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Former Syracuse player Allen Griffin will be the next assistant coach at his alma mater.

(Dennis Nett | dnett@syracuse.com)

Syracuse, N.Y. -- Though born and raised in Brooklyn, Allen Griffin will return home to Syracuse.

Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim announced on Thursday that he had hired Griffin as an assistant coach.

"I can't express how excited I am to be back at Syracuse," Griffin said in a statement. "It was a real honor to play for a Hall of Fame coach in Coach Boeheim and I feel the same way about being a member of his staff.

"I love Syracuse,'' he added. "I've enjoyed the places and people I've worked with in the past but I've always hoped I'd get the opportunity to come back. It's like home to me."

Griffin fills the vacancy on Boeheim's staff that was created when Mike Hopkins left to become the head coach at the University of Washington.

Griffin played at Syracuse from 1997 to 2001. As a senior, he averaged 10.8 points and 6.5 assists, leading an unheralded Syracuse team into the second round of the NCAA tournament.

He has spent the last five years as an assistant to Archie Miller at the University of Dayton. Miller recently became the head coach at Indiana.

"We are fortunate to be able to add someone of Allen's caliber to our program," said Boeheim. "In addition to the great familiarity he has with Syracuse basketball, he owns valuable experience gained coaching with other programs."

Before coming to Syracuse, Griffin attended Robeson High School in Brooklyn.

After his career at Syracuse ended in 2001, Griffin spent one year playing professionally overseas. He returned to the Syracuse area as an assistant coach for the girls team at Christian Brothers Academy.

In 2003, he became an administrative assistant at Syracuse. After two years, he left to become a full-time assistant at St. Francis College in Brooklyn. He went onto to be an assistant at Providence and Hofstra before landing in Dayton five years ago.

At Dayton, Griffin worked with the team's big men. That group was assigned Hopkins at Syracuse.

"Allen's a proven national recruiter," Boeheim said, "and he coached the big men at Dayton. He is a great fit for our staff."