DoPD - Danny Griffin

[Dove]

Was with @August_West at the final expedition game. Saw Free on the court next to another big dude in coach attire. I asked Aug who it was. He goes, "Terry Larrier?"

Turns out it was Director of Player Development, Danny Griffin. Here is his bio on the school site:

Danny Griffin is the newest member of the UConn staff, in his second season of working on the off-court development of the student-athletes, helping to set them up for a successful career after college, no matter what their chosen field.


Griffin brings a wealth of basketball knowledge, having played and later coached under the legendary Coach Willie West at Los Angeles’ Crenshaw High. In college, he played under both Jerry Tarkanian and Rollie Massimino at UNLV before transferring and finishing his career under Al Skinner at Rhode Island.


Knee surgery stopped an attempt at a pro career overseas, but he was a phys ed teacher for 10 years in Compton, Calif., and has been a motivational speaker and an entrepreneur on his way to joining the UConn staff.

So, obviously he has a big connection to KO. Question...anyone know how big of an impact he has on players and recruits who visit? Sounds like a great asset.

 

[raf46]

Was with @August_West at the final expedition game. Saw Free on the court next to another big dude in coach attire. I asked Aug who it was. He goes, "Terry Larrier?"

Turns out it was Director of Player Development, Danny Griffin. Here is his bio on the school site:

Danny Griffin is the newest member of the UConn staff, in his second season of working on the off-court development of the student-athletes, helping to set them up for a successful career after college, no matter what their chosen field.


Griffin brings a wealth of basketball knowledge, having played and later coached under the legendary Coach Willie West at Los Angeles’ Crenshaw High. In college, he played under both Jerry Tarkanian and Rollie Massimino at UNLV before transferring and finishing his career under Al Skinner at Rhode Island.


Knee surgery stopped an attempt at a pro career overseas, but he was a phys ed teacher for 10 years in Compton, Calif., and has been a motivational speaker and an entrepreneur on his way to joining the UConn staff.

So, obviously he has a big connection to KO. Question...anyone know how big of an impact he has on players and recruits who visit? Sounds like a great asset.

Yes. He sounds like a good guy to have on staff.

 

[rip7774]

Great find/post. Love everything about this, from future off court stuff to him being motivational speaker!

 

[SoCalCanine]

If he coached under Willie West, he must be quite a guy! Willie West is a basketball legend in SoCal. I had the good fortune to get friendly with his son Willie Jr. when he played hoops for the college I worked at, Ventura College. Willie Jr was a point guard two years behind KO at Crenshaw. I knew him when KO was graduating UConn and I asked him about KO in the NBA. He told me he thought KO would make it but not be drafted. He also told me at the time that KO would someday be a heckuva good coach. I have thought about these conversations a lot in the last few years. Willie Jr. knew what he was talking about!

 

[tcf15]

Thank you, Danny Griffin...

The summer of 2010 presented Kevin Ollie with four options and one monumental decision.

A 37-year-old NBA journeyman, Ollie could have returned as a back-up guard with the Oklahoma City Thunder. He could have moved into an assistant coaching role or a front office position in Oklahoma City. Or he could have joined Jim Calhoun's staff at UConn, close to his wife and kids Glastonbury.

Ollie spoke with Larry Brown, who urged him to sit next to Calhoun. He bounced ideas off his childhood friend Danny Griffin, a former high school teammate in Los Angeles.

After gathering information, Griffin told him, "It's so hard to get into the (NBA) front office; you've got to take it."

http://www.ctpost.com/uconn/article/Kevin-Duffy-For-Ollie-and-his-mom-a-trip-to-5361916.php

 

[August_West]

Was with @August_West at the final expedition game. Saw Free on the court next to another big dude in coach attire. I asked Aug who it was. He goes, "Terry Larrier?"

Turns out it was Director of Player Development, Danny Griffin. Here is his bio on the school site:

Danny Griffin is the newest member of the UConn staff, in his second season of working on the off-court development of the student-athletes, helping to set them up for a successful career after college, no matter what their chosen field.


Griffin brings a wealth of basketball knowledge, having played and later coached under the legendary Coach Willie West at Los Angeles’ Crenshaw High. In college, he played under both Jerry Tarkanian and Rollie Massimino at UNLV before transferring and finishing his career under Al Skinner at Rhode Island.


Knee surgery stopped an attempt at a pro career overseas, but he was a phys ed teacher for 10 years in Compton, Calif., and has been a motivational speaker and an entrepreneur on his way to joining the UConn staff.

So, obviously he has a big connection to KO. Question...anyone know how big of an impact he has on players and recruits who visit? Sounds like a great asset.

WTF do I know? Tall dude, young, Street Clothes. Sounded good to me. You bought it.

 

[SoCalCanine]

A correction to my previous post. The son I was friendly with was Willie West III. His father, the legendary Crenshaw High coach, was Willie West Jr. The last I heard Willie III was an assistant coach at some SoCal community college, but that was several years ago. I have lost track of him.

 

[Dove]

WTF do I know? Tall dude, young, Street Clothes. Sounded good to me. You bought it.

With your daughter looking up at you quizzically I just didn't feel it was the time to disagree with you.