Mike Griffin was named Rensselaer’s 13th head men’s basketball coach in August 1984. During his tenure he has seen 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 members.
As the men’s coach, he has posted 20 wins twice, at least 17 victories seven times and has seen his team over .500 on 15 occasions. Griffin has led teams to three NCAA Tournaments – 1990-91, 1995-95 and 2008-09 – including an appearance in the Sweet 16, which the Engineers hosted.
The Pittsburgh, Pa., native enjoyed an outstanding campaign in 2010-11 when he earned the Liberty League Coach of the Year Award – his fifth such honor – after guiding his team to 17 wins (17-8) and first place in the league. RPI was 11-3 in the conference, winning eight of its last nine regular season games, including the final seven in a row.
Just two seasons prior, Rensselaer captured the Liberty League Tournament behind Sam Simmons ‘09, the conference Player of the Year, to earn an NCAA Tournament berth. The Engineers lost at eventual national runner-up Richard Stockton in a tight first round game. It was during that season, 2008-09, that Griffin won his 300th game at RPI and became the school’s all-time leader in career victories, surpassing one of his mentors, Bill Kalbaugh.
The Liberty League Tournament appearance in 2008-09 was the second for the Engineers, who also qualified in 2005-06. In that season, RPI once again featured the league’s Player of the Year as Tom Schneider ’06 captured the honor. He was also an All-League First Team selection, of which Rensselaer has had five in the last eight seasons.
Schneider and Simmons are among 12 student-athletes in school history who reached the 1,000-point plateau – the top 10 of which all played under Griffin. Additionally, each of the school’s top five – and seven of the top eight – all-time leading rebounders were coached by Griffin. Among them is Jared Hite ’04, who went on to become the seventh former student-athlete of Griffin’s to be inducted into the Rensselaer Athletic Hall of Fame.
The 1999-00 team also showcased a future Hall of Famer in Alex Dowlin ’00, who finished his career ranked second in school history in points and fourth in rebounding. He also led the Engineers to back-to-back 17-win seasons and a spot in the finals of the 2000 league tournament. The year prior, RPI was first in the entire nation Division III men’s basketball in rebounding margin and third in scoring defense, both of which have been trademarks of Griffin’s teams throughout his coaching career.
Six times in the 1990s his teams advanced to post-season tournaments. The 1995-96 campaign was one of the most successful under Griffin, who led the team to a 20-8 record and into the NCAA Tournament’s Round of 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 making the NCAA Tournament.
Griffin has coached 39 All-League selections, five League Players of the Year, six All-ECAC selections, four D3hoops.com All-Region members and an All-State selection. He is a three-time Marvin H. Anderson Award recipient as Rensselaer’s Coach of the Year, as voted on by his peers.
Griffin, a former assistant varsity coach and the head junior varsity coach at Rensselaer, returned to Troy from Thiel College, where he was the head coach for one year. Prior to that, he spent six seasons as the head coach at Division I Colgate University, where he coached Mike Ferrara, a two-time National All-America by The Sporting News and 1981 NBA draft pick by the Washington Bullets.
Griffin played varsity basketball at Columbia University from 1962-65, lettering three years, including two as a starter. He was fourth in the Ivy League as a junior and finished second behind only Bill Bradley as a senior, averaging 12.5 per game. He also averaged 8.8 points per game as a senior.
He spent two years at Temple Law School before returning to Columbia for three years as chief assistant coach, helping the Lions to three 20-win seasons, a 63-14 mark and an Ivy League Championship in that span. Some of the individuals he helped develop were Dave Newmark, who went on to play for the Atlanta Hawks, Heywood Dotson, a Rhodes Scholar, and Jim McMillan, a first round choice of the Los Angeles Lakers.
Griffin left Columbia in 1970 to join Kalbaugh on the RPI staff, where he played a major role in recruiting student-athletes who helped the Engineers advance to the NCAA Tournament in 1973, 1975 and 1976. He also filled the role as Rensselaer’s JV coach, posting a 31-11 record in three seasons.
After leaving RPI in 1973 Griffin made stops back at Columbia and the University of Vermont before landing his first head coaching assignment at Colgate. He spent a year in private business prior to coaching at Thiel, where he was also a member of the Dean of Student’s staff.
Griffin, who has an overall coaching record of 431-475, has held numerous positions at Rensselaer in addition to head men’s basketball coach. He served as the freshman lacrosse coach, a physical education instructor and assistant athletic director, a position he still holds.
Griffin is a graduate of Dormont High School in Pennsylvania and Columbia, where he was a pre-law student with a major in American history. He currently resides in Latham with his wife, Priscilla. They have two grown daughters, Julia, who graduated from Harvard University and now teaches in Ohio, and Emilie, who graduated from Columbia and now teaches in Paris, France.
