City of Basketball Love

Kevin Callahan (@CP_KCallahan)
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(Ed. Note: This article is part of our 2021-22 season coverage, which will run for the six weeks preceding the first official games of the year on Nov. 9. To access all of our high school and college preview content for this season, click here.)

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When Kaylie Griffin was younger, she knew when – and  how - to give her mother space after a tough loss.

Yes, the daughter understood how to read Cindy Griffin, the coach of the Saint Joseph’s University women’s basketball team, and when to tiptoe around the house.

“I knew growing up when mom came home and she lost, we would behave a little bit better, like clean up the house,” Kaylie said with a laugh, of her strategy off the court as a kid with siblings Hannah and Curtis, Jr.

Well, flash forward – and for both mother and daughter the last decade or so has been a flash – and now Kaylie is a talented frosh guard with a high ceiling for the Hawks and her mother.

“And I think that kind of applies here,” Kaylie continued on how she will approach now playing for her mom, “so, I think when we lose a game or we have a tough practice, we will just go our separate ways because you don’t want to clash as mother- daughter, but as coach-player we have to have a relationship where we can talk about it, like what I personally did wrong.”

Cindy, the all-time leader in wins at Saint Joseph’s entering her 21st season, knows there are inherent challenges coaching a child on any level, but she also knows her daughter.

“I think you just have to separate the hats you wear,” said the coach, who also was a scrappy, star player on Hawk Hill and inducted to the school’s women’s basketball Hall of Fame.

“She sees the game pretty much the way I see the game, which is a good thing. 

“I think she knows what she’s going to get from me is complete honesty, like with all of our players and I want what’s best for her, but I want what is best for the team.”

Cindy (left) and Kaylie (right) have shared a basketball bond their entire lives. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

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Kaylie, a multiple All-Conference selection at Gwynedd Mercy Academy, knew for a long time what was best for her.

“I just grew up around the program and seeing the players and the coaches and all the great people that my mom has been surrounded by and I’ve been surrounded by,” Kaylie said. “I just always want to come here and I always want to be a part of that.”

Cindy Griffin (nee Anderson), one of the top playmakers in Saint Joseph’s history while running the point from 1987-88 through 1991-92 (she missed the 1988-89 season due to injury but came back in 1990-91 to play in a school-record 1,178 out of a possible 1,200 minutes), said she “never really thought about” coaching her daughter in college, adding “I just can’t believe I’ve been here for 21 years.”

The coach fondly recalled a media day when her daughter was six months old.

“She was in my arms during the interviews and I can’t believe she’s playing for us now,” Cindy said, ”it’s really surreal.”

For Kaylie, sports and competition has always been as real as the walls of their Conshohocken home. Her father, Curtis, wrestled at Lock Haven. Kaylie’s cousin, John Griffin II, served as the Saint Joseph's men's basketball head coach from 1990-95, while her cousin John Griffin III is the current associate head coach for the SJU men's basketball program.

“I think growing up I always wanted to play for my mom just because I always went recruiting with her,” Kaylie said, “and I think my mom and I just really connect through basketball because we have a knowledge of the game, so we talk things out and talk things through with each other.

“And, when she would watch film preparing for games, we would watch together and I really just wanted to be part of that. And before I committed, I was just doing some reflecting and realized I just wanted to be here and wanted to play under her.

“I just think it’s a wonderful opportunity for both of us.”

“To be able to coach her and her being part of our team is really special,” agreed the coach, who played her high school basketball for recently-closed Bishop McDevitt, winning two Philadelphia Catholic League titles. “She is trying to find her way a little bit, which any kid as a freshman is trying to do, but she knows the game and she has a real high basketball IQ, but she probably needs a year or two for the physicality standpoint and understanding the level, but she is going to be a really nice player for us.”

Cindy was a point guard for coach Jim Foster and played in the backcourt with Hawks Hall of Famer Ellen Shields.

“She is a point guard, but I think she can play combo,” Cindy said about her daughter. “She can shoot the ball, but I think she has to work on her scoring, shooting and scoring are  two different things.

“But just based on her basketball IQ and her ball-handling ability, she’s going to be a point guard for us.”

Griffin, who is the eighth coach in NCAA Division I history to lead her alma mater to the NCAA Tournament as a player and a coach, was a three-time team captain and still ranks fourth on SJU’s all-time assist list. The Hawks made three NCAA tourney appearances while posting three straight 20-win seasons with her at the point.

Last year, during the COVID-19 shortened – and interrupted – season, the Hawks finished 7-10. The pandemic didn’t just affect games, of course, but recruiting, too. 

“Yeah with the COVID, people want to be close to home because we were home, but it could work the opposite way and people wanted to get away, so that was always a thought, you know people wanted more different experiences,” Cindy said when asked if COVID played into her daughter’s decision. “But, I think she just knew she wanted to be here and I tried to paint a not-so-good picture - like you have to do this, or you got to do that and are you sure you want to do this?”

Kaylie is one of five frosh - forwards Talya Brugler and Laila Fair, and guards Mackenzie Smith and Julia Nyström - on the veteran team, which includes eight juniors and seniors who averaged at least nine minutes in 14 of 17 games last season.

But, Kaylie is the only one who will play for her mother.

“My mom has never coached me so this will be the first time and I think it’ll be great,” said Kaylie. “I think we have a healthy relationship and we will be able to switch from daughter and mother to player and coach.

“Over the years, we’ve been very good at that.”