Griffin flies back in
Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders shooting guard, John Griffin, who suffered a fracture of the thumb in pre-season, before playing a game for the Riders, has returned to the Riders after recovering from the injury.
Griffin injury was confirmed as an avulsion fracture – commonly known as ‘skiers thumb’. However, Griffin’s injury was more severe than normal, due to ligament damage, and he has spent the last 7 weeks in rehabilitation following surgery at the prestigious Rothman Institute in Philadelphia.
Prior to joining the Riders, Griffin had not played for 18 months with an ACL injury, and rehabilitated while on the back room staff at the Indiana Pacers in the NBA. That long recovery made the thumb injury even tougher to take, but the guard has worked hard to recover full fitness. He flew back into the UK on Thursday.
The 25 year old American, a 6 foot 1 inch guard, graduated from Bucknell University in 2008, after playing every game in a 4 year college career. Griffin averaged over 13 points a game, with 3 assists, 3 rebounds and 2 steals a game in his final year at Bucknell. His first year of his professional career was in Germany for the Crailsheim Proveo Merlins a Pro B Club, and Griffin led them to the championship, and promotion to Pro A, while being voted the MVP of the League. He then torn his ACL which meant his missed virtually the whole of the 2009/10 season.
Riders Head Coach Rob Paternostro said, “John has had a very hard time of it, with these injuries, but he has worked very hard and is back to fitness. What we don’t know is how long it will take for him to get his match sharpness, but we have stayed in touch throughout the rehabilitation, and he remains very keen to make his mark in the BBL. We know he has an outstanding pedigree, so it should be just a matter of time. It will be good to finally get John in a Rider’s vest soon.”
Griffin will be available to play for the Riders in the two away trips this weekend. Tonight they travel to London Leopards in a final pool match in the BBL Trophy, while Sunday Riders have a huge BBL Cup quarter-final away to Cheshire Jets.
