Busters In The NBA
Buster Hoopster Eric Griffen NBA Bound
August 15, 2014Story Courtesy of Cambell University
Photo Courtesy of Dallas Mavericks
Dallas Mavericks sign former Campbell forward Eric Griffin
BUIES CREEK, N.C. – Former Campbell University forward Eric Griffin has been signed by the NBA's Dallas Mavericks.
In four games for the Mavericks at the Las Vegas Summer League, Griffin has averaged 9.8 points, 2.8 rebounds, 2.0 blocks and 1.3 steals in 19.3 minutes. The Orlando, Fla. is playing in the NBA Summer League for the third-straight year.
Per team policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed. View Dallas' full release here.
After finishing his two-year career at Campbell in 2012, Griffin played with the Los Angeles Lakers summer league team. He then signed a contract with Filieni BPA Jesi in Italy, where he averaged 17.5 points and 7.1 rebounds in 2012-13.
Griffin gained a spot on the Miami Heat summer league roster in 2013 and was invited to pre-season camp with the defending NBA champion before being waived on Oct. 26, 2013. Griffin split the 2013-14 professional season between Ponce (Puerto Rico) and Guaros (Venezuela).
A 6-foot-8 forward, Griffin was named a first-team All-Big South Conference and NABC District 3 performer following his senior season. He averaged 16.8 points and 8.6 rebounds during 2011-12 for the Camels with a .610 field goal percentage. He ranked sixth in the nation in shooting and set a single-season school-record with 73 blocks. His .559 career field goal percentage is also a school record.
In only two varsity seasons, Griffin finished third on Campbell's career blocked shots (134) list. He produced 17 career double-doubles, including 12 as a senior. In addition, he was a semifinalist in both the ESPN Dunks of the Year competition and State Farm Dark Horse Dunker race.
Griffin recorded five of the top seven blocked shots performances by a Big South player during the 2011-12 season including career-high six rejections at Iowa, where he scored 23 points and grabbed 13 rebounds in Campbell's 77-61 win over the Hawkeyes. He topped all Big South players with seven games of 20-plus points and 10-plus rebounds and set a school senior class (Division I era) record for rebounds (268).
He also earned a place on the Dale Howard Classic all-tournament team after he averaged 23.3 points, 12.2 rebounds and shot 75 percent from the field in four games. At Iowa, he shot 10-of-11 from the field. Two nights later, he hit career highs of 29 points and 14 rebounds in a loss at 25th-ranked Creighton.
Griffin was one of 64 seniors nationwide chosen to participate in the 2012 Portsmouth Invitational, the annual showcase of the country's top graduating players. He averaged 11.7 points, 6.3 rebounds and 2.0 blocks over 3 games.
Griffin would not be the first NBA player from Campbell. George Lehmann, who played for Campbell College (then a two-year institution) during the 1959-60 season, played professionally in the NBA and ABA from 1967-74 as a member of the St. Louis/Atlanta Hawks, Los Angeles Stars, New York Nets, Miami Floridians, Carolina Cougars, Memphis Pros, and Memphis Tams.
Lehmann averaged 11.9 points per game and 4.5 assists per game in his professional career and holds the ABA's third best career three-point field goal percentage (.365). Lehmann was the first professional basketball player to make more than 40 percent of his three point attempts in a season, which he did in 1970-71.
The only Camel ever to be selected in the NBA Draft is Clarence Grier. Grier, a four-year letter winner who was named Big South Conference player of the year in 1987, was taken 151st overall in the seventh round of the 1987 draft by the Houston Rockets.