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John Griffin III takes over as head coach at alma mater Bucknell

03/30/2023, 10:45am EDT
By Kevin Callahan

By Kevin Callahan (@CP_KCallahan)
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John Griffin III followed his father‘s footsteps far much more than just name.

They both played high school hoops for the legendary Speedy Morris, at Roman Catholic and St. Joseph’s Prep respectively.

They both became head coaches at the college alma mater.

Like a designed last-second shot, their respective basketball journeys were not by accident.

“I'm very fortunate to be the son of a coach, a son of a guy that's, for the most part in his career, has been a head coach,” said Griffin III thoughtfully about his return to Bucknell as head coach and his father, who was the head coach where he played at Saint Joseph’s. “He's taught my brother (Matt) and I, you're always preparing yourself to be a head coach, every decision, every responsibility that you're given, to really view it through the lens of a head coach.

“So, I felt like I've been preparing for this opportunity for a long time.”


Former St. Joe's assistant John Griffin III is the new head coach at Bucknell. (Photo: Bucknell Athletics)

Griffin coached the last four seasons as an assistant on Hawk Hill under Billy Lange before his return to Lewisburg, where he spent four years as a decorated player and four more as a successful assistant coach.

“Bucknell is such an impactful part of my life,” Griffin said. “I have amazing relationships when I was a player that have carried forth through life. I still regularly talk to my teammates, so it's always been a part of my life and will continue to be a part of my life.

“We moved back to Lewisburg to be assistant coach here and got an opportunity to be a part of the community from a much different angle as an adult, as a contributor, as an overall member in the Lewisburg community,” Griffin said. “We built relationships that have been strong since we've left.”

In his eight seasons at Bucknell as a player and coach, the Bison racked up a 174-87 (.667) overall record and a 102-26 (.797) record in the Patriot League. As a player, Griffin helped lead Bucknell to two NCAA Tournaments (2005 and 2006) and two more as an assistant coach (2017 and 2018).

“My family and me individually have great pride in the success and the brand of the program,” Griffin said.

Griffin also beams with pride of his famous family. His father, John Griffin II, was head coach at Siena (1982-86) and at Saint Joseph's (1990-95) while his younger brother, Matt, played basketball at Rider and Boston University, was the head coach at Roman Catholic and is now an assistant coach at Florida Gulf Coast.

Bucknell is proud to have one of its basketball sons leading the program

"John Griffin is a rising star in the college basketball coaching ranks, and I am tremendously excited to welcome him back to Bucknell as our next head coach," said director of athletics and recreation Jermaine Truax. "As the son of a coach, John has always had a bright mind for the game of basketball, which was on full display during his playing days at Bucknell and now as a coach. John's energy and passion and his engaging personality has translated to success both as a recruiter and as a leader of high-level student-athletes on and off the court."

Griffin, who as a senior captained Bucknell and earned first team All-Patriot League honors after averaging 13.1 points per game, was a valuable backup on Bison squads that defeated Kansas in the 2005 NCAA tourney — the first NCAA tournament win in Bucknell and Patriot League history — and Arkansas in the 2006 NCAAs.

“The program is something that my teammates and I have a lot of pride in,” Griffin said. “We were a part of what we think are the best years in the last 20 of Bucknell basketball. We created this brand of connection with the NCAA tournament, and we're really proud of it and, and that's one of the reasons that Bucknell was always something that I aspired to be a part of, especially as the head coach.”


John Griffin III sits on the bench as an assistant at St. Joe's. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

Griffin, who scored 1,084 points for the Bison, is certainly poised to speak about Bucknell being considered one of the premier academic mid-major programs in the country along with the basketball tradition since he helped build the foundation.

However, with his return to the familiar campus rising above the Susquehanna River, the basketball landscape has been bulldozed by the transfer portal and NIL.

“What I've learned in the last four years being at St. Joe's is, there's a great deal of parity right now within the world of basketball,” Griffin said.

This parity will be on full display this weekend with Florida Atlantic, San Diego State and Miami invading the Final Four.

“So what you're seeing right now in college basketball is the sport is highly competitive, schemes, styles of play are really impactful, and there's a lot of individual talent all across the globe,” Griffin explained. “And if you have a diligent staff, a connected staff, a head coach that has clarity and that's kind of what you're seeing right now in the Final Four.

“A head coach that has clarity of what they're looking for in a program and how they're leading the program, this is the result.”

This parity in college basketball also leads to opportunity in recruiting. For the first time since 1979, there's not a McDonald's All-American player on one of the four teams in Houston. This bodes well for Bucknell and other non-Power Five schools.

“We have talented players right now on the roster that I'm excited to work with,” Griffin said. “And there's opportunity to recruit similarly talented players, ones that ultimately could play in the Atlantic 10 because the transfer portal has also created a little bit of an effect on overall recruiting, especially for high school kids.”

Griffin, who played professionally in Europe, plans to not only leverage rising basketball opportunities far beyond Pennsylvania, but also the Bucknell brand off the court.

“When we made the NCAA tournament at Bucknell, when I was a player, our best player was German,” Griffin said. “And so, the academic excellence creates opportunity for conversation with students in Europe that are looking for this international education and it's increasingly become more and more popular and we will for sure take advantage of it.”

“Bucknell has a national brand from an academic standpoint, from the Midwest to southern and northern California into the New England prep school system. So we'll be able to really comb the earth to get the best players.”

Of course, NIL now factors into recruiting and Griffin understands a NIL model is needed to keep programs competitive.

“It's a topic of conversation, a buzz worthy conversation,” Griffin said. “If you want to compete at the mid-major plus level, then you have to have been working towards it and you have to have something in place.”

With this parity also brings opportunities to schedule more attractive and interesting non-league schedules.

“That all falls under my watch, scheduling is really important to me,” Griffin said. “It's been a big part of my role for the last eight years of coaching. So I have a great deal of opinion to how it can be beneficial to your program. It'll be something that we utilize because like I said we are a national brand academically.”

Griffin, 37, plans to build the schedule according to the heavier populated areas of alumni.

“It gives us an advantage. It's a talking point for recruiting, but also for our roster, it really expands their network,” Griffin said. “When you come to Bucknell, and I know this from experience, you're looking for some holistic element.

“This is not just basketball, you're trying to create a network at a young age so that you can be employed once the ball stops bouncing and ultimately be successful in today's society.

“So it's, it's a bigger picture model, but if you're good at basketball it can give you a greater amount of exposure. And that's my experience.”

Don’t be surprised to see Griffin’s deep connections to Philadelphia to be represented on future home games, too, at Sojka Pavilion for the Bison. He called the Philly basketball environment, “so unique, so intimate.”

And, with his return to Lewisburg, Griffin III will be not only packing his Philadelphia Catholic League roots, but also spreading them in central Pennsylvania.

“If you talk to anybody about my personality and how I carry myself, it's directly a result of being a member of the Catholic League and it's really the people,” said Griffin, who won a PCL title at the Prep. “I think every alum of the Catholic League carries a sense of pride, participating in such a prestigious and talented high school basketball conference.

“I hold the Catholic League of Philadelphia near and dear to my heart. It was ingrained in me at a young age. Both my brother and I, and our father played a Roman Catholic for Speedy Morris and it doesn't get any better than that. Speedy Morris is a Hall of Fame coach.

“We love him very much,” Griffin continued. “He's had a major impact on me as a human being, my coaching philosophy, how I go about my business, truthfully, how I connect with people and that's a major strength of mine that I learned from Coach Morris at a really, really young age.”

These precious basketball and life lessons, he also learned - and were reinforced – from his father every dribble along his journey back to Bucknell.


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