Griffin Showing he is Everything Syracuse Could’ve Wanted and More

Syracuse Forward Alan Griffin has been stepping up ever since Elijah Hughes entered the NBA

Syracuse forward Alan Griffin has been off to an exceptional start to the season. Through the first five games, Griffin leads the Orange in points per game (18.4), total points (92), and minutes (163).

The Illinois transfer has been nearly doubling his stats in all categories from what he achieved during his Freshmen and Sophomore years at Illinois. It will be exciting to see what Griffin has in store, with just five games under his belt as an Orange.

Griffin has scored at least 20 points over the last three games for the Orange. One of the biggest tasks for Griffin this season has been learning how to play the shooting guard and small forward positions.

As a combo guard, Griffin has become a much more offensive minded play. He is taking a lot more shots than he was accustomed to doing during his years at Illinois.

Griffin has been everything Syracuse could’ve wanted after losing their star player from last season in Elijah Hughes to the NBA. It can be very challenging trying to replace an All-ACC player like Hughes, but Griffin has been showing he was ready to step into such a prominent role.

Here is a comparison of Hughes stats last season as an Orange to Griffin’s per game averages so far:

Alan Griffin Per Game Stats:

GP	MIN	PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	FG%	FT%	3P%
5	32.6	18.4	7.8	3.4	0.8	0.4	3.4	45.7	83.3	45.0

Elijah Hughes Per Game Stats:

GP	MIN	PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	FG%	FT%	3P%
32	36.7	19.0	4.9	3.4	1.2	0.8	2.3	42.7%	81.3%	34.2%

Last season Hughes made the All-ACC first team and ranked 1st in the categories of minutes played (1,175), points (609), and points per game (19.0). It will be exciting to see what accolades Griffin will be able to accomplish during his years as an Orange.

Griffin will look to continue his hot start to the season when the Orange take on the Northeastern Huskies tomorrow in the Dome at 3:00 PM EST.