Legendary St. Augustine coach Bernard Griffith to be inducted into Greater New Orleans Sports Hall of Fame

Legendary High School Basketball Coach Recognized as One of the Best in City History

NEW ORLEANS – Bernard Griffith, the longtime basketball coach at St. Augustine High School, has been selected for induction into the Allstate Sugar Bowl’s Greater New Orleans Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2021.

Griffith is one of five standout local sports figures who will be added to the Hall of Fame this year. Each year’s Hall of Fame class is selected by the Greater New Orleans Sports Awards Committee, a group of current and former media members who annually recognize a variety of award-winners, including the Hall of Fame, the Corbett Awards and the Eddie Robinson Award. The group also selects the Greater New Orleans Amateur Athlete of the Month each month.

Overall, 23 individuals and two teams will be honored this year for their achievements at the committee’s annual awards banquet on Saturday, July 24. Honorees are being announced over a period of 23 days, wrapping up with the Corbett Awards for the top male and female amateur athletes in the state on July 20 and 21.

Jimmy Collins Special Awards: Dr. Greg Stewart, Tulane Institute of Sports Medicine

Outstanding Boys’ Prep Coach of the Year, New Orleans: Gerald Lewis, St. Augustine Basketball

Outstanding Girls’ Prep Coach of the Year, New Orleans: Julie Ibieta, Metairie Park Country Day Volleyball

Outstanding Female Amateur Athlete, New Orleans: Kristen Nuss, LSU Beach Volleyball

Outstanding Male Amateur Athlete, New Orleans: Jared Butler, Baylor Basketball

Eddie Robinson Award: Sidney Parfait, American Legion Baseball

Outstanding Boys’ Prep Team, New Orleans: McMain High School Basketball

Outstanding Girls’ Prep Team, New Orleans: Dominican Volleyball

Outstanding Collegiate Coach, Louisiana: Dennis Shaver, LSU Track & Field

Greater New Orleans Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2020 Inductee: Les Bonano, Boxing

Greater New Orleans Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2020 Inductee: Bernard Griffith, Basketball

Greater New Orleans Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2020 Inductee: July 13 (Tuesday)

Greater New Orleans Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2020 Inductee: July 14 (Wednesday)

Greater New Orleans Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2020 Inductee: July 15 (Thursday)

Corbett Award – Female: July 20 (Tuesday)

Corbett Award – Male: July 21 (Wednesday)

Bernard Griffith – Greater New Orleans Sports Hall of Fame, Class of 2021

Story by Ro Brown of the Greater New Orleans Sports Awards Committee

Perhaps you’ve heard of the “KISS Principle”.  You know—Keep It Simple Stupid?

It’s one of the guiding principles for one of the most successful prep basketball coaches in Louisiana.

However, Bernard Griffith has his own unique and typically Griffith-like interpretation. “The difficulty is determining who is stupid,” he said. “Sometimes it’s the players, sometimes it’s the coach. So you have to keep that in perspective.”

The Washington D. C. native who directed the Purple Knights of St Augustine High School for 18 seasons, winning one national championship (ESPN, 1995) and three Louisiana High School Athletic Association State titles (1992-95-99), didn’t spend much time in the stupid category.  That’s why he is set for induction into the 2021 Class of the Allstate Sugar Bowl Greater New Orleans Sports Hall of Fame.

“Coach Griff,” as he is usually called by his players, graduated from Xavier University in 1971 after joining the Gold Rush as a transfer from Kansas State in 1967.

Griffith was an assistant coach at St. Aug when head coach Watson Jones directed the Purple Knights to a perfect 35-0 mark and the 1983 State Championship.  In 1987 he became head coach at St. Aug and continued the school’s tradition of success, amassing a won-loss record of 491-127, a winning percentage of 79.4.

What separated Bernard Griffith teams from most was discipline.

“It‘s all about focusing on your task,” he said. “You don’t have to be the best at your task, but you have to be able to perform it. The more you practice at it, the better you get at it.

“A lot of things in life will not go your way, including officiating. You can’t raise hell about it. Step back, evaluate the situation and take on the challenge.”

The winner of 13 Catholic League titles, including 11 in a row, Coach Griff had some decorated players; like Torrey Andrews (Rice), Pointer Williams (Tulane), Hollis Price (Oklahoma) and Kerry Kittles (Villanova). But the “star system” was never part of the “Griffith Plan.”

“He always stressed the team concept.  No one was bigger than the collective,” said Kittles, a 2014 inductee into the Greater New Orleans Sports Hall of Fame. “He was demanding of everyone and was always big on working hard to achieve. If you didn’t, you suffered the consequences. You didn’t want to suffer Coach Griff’s consequences.”

There was another reason for the “no-star” system. The Coach wanted everyone to get into the act.

“People were amazed that we would do things like put in a whole new starting five and we didn’t lose a beat,” Griffith said. “If a kid knows he’s going to play he’s going to pay attention. And besides, sometimes his grandparents were in the stands and they’ve come to see him play.”

Bob Hopkins, his coach at Xavier, was a major influence emphasizing position-less basketball.  Everyone should be able to play every position.

Paul Furlong, his coach at Mackin High School in Washington, D.C., taught him about the importance of speed and endurance – “They can’t push you around if they can’t catch you.”

His first coach was a swimming coach in the nation’s capital named Clarence Bell. Griffith says from age 6 to 16, Bell was coach of the local playground’s swimming team.  He was a strict disciplinarian who insisted that every member of the team work toward water safety certification.

Coach Bell is the reason why Griffith is a certified water safety instructor and lifeguard. For 20 summers Griffith was aquatics director for the New Orleans Recreation Department.

Chris Jennings has a unique perspective of Bernard Griffith. In 1974-75 as a ninth grader at Jesuit High School, Jennings learned under Griffith, who was his World Cultures teacher. When Jennings later became the Jesuit basketball coach, he faced his former teacher from the opposing bench for 13 seasons. Jennings says both vantage points were eerily similar.

“Both the history teacher and the coach didn’t put up with any foolishness,” said Jennings. “He was prepared and he got his point across. His teams were tough and they were relentless.”

The man who took his team to the final four in nine of his 18 seasons says entering the Allstate Sugar Bowl Greater New Orleans Sports Hall of Fame is indeed a team effort, just like all the years of winning – with discipline.

“I didn’t take any shots or play any defense. Some might say all I did was ‘fuss and cuss,’” Griffith laughed. “But this is about all those guys who participated. The majority have gone on and got degrees and they are doing well. And a lot of them are still using the discipline and principles we tried to teach them.

“One star doesn’t shine brighter than the whole galaxy. I’m proud that there are a whole bunch of ‘twinklers’ out there.”

Griffith also coached at Sarah Towles Reed (three years); at Dillard University (head coach, 2011-15); and with the Dallas Mavericks (assistant coach, 2005-07). He also served as athletic director at Landry High, Sophie B. Wright High and at SUNO (2017-20).

The Greater New Orleans Sports Awards Committee began in 1957 when James Collins spearheaded a group of sports journalists to form a sports awards committee to immortalize local sports history. For 13 years, the committee honored local athletes each month. In 1970, the Sugar Bowl stepped in to sponsor and revitalize the committee, leading to the creation of the Greater New Orleans Sports Hall of Fame in 1971, honoring 10 legends from the Crescent City in its first induction class. While adding the responsibility of selecting Hall of Famers, the committee has continued to recognize the top amateur athlete in the Greater New Orleans area each month – the honors enter their 65th year in 2021. To be eligible, an athlete must be a native of the greater New Orleans area or must compete for a team in the metropolitan region.

The Allstate Sugar Bowl has established itself as one of the premier college football bowl games, having hosted 28 national champions, 99 Hall of Fame players, 51 Hall of Fame coaches and 19 Heisman Trophy winners in its 87-year history. The 88th Allstate Sugar Bowl Football Classic, which will feature top teams from the Big 12 and the SEC, is scheduled to be played on January 1, 2022. In addition to football, the Sugar Bowl Committee annually invests over $1 million into the community through the hosting and sponsorship of sporting events, awards, scholarships and clinics. Through these efforts, the organization supports and honors thousands of student-athletes each year, while injecting over $2.7 billion into the local economy in the last decade. For more information, visit www.AllstateSugarBowl.org.