Joe Griffin returns the Flyers staff after 13 successful seasons as Head Coach at Roosevelt University, building the men's basketball program from scratch as a member of the NAIA beginning in the 2009-2010 season. The 2024-25 season with the Flyers marks his 19th year in collegiate coaching, serving 13 years in the NAIA, two years in NCAA Division I, and four years in NCAA Division II.
Griffin led the Lakers to a 26-8 record and NAIA National Tournament berth in 2017-18, while turning in runner-up finishes in the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference (CCAC) regular season standings and CCAC tournament. Roosevelt was the top defensive team the conference, as well as a top-10 defense in the country in the 17-18 season. In 2019, senior guard Jake Ludwig was named NAIA All-America for the second straight year.
In the span from 2017-2022, Roosevelt had the third best record of the 10 Chicago-addressed four-year universities, behind only Loyola and IIT (the schools also include DePaul, UIC, Chicago State, St. Xavier, Robert Morris, North Park & University of Chicago).
Under Griffin’s leadership, The Roosevelt men's basketball program was established as a respected college basketball program within the city of Chicago and throughout the Midwest. 39 of the last 40 seniors who completed their eligibility graduated under Griffin’s tutelage, while consistently registering team GPA’s above 3.0 the last 8 seasons. From 2011 to 2022, he coached 2 NAIA All-Americans and 13 All-CCAC performers, along with numerous Academic All-conference and All-American recipients. He also recruited three CCAC Freshmen of the Year in 2016, 2020 and 2022.
The 42-year-old Michigan native learned his trade under the tutelage of legendary Michigan State Head coach and Hall of Famer Tom Izzo, serving for two seasons (2006-08) as a Graduate Assistant coach for the Spartans. At Michigan State, Griffin played pivotal roles in the areas of player development, strength and conditioning, opponent and self-scouting, video coordination, travel, and recruiting. In his two seasons with the Spartans, Griffin aided Michigan State to 50 wins and back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances, including a trip to the Sweet 16 in 2008.
Griffin’s playing career included two seasons at St. Clair County Community College in Port Huron, Michigan from 1998-2000. Coach Griffin is a member of the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) as well as the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association (IBCA). Griffin won two distinct coaching awards from the successful 2017-18 season, as he was named the 2017-18 Co-CCAC Coach of the Year and the IBCA NAIA College Coach of the Year and has been a featured speaker at several coaching clinics.
In addition to coaching at Lewis, Griffin also serves as Adjunct Faculty in the College of Science, Health and Pharmacy. Griffin is currently working towards his Phd in sports leadership at Concordia University Chicago.
He and his wife, Suzanne, live in Oak Park, Ill. The couple has two sons, Jackson and Dane and a daughter, Colleen.
