Megan Griffith
Megan Griffith (born September 4, 1985) is an American college basketball coach and current head coach of the Columbia Lions women's basketball team.[1] Since joining Columbia in 2016, Griffith has built up the program and led the Lions to the winningest stretch in the program's NCAA Division I history. [2] She is the all-time winningest coach in program history. Griffith coached the team to its first regular season Ivy League title in 2023. [3] The Lions repeated as champions in 2024 and went on to earn the program's first berth into the NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament.[4]
| Current position | |
|---|---|
| Title | Head coach |
| Team | Columbia |
| Conference | Ivy League |
| Record | 122–83 (.595) |
| Biographical details | |
| Born | September 4, 1985 |
| Playing career | |
| 2003–2007 | Columbia |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 2012–2016 | Princeton (assistant) |
| 2016–present | Columbia |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Championships | |
| 2 x Ivy League regular season (2023, 2024) | |
| Awards | |
| 2 x Ivy League Coach of the Year (2023, 2024) | |
Griffith is the former assistant women's basketball coach and recruiting coordinator at Princeton.[5] During Griffith's time at Princeton, the Tigers reached the postseason each year and earned five Ivy League titles.[6]
Biography
Early life and education
Griffith is from King of Prussia, Pennsylvania and was a three-sport athlete at Villa Maria Academy, playing basketball, lacrosse, and volleyball.[7] As a basketball player, she was a two-time team captain and earned first team Main Line Times honors her junior and senior year.[8] Her team won the PIAA District 1 Championship in 2002.[9][10] Griffith went on to play basketball for the Columbia Lions women's basketball team from 2003 to 2007, captaining the team for three seasons and earning All-Ivy honors in 2006 and 2007.[11] She scored a total of 1,061 career points, making her one of 12 Lions to score more than 1,000 points in her career.[12][13] She majored in economics and was a two-time Academic All-Ivy selection.[14]
Professional career
After graduation, Griffith played professional basketball in Europe from 2007 to 2010. She was a member of the FoA Nice Basketball team in Forssa, Finland and was named MVP at the end of the 2007–08 season.[15] She played for Espoo from 2008 to 2009 and led the team to the National Finnish Championship and the Finnish Cup Championship titles.[16] During the 2009–10 season, she played for the Celeritas-Donar basketball team in Groningen, Netherlands.[17]
Columbia statistics
Sources[18]
| GP | Games played | GS | Games started | MPG | Minutes per game |
| FG% | Field goal percentage | 3P% | 3-point field goal percentage | FT% | Free throw percentage |
| RPG | Rebounds per game | APG | Assists per game | SPG | Steals per game |
| BPG | Blocks per game | PPG | Points per game | Bold | Career high |
| Year | Team | GP | Points | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
| 2003-04 | Columbia | 23 | 60 | 29.6% | 33.3% | 77.4% | 0.8 | 1.0 | 0.5 | - | 2.6 |
| 2004-05 | Columbia | 27 | 213 | 38.7% | 34.7% | 83.9% | 2.2 | 3.5 | 1.5 | 0.0 | 7.9 |
| 2005-06 | Columbia | 33 | 410 | 38.7% | 35.7% | 73.5% | 3.0 | 5.5 | 1.7 | - | 15.2 |
| 2006-07 | Columbia | 28 | 378 | 36.0% | 28.9% | 76.6% | 2.4 | 3.8 | 2.0 | - | 13.5 |
| Career | 105 | 1061 | 37.1% | 32.3% | 76.6% | 2.2 | 3.6 | 1.4 | 0.0 | 10.1 |
Head coaching record
| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Columbia Lions (Ivy League) (2016–present) | |||||||||
| 2016–17 | Columbia | 13–14 | 3–11 | T–7th | |||||
| 2017–18 | Columbia | 8–21 | 2–12 | 8th | |||||
| 2018–19 | Columbia | 8–19 | 4–10 | 7th | |||||
| 2019–20 | Columbia | 17–10 | 8–6 | 4th | Postseason not held | ||||
| 2020–21 | Columbia | Season Cancelled | |||||||
| 2021–22 | Columbia | 25–7 | 12–2 | 2nd | WNIT Quarterfinals | ||||
| 2022–23 | Columbia | 28–6 | 12–2 | T–1st | WNIT Runner-Up | ||||
| 2023–24 | Columbia | 23–7 | 13–1 | T–1st | NCAA Division I First Four | ||||
| Columbia: | 122–84 (.592) | 54–44 (.551) | |||||||
| Total: | 122–84 (.592) | ||||||||
|
National champion
Postseason invitational champion
| |||||||||
References
- "Megan Griffith". Gocolumbialions.com. Retrieved 2023-03-10.
- "Megan Griffith". Gocolumbialions.com. Retrieved 2023-03-10.
- "Columbia Wins First Ivy League Championship". Gocolumbialions.com. Retrieved 2023-03-05.
- "First Time Dancers! Women's Basketball Headed to NCAA Tournament". Columbia University Athletics. 2024-03-17. Retrieved 2024-03-28.
- "Megan Griffith". Gocolumbialions.com. Retrieved 2023-03-10.
- "Megan Griffith". Gocolumbialions.com. Retrieved 2023-03-10.
- "Megan Griffith". Gocolumbialions.com. Retrieved 2023-03-10.
- "Megan Griffith". Gocolumbialions.com. Retrieved 2023-03-10.
- "CHAMPIONSHIPS AND AWARDS". Vmahs.org. Retrieved 2023-03-10.
- "Winter Sports: Basketball Girls - Championship History". Piaad1.org. Retrieved 2023-03-10.
- "Megan Griffith". Gocolumbialions.com. Retrieved 2023-03-10.
- "Columbia Women's Basketball 2017-18 Record Book" (PDF). Gocolumbialions.com. Retrieved 2023-03-10.
- "Hsu Scores 1,000th Point in Blowout Win". Gocolumbialions.com. Retrieved 2023-03-10.
- "Megan Griffith". Gocolumbialions.com. Retrieved 2023-03-10.
- "Megan Griffith". Gocolumbialions.com. Retrieved 2023-03-10.
- "Megan Griffith". Gocolumbialions.com. Retrieved 2023-03-10.
- "Megan Griffith". Gocolumbialions.com. Retrieved 2023-03-10.
- "NCAA Statistics". NCAA.ORG. Retrieved 2024-04-20.