Trenton Times 1/26/00: Feature story on Eddie Griffin
Feature story
Published January 26, 2000
Trenton Times newspaper
Griffin: A superstar is born
Roman Catholic senior has NBA-caliber talent
By AARON BRACY
Staff Writer
PHILADELPHIA – Three years ago Roman Catholic High senior Eddie Griffin was just another teenager who liked to play basketball. In fact, he wasn’t even offered a tryout as a freshman at Frankford High.
Now, the 6-foot-8 forward is, arguably, the top high school basketball player in the country. Griffin has already committed to play for Seton Hall next year on a full basketball scholarship, but pro scouts are so impressed with his talents that some have suggested he bypass college and jump right to the NBA.
How good is Griffin? Milwaukee Bucks coach George Karl said he would select Griffin with the Bucks’ first-round pick (No. 20) in this year’s NBA draft if the 17-year-old declares himself eligible.
But Griffin’s intentions for next fall seem to be set on suiting up for the Pirates, and not the Bucks – or any other NBA team.
“I’m definitely going to college,” he said recently in an interview in the tiny Roman Catholic gym. “A lot of guys took the jump (right to the NBA out high school) and were successful, but a couple weren’t. I don’t want to be the one who isn’t successful.”
Trenton will get its chance to see this soon-to-be-superstar first-hand when Griffin and his Cahillite teammates take on Rice High of the Bronx, N.Y., in the highly anticipated featured game of the Prime Time Shootout at the Sovereign Bank Arena on Sunday, Feb. 13 at 4:30 p.m.
“I can’t wait for that game to come,” Griffin said. “It’s going to be a great matchup against one of the best teams in the country and also versus my future teammate.”
The future teammate is the Raiders’ 5-foot-10 point guard Andre Barrett, who, like Griffin, has signed to play for Tommy Amaker at Seton Hall – that is, if Griffin doesn’t change his mind and choose the pros instead.
An athletic 6-foot-8 forward with uncanny jumping and shot-blocking ability, Griffin has drawn serious interest from NBA personnel. Karl’s remarks came in the wake of Griffin’s eye-opening 29-point performance, which included nine dunks, in a Jan. 3 game against Camden High at the Apollo of Temple. The contest, labeled the Hometown Hoops Classic, was billed as a matchup between the nation’s No. 1-ranked senior (Griffin) and the No. 1-ranked junior (Camden’s DaJuan Wagner).
In addition to Karl, Sixers general manager Billy King and assistant coaches Maurice Cheeks, John Calipari and Randy Ayers were among the nearly 10,000 in attendance. Also there were Sixers Allen Iverson and Larry Hughes, and the Bucks’ Tim Thomas – all of whom came to Griffin.
“Obviously, it was a high school game, but he dominated the game,” Cheeks said. “A lot of high school guys seem to be on our (NBA) level now.”
Which is why some people believe Griffin should skip college altogether. But others think that wouldn’t be a wise move.
“Very, very few players are ready to make the adjustment emotionally or physically to the NBA right from high school,” said former Magic and Grizzlies coach Brian Hill, whose nephew Fred Hill is an assistant at Seton Hall and helped recruit Griffin.
“But I’m sure it’s tough on Eddie because of the pressures of so many people from the outside telling him what to do. Unfortunately, most of those people don’t have a clue.”
Hughes, for one, thinks Griffin would benefit from some time spent in the college ranks.
“It’s up to the individual but a year of college wouldn’t hurt,” said Hughes, who left for the NBA after one year at St. Louis University.
All of this attention and acclaim has come rather fast for this shy, quiet kid from the West Oak Lane of Philadelphia.
“I used to play, but nobody really knew who I was,” Griffin said. “I transferred from M.L. King High School to Frankford in the middle of my freshman year. They had already had basketball tryouts, and they didn’t offer me one.”
After his freshman year, which included no formal basketball, Griffin moved on to Roman Catholic, a relatively small all-boys Catholic school (800 students) located at Broad and Vine Streets two blocks from Philadelphia’s City Hall. He was just a role player that year on a Cahillite team that featured Rasual Butler, who now plays for La Salle University. It was a key factor in Griffin’s development, according to Roman Catholic coach Dennis Seddon.
“Rasual was our ‘star’ when Eddie got here, so Eddie was able to ease into his role on the team,” Seddon said. “That helped a lot because there was no pressure on him, and anything he did was like gravy.”
Griffin was a solid contributor that season, but it wasn’t until the end of the year while playing in the Alhambra Invitational in Cumberland, Md., that he realized how good of player he could be.
In the three-game tournament, Griffin broke the previous tournament record of 14 blocked shots by recording an amazing total of 25 rejections.
“He didn’t just break the record, he shattered it,” Seddon said. “That’s when the interest started nationally (among college coaches).”
But the recruiting process really intensified after Griffin averaged 23.8 points, 11.7 rebounds and 7.8 blocks per game as a junior a year ago.
“It was just crazy,” Griffin said of the process. “Every time I played a game, there were college coaches there. They would call the house all the time, and even when we (Roman Catholic) were traveling, they would call the hotels.”
Griffin eventually narrowed his college choice to five schools: Seton Hall, Massachusetts, Temple, Connecticut and North Carolina. He chose the Pirates because “I trust and respect Coach Amaker a lot,” he said.
Even with the college decision behind him, Griffin knows there’s a spotlight on him wherever he goes.
“There’s a lot of expectations and pressures attached when people say you’re the No. 1 senior,” Griffin said. “That’s why I go out and play hard every game. There are always a lot of people watching who never saw me play that are going to evaluate me based on one game they saw.”
Seddon concedes that he finds the pressures on Griffin “incredible at times,” but says “anything that’s been thrown at him he’s not only handled it, but handled it well. He’s been a pleasure to have.”
And, as Trenton basketball fans will soon find out, a pleasure to watch.
Times staff writer Jon Marks contributed to this story.
