Darrell Griffith is a former professional basketball player. He played collegiately at the University of Louisville. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest college basketball players of all time.Griffith was heavily recruited out of hihg school.
Griffith is from the Louisville area and the hometown hero delivered the school's first-ever NCAA men's basketball championship in 1980. He scored 23 points in the Cardinals' 59-54 victory over UCLA in the championship game. Due to his strong performance, he was named Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four. Griffith totaled 825 points in his senior season, setting a then school record. For his efforts, he was named First Team All-American by the Associated Press and was given the Wooden Award as the best college basketball player in the nation. He left college as Louisville's all-time leading scorer with 2,333 points in his career. Utah selected Griffith with the second overall pick in the 1980 NBA draft. Griffith averaged 20.6 points per game in his first season and earning the NBA's Rookie of the Year award Griffith spent his entire professional career with the NBA's Utah Jazz.
His Lousiville jersey number, 35, was retired during ceremonies after the 1980 season. As of 2021, Griffith is a special assistant to the President of the University of Louisville.
