Syracuse may hire Allen Griffin as new assistant coach, per report

Since long-time Syracuse Orange assistant basketball coach Mike Hopkins departed for Washington, Allen Griffin has been near the top of the short list of names to replace him on the SU bench.

According to CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein, there may be some movement now with regard to hiring Griffin to fill out Jim Boeheim’s staff:

In a text to Syracuse.com’s Mike Waters, Boeheim denied that any hire has been made yet.

Within the last week, Griffin had shared with Syracuse.com that he was in a holding pattern while other jobs sorted themselves out. He’d been in contact with Boeheim, but his most recent boss, Archie Miller, had just left Dayton to take the open Indiana position. The Flyers just hired Anthony Grant to succeed Miller this week.

Griffin has been on Dayton’s bench for the past five years, and before that, he served as an assistant for Hofstra, Providence and St. Francis. The former SU guard averaged 6.1 points and 3.1 assists per game over the course of his career from 1997-2001. During his senior season, he jumped well over those figures, scoring 10.8 points, and adding 6.5 assists per game.

Following a brief stint in Europe and the D-League, he came back to Syracuse as an administrative assistant to the team from 2003-05.

We’ll await final word from Boeheim and SU on Griffin’s hire. Should it come to fruition, it would make the Orange coaching staff filled with former Boeheim players once again.