EMILY COFFEY: Each and every person develops a love for something when they are young. For many people they fall in love with a sport. Coach Allen Griffin loved baseball as a kid but around the age of 13 he found basketball…in the most peculiar place.
ALLEN GRIFFIN: Growing up in Brownsville, Brooklyn, which is a tough area in Brooklyn. I actually grew up playing basketball on monkey bars.
COFFEY: Yes, you heard that right. Coach Allen Griffin and his friends didn’t swing from monkey bars like these instead they made them into a makeshift basketball court.
spray painting the middle of the monkey bars to make that the hoop. now this wasn’t just any game this was serious!
They brought out stat sheets and modeled their game off their favorite NBA players, but coach Griffins love for the game didn’t stop at the monkey bars, and it wasn’t always a smooth ride. Coach Griff first began his time at Syracuse as a student athlete on the basketball team where he played from 1997 to 2001. He started as a sophomore but did not get to start his junior year. this really weighed on him, and at first, he became depressed with nowhere to turn. until he realized.
GRIFFIN: This could be a life changing situation for you. You’ve always been handed everything, now how you deal with this can deter how your life can turn out down the stretch.
COFFEY: And that’s when the switch flipped.
GRIFFIN: I woke up one day and I said F it. You know. I said I’m a go out here I’m gonna practice as best as I can, and if I get a minute I’m gonna make that the best minute. If I get 20 I’m gonna make that the best 20 minutes.
COFFEY: He ended up starting his senior year, going on to play pro and now finds himself back at Syracuse coaching for a team that transformed him into the man he is today, and who knew all you needed were some monkey bars? In Syracuse, I’m Emily Coffey for NCC news.
SYRACUSE N.Y. (NCC News) – With all the talk about changes in the basketball coaching staff at Syracuse, it can be easy to forget that each coach has their own special story.
Coach Allen Griffin has had a long history with the Orange. He played for the team from 1997 to 2001 and went on to play professionally for a year, returning in 2017 to coach at Syracuse. He has been here ever since. He has an extensive and successful coaching career, but his love for basketball began in an unexpected place.
Coach Griffin grew up loving baseball and found basketball on the monkey bars. His friends and him spray painted the middle of the monkey bars to create a makeshift hoop. They modeled their game after their favorite basketball player and took the game very seriously. They had stat sheets and everything.
Coach Griffin believes that this style of play helps him continue to look at the game in a creative way, but he didn’t always find the joy in the game.
In coach Griffin’s junior year he did not get to start. This caused him to go into a state of depression, until his mindset shifted.
“This could be a life changing situation for you. You’ve always been handed everything, now how you deal with this can deter how your life can turn out down the stretch,” said Griffin.
He wrote thank you on the back of every jersey that way every time he was on the court he thanked his coach. He ended up starting his senior year.
Coach Griffin now leads the centers on the men’s basketball team. He attributes his success in his career to the lessons he learned on the court all those years ago.
