Northern Intercollegiate Conference
Basketball Officials Coordinator/Football Official
A legend in the league and the city of St. Paul, Jim Griffin enters the Hall as one of two conference inductees in the class of 2000 (the other being Gladys Ziemer). He served as supervisor of basketball officials in the NIC for 16 years overseeing, the hiring, scheduling, and administrative duties surrounding basketball officiating. Jim is credited with the recruiting and hiring of countless basketball officials, including Jerry Seeman and Bernie Kukar who would later go on to work as football officials in the National Football League (NFL). For decades, he officiated basketball and football in the NIC in addition to his work as supervisor of officials. Prior to his work in the NIC, Jim was a standout athlete at St. Paul Central High School. His prep accomplishments earned him an induction into the Minnesota State High School League Hall of Fame. He is the namesake of Griffin Stadium, the current home of Central High and Concordia-St. Paul football. In college, Jim won a basketball national championship with West Virginia State College, at the time an all-black institution. Away from athletics, Griffin served for 43 years with the St. Paul Police Department. The Deputy Chief of Police for 11 years, Jim was the first African American in the department with any rank. A 17-year St. Paul Board of Education member, Griffin still resides in the Minnesota state capital.