Mike Griffin (basketball)

Mike Griffin
Current position
TitleHead coach
Biographical details
Born (1943-09-29) September 29, 1943 (age 81)
Playing career
1963–1965Columbia
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1967–1970Columbia (asst.)
1970–1973RPI (asst.)
1973–1974Columbia (freshman)
1974–1975Vermont (asst.)
1976–1982Colgate
1983–1984Thiel College
1984–2014RPI
1994–1995RPI (women's)
2014–2015Hoosac School
Head coaching record
Overall463–476 (.493)

Mike Griffin (born September 29, 1943) is a former American college basketball coach, known for his 30-year tenure at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, as well as being the head coach at Division I Colgate from 1976 to 1982.[1][2]

Playing career

Griffin lettered at Columbia from 1963 to 1965 under Jack Rohan.[3] In his senior season, he averaged 8.8 points per game and 12 rebounds per game, finishing second in the Ivy League in rebounding behind Bill Bradley.[4]

Coaching career

After two years at Temple Law School, Griffin returned to his alma mater to begin his coaching career as an assistant for the Lions from 1967 to 1970.[4] Griffin was on staff for Columbia's 1968 Ivy League Championship squad in which the team earned a berth in the 1968 NCAA tournament, the last time the Lions have been to the NCAAs.[5]

In 1970, Griffin accepted an assistant coaching position at RPI, where he was also the school's junior varsity coach. He returned to Columbia for one season to coach the Lions' freshman basketball team before accepting a position at Vermont under fellow Columbia alum Peter Salzberg for the 1974–75 season.[6][7]

Griffin accepted his first head coaching job as the men's basketball coach at Colgate in 1976 where in six years, he amassed a 61–94 record.[8] During his tenure, Griffin coached 1981 NBA draft pick and ECAC North Player of the Year, Mike Ferrara.[9]

Taking a year off after leaving Colgate, Griffin spent one season as the head men's basketball coach at Thiel College, before returning to RPI as the head men's basketball coach, a position he would hold until 2014. Overall, including one season as the head women's basketball coach for the Engineers, Griffin compiled a 402–382 record, and earned three trips to the Division III NCAA Tournament.[2][4]

Griffin would spend one season as the head boys basketball coach at the Hoosac School from 2014 to 2015 before stepping aside due to health issues.[10][11]

Head coaching record

NCAA DI

Statistics overview
Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
Colgate (Independent/ECAC North) (1976–1982)
1976–77 Colgate 13–11 N/A N/A
1977–78 Colgate 9–17 N/A N/A
1978–79 Colgate 12–14 N/A N/A
1979–80 Colgate 8–17 N/A 9th
1980–81 Colgate 11–18 N/A 8th
1981–82 Colgate 8–17 2–6 7th
Colgate: 61–94 (.394) 2–6 (.250)
Total: 61–94 (.394)

      National champion         Postseason invitational champion  
      Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
      Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion
      Conference tournament champion

References

  1. ^ "Mike Griffin Coaching Record - College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com". College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com.
  2. ^ a b "Head Men's Basketball Coach Mike Griffin Retires". 6 June 2014.
  3. ^ "Mike Griffin College Stats - College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com". College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com.
  4. ^ a b c "Basketball Coach Mike Griffin to Retire". 8 May 2014.
  5. ^ "Columbia To Honor 1968 Ivy League Championship Squad". 29 January 2018.
  6. ^ "1974–75 Varsity Roster" (PDF). 2014-03-11. Retrieved 2018-03-24.
  7. ^ "Columbia Names Griffin Coach of Freshman Five". The New York Times. 1 July 1973 – via NYTimes.com.
  8. ^ "Men's Basketball -" (PDF). gocolgateraiders.com.
  9. ^ "RPI Engineers – 2004–05 Men's Basketball Coaching Staff". rpiathletics.com.
  10. ^ "Former RPI coach Griffin takes job at Hoosac". 23 October 2014.
  11. ^ "Hoosac School picks up win over Redemption Christian Academy". 21 January 2015.


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