Until now, around these parts the name "Golden Griff" referred to former Jazz great Darrell Griffith.
This week, Golden Griff takes on a whole new meaning, as in the Golden Griffins of Canisius College - Utah's first-round opponent in the NCAA basketball tournament.The Utes and Golden Griffs meet in Dallas Thursday at 8:30 p.m. MST in the fourth game of the NCAA Midwest Regional at Reunion Arena.
The question everyone has been asking is, "Just what is a Golden Griffin, anyway, . . . not to mention, what is Canisius and where is it?
Canisius is a small Jesuit college in Buffalo, N.Y., that recently celebrated its 125th birthday. It takes its name from St. Peter Canisius, one of the original members of the Society of Jesus from the 16th century. The name comes from the Latin word for dog, canis.
As for a Griffin, it is a creature with the head and wings of an eagle and the torso and legs of a lion. It comes from a story written back in 1931 in the "Canisius Monthly" that was so well received the Golden Griffin was adopted as the mascot.
Glad we've got all that cleared up. Now how about the team? Canisius is 19-10 and the winner of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference tournament, following a 7-7 5th-place regular-season finish. The Golden Griffs played mostly eastern teams although they did play Washington State, losing 73-62 in early December. A year ago they made it to the final four of the NIT.
Michael Meeks, a 6-8 center, is the leading scorer (16.6) and rebounder (6.9), unless Darrell Barley, who broke his thumb three weeks ago is able to play. Barley, a 6-5 senior forward, was averaging 20.1 points and 7.9 rebounds per game before getting injured. Canisius went on to win the MAAC tournament without Barley.
"He certainly helps, but this team has proved they can win without him," said coach John Beilein. "He practiced today, but it's still day-to-day."
Beilein said his players had seen more Utah games than he had this year. "We've watched them from afar on late-night TV," he said. "We have a lot of respect for coach Majerus and know what a great defensive team they are."
Other Canisius starters are 5-11 Javone Moore, 6-3 Mickey Frazier, 6-6 Fred Dupree and 6-11 Ryan Collins.
The winner of Thursday's game meets the winner of the California-Iowa State game Saturday at 1:30 p.m. MST.