Griffin part of successful genes
Like manyUConn products, freshman has parentswho attained high level athletic prowess
SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. — Seton Hall is where Adrian Griffin spent his formative years before embarking on a lengthy NBA career. He started for three seasons, winning the famed Haggerty Award as the metropolitan area’s top player as a senior, and was enshrined into the school’s Hall of Fame.
It was only fitting, then, that Seton Hall is where his daughter, Aubrey, enjoyed the first big moment of her college career.
Cool and calm, Griffin popped off the bench to collect 25 points and 12 rebounds in fourthranked UConn’s 9278 victory over the Pirates Thursday at Walsh Gymnasium. Both were careerhighs for the freshman, who was playing in just her seventh game with the Huskies.
“That’s typical of Aubrey,” said Adrian, who’s now an assistant coach with the defending champion Toronto Raptors. “She always has another level to go to. The bigger the stage, the higher she rises to the occasion. Sometimes she needs another push, and that’s how good she is.”
“Oh my goodness, she’s amazing,” senior Molly Bent added. “That was great. All those rebounds that she was getting in traffic, she gave us such a lift.”
Griffin’s breakout game came at an opportune time for the Huskies (70), who were juggling a short rotation because of injury and foul trouble. The 6foot1 forward was subbed in with 6 minutes and 6 seconds left in the first quarter and played the rest of the half, contributing 11 points and five rebounds to spring the Huskies to a 4743 lead.
A sellout crowd of 1,656 packed into cozyWalsh Gymnasium to see it, along with her mother, Audrey — a former allAmerican in track at Seton Hall — her younger brother, A.J., a Duke commit, and friends from her hometown of Ossining, N.Y. Meanwhile, her father was in Toronto, where the Raptors were playing the Houston Rockets.
“After the game, I had a bunch of texts from my friends and family,” he said. “I don’t think you can write a better script as far as her playing at my alma mater. We did a lot of our practices there. I spent a lot of time there honing my skills, a lot of hours, a lot of sacrifice, and then to see my daughter playing on that same floor, and then to have an outstanding game, that was the cherry on top.”
Adrian, a big, physical forward, played at Seton Hall from 199296 — first for P.J. Carlesimo and later under George Blaney. He started for three seasons, averaging a careerbest 16.2 points and 8.3 rebounds as a senior, but went undrafted. He bounced around the next few years, spending two different stints with the nowdefunct Connecticut Pride of the CBA, before signing with the Boston Celtics in 1999. Griffin wound up playing nine years in the NBA, mostly as a backup, and averaged 4.0 points and 3.2 rebounds.
“I called her on my way home and just congratulated her on a fine game,” he said. “It was a special night for her. It was more about Aubrey and just the journey that she has taken and all the obstacles that she has overcome. She had a tear in her ACL in high school and then turned around and finished as good as you can get, playing in the allAmerican game. Last night was just a reward.”
“It’s cool to play here because he’s been here,” Aubrey, quiet and softspoken, said following the game.
GOOD GENES
Griffin isn’t the first daughter of a highlevel athlete to play for Auriemma. She certainly won’t be the last, either.
The 11time national champions have a long history of recruiting players from such families, including current assistant coach Shea Ralph, whose mother, Marsha, was the first women’s basketball AllAmerican at North Carolina. Maya Moore, UConn’s alltime leading scorer, is the daughter of Mike Dabney, who was drafted by the Los Angeles Lakers in 1976.
“There’s a lot of former athletes, a lot of NBA players, actually, who have kids playing in college,” Auriemma, now in his 35th season at UConn, noted Saturday after practice. “Some are better than others. Some are pressurefree. They don’t have to worry too much about living up to any kind of reputation. Some, I think, do get affected by the pressure sometimes, having to live up to their name.”
Auriemma doesn’t base his decisions solely on that, but it does factor into his thinking — for both good and bad — on the recruiting trail.
“Whether your dad is an NBA player, or your mom was aWNBA player, whatever the case may be, that in and of itself doesn’t really matter. Sometimes, it can be bad because that parent’s a pain in the (butt)
because they’ve played the game and they know more than anybody, including how the game should be played. It goes both ways.”
Kara Wolters’ father, Willie, played at Boston College and was drafted by the Seattle SuperSonics. Kia Nurse’s mother, Cathy, played at McMaster University and her father, Richard, was a wide receiver in the CFL, while her brother, Darnell, is in his sixth season with the NHL’s Edmonton Oilers. Both of Katie Lou Samuelson’s sisters, Bonnie and Karlie, played in college, and their parents were athletes. They all were AllAmericans. They all won national championships.
“I think (if ) it’s handled the right way there is this feeling, ‘I’m used to success. I know what success looks like. I know how much work it takes to be successful.’ I’ve seen it work exceptionally well. I’ve also seen kids really struggle with trying to live up to their parents’ expectations. But generally speaking it’s a good thing.”
That includes Aubrey Griffin.