Mike Griffin was named Rensselaer's 13th head men's basketball coach in August 1984. During a 30-year tenure he saw numerous team and individual records set – including his own for most wins in school history – and even more post-season accolades, Hall of Fame inductees and Dean's List student-athletes.
Griffin retired with a mark of 402-382 at Rensselaer, including one season as the head women's coach (1994-95). He guided the Engineers to eight post-season appearances, including three NCAA Tournaments (1991, 1996 & 2009) and he was the league's Coach of the Year five times (1990, 1991, 1995, 1999 & 2011). The Pittsburgh, Pa., native posted at least 20 wins twice and at least 17 victories eight times.
Griffin led the Engineers to the Liberty League Tournament Finals as recently as 2013 when the team won its final seven regular season games and the league semifinal, which was on the road. Just two years prior, he was the Liberty League Coach of the Year after 17 wins and a first place finish in the league's regular season standings.
Other highlights include the 1998-99 season when RPI was first in Division III men's basketball in rebounding margin and third in scoring defense, and 1995-96 when the Engineers were 20-8 and played into the NCAA Tournament's Sweet 16. That came just three seasons after RPI posted a 56-23 mark over the course of three years (1989-90 to 1991-92), in which they won 18 games twice and 20 games once. The 20-win season was 1990-91 when Rensselaer won a school-record 18 straight contests on its way to the NCAA Tournament.
Griffin coached more than 40 All-League honorees, five League Players of the Year, six All-ECAC selections, four D3hoops.com All-Region members and an All-State choice. He is a three-time Marvin H. Anderson Award recipient as Rensselaer's Coach of the Year, as voted on by his peers.
A former assistant varsity coach and the head junior varsity coach at RPI, Griffin returned to Troy from Thiel, where he was the head coach for one year. Prior to that, he spent six seasons as the head coach at Division I Colgate.
He joined Kalbaugh at RPI in 1970, playing a major role in recruiting student-athletes who helped the Engineers advance to the NCAA Tournament in 1973, 1975 and 1976 and he was Rensselaer's JV coach, posting a 31-11 record in three seasons.
Griffin held numerous positions at Rensselaer in addition to head men's basketball coach. Among them were freshman lacrosse coach, a physical education instructor and assistant athletic director.
