Few players have a stronger claim than Johnny Griffin Jr. to being the best rebounder in the history of Loyola University New Orleans men's basketball.
On average, he collected nearly 9.8 boards per game for the Wolf Pack, which is the highest among those in the top 10 on the program's career rebounds list. He is also one of only two men's basketball players to average more than nine rebounds per game over the span of a Loyola career. The other such player, Brian Lumar, had been a member of the university's athletics hall of fame since 2001.
The Wolf Pack Athletics Hall of Fame will take place on Saturday, Jan. 24. For more information, please visit: loyno.edu/hof26. We'll highlight each of our four inductees this week, leading up to the celebration.
Griffin additionally put up one of the finest individual seasons with respect to rebounding ever seen at Loyola. At the time of his hall of fame selection in October 2025, the 319 boards he hauled in during the 2016-17 campaign were tied for third-most in a season with Myles Burns (2018-19). Burns, of course, helped the 2021-22 team win the Loyola men's basketball team's second national championship in school history. Only the 329 boards from Burns in the triumphant 2021-22 campaign and the 334 from his fellow national champion Zach Wrigstil that same year are ahead of Griffin's 2016-17 performance on and around the rebounding glass.
All told, Griffin collected 606 rebounds over 62 games during the two seasons he played for Wolf Pack men's basketball, which was good enough for ninth-most on the program career list. But he also made a mark on the program in terms of steals, blocks and scoring. The 57 steals that the 6-foot-5 guard registered in his second season at Loyola were the ninth-most in a campaign at the time of his hall of fame selection in October 2025. And his 68 blocks for the Wolf Pack were the ninth-most in a career.
He averaged 15 points a game in his first year with the Wolf Pack and 14.3 in his second season to help Loyola go 39-23 over that stretch. A 22-10 record during Griffin's second Loyola season launched the Wolf Pack to the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics' postseason tournament for the first time in 71 years. Though the team exited the competition after the first round, that achievement served as a reminder that the program could reach — and eventually surpass — such a level.
Griffin twice earned NAIA All-America honorable mentions. He was a first-team all conference selection. And memorably, at one point, CBS Sports and ESPN showed national audiences a sensational, highlight reel dunk that Griffin scored against Dillard University.
He once publicly recalled how glad he was to transfer from Chicago State's men's basketball program in his hometown to the one at Loyola. "New Orleans is a great city," he told Loyola's Maroon newspaper. "And Loyola is a great school. … I actually made the decision after being here for [only] a couple of days."
The numbers make clear that Loyola was just as grateful to have him before he turned professional after the second of his two Wolf Pack campaigns, signing for the Windsor Express of Canada's National Basketball League.
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