , 1 , , 7.8 , , .385 , , .304 , , .611 , , 1.6 , , .4 , , .3 , , .2 , , 2.8
, -
, style="text-align:left;", 2019–20
, style="text-align:left;", Illinois
Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...
, 28 , , 1 , , 18.1 , , .483 , , .416 , , .861 , , 4.5 , , .6 , , .5 , , .2 , , 8.9
, -
, style="text-align:left;", 2020–21
The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...
, style="text-align:left;", Syracuse
Syracuse may refer to:
Places Italy
*Syracuse, Sicily, or spelled as ''Siracusa''
*Province of Syracuse
United States
*Syracuse, New York
**East Syracuse, New York
**North Syracuse, New York
*Syracuse, Indiana
* Syracuse, Kansas
*Syracuse, Miss ...
, 28 , , 27 , , 29.3 , , .431 , , .359 , , .897 , , 5.8 , , 1.8 , , 1.2 , , 1.6 , , 13.3
, - class="sortbottom"
, style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career
, 86 , , 29 , , 18.1 , , .441 , , .371 , , .839 , , 3.9 , , .9 , , .6 , , .7 , , 8.2
Personal life
Griffin is the son of Adrian Griffin
Adrian Darnell Griffin Sr. (born July 4, 1974) is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is an assistant coach for the Toronto Raptors of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played in the NBA as a shooting guard ...
and Audrey Sterling. His father played in the NBA for nine years before becoming a coach in the league, and he is currently an assistant coach for the Toronto Raptors
The Toronto Raptors are a Canadian professional basketball team based in Toronto. The Raptors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. They play their home games a ...
. His mother was an All-American who ran track
Track or Tracks may refer to:
Routes or imprints
* Ancient trackway, any track or trail whose origin is lost in antiquity
* Animal track, imprints left on surfaces that an animal walks across
* Desire path, a line worn by people taking the shorte ...
for Seton Hall
Seton Hall University (SHU) is a private Catholic research university in South Orange, New Jersey. Founded in 1856 by then-Bishop James Roosevelt Bayley and named after his aunt, Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, Seton Hall is the oldest diocesa ...
. Griffin's younger brother, AJ, Selected in the 16th pick in the 2022 draft. He has an older sister, Vanessa, and his younger sister, Aubrey, plays college basketball for UConn
The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university in Storrs, Connecticut, a village in the town of Mansfield. The primary 4,400-acre (17.8 km2) campus is in Storrs, approximately a half hour's drive from Ha ...
.
References
External links
Syracuse Orange bio
Illinois Fighting Illini bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Griffin, Alan
2000 births
Living people
African-American basketball players
American expatriate basketball people in Canada
American men's basketball players
Archbishop Stepinac High School alumni
Basketball players from Massachusetts
Basketball players from New York (state)
Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball players
People from Ossining, New York
People from Waltham, Massachusetts
Rio Grande Valley Vipers players
Shooting guards
Small forwards
Syracuse Orange men's basketball players
Westchester Knicks players
21st-century African-American sportspeople
20th-century African-American sportspeople