LocalSportsJournal.com
The Local Sports Journal is hosting its first ever Varsity Blues Athletic Awards Show on Saturday at the Frauenthal Theater in downtown Muskegon.
Part of the evening will celebrate the excellence of student athletes from throughout the area.
Click on the above Varsity Blues logo to purchase tickets online.
The LSJ staff has been poring over new articles, talking to coaches, athletic directors and even some area sports enthusiasts to come up with nominations for the best athlete in each sport for the current school year. Did we hit the mark on every nomination? We did our best to find the very top echelon the area has to offer.
Two high school basketball stars, one male and one female, will be awarded the Paul Griffin Basketball Award during the unique event. In addition to our Triple-Crown 3-sport athlete awards, we have a total of 19 specialty awards.
Here are the nominations for the Paul Griffin Award.
Male
Terrance Davis, Muskegon
David Shillinger, Ludington
Travis Ambrose, Reeths-Puffer
Camden Thompson, Whitehall
Bradley Richards, Fruitport Calvary Christian
Female
Mariah Sain, Muskegon
Gillian Sorrelle, Grand Haven
Abby Hicks, Hart
For those who need a refresher on who Griffin is, he is a 6-9 center who played for Shelby High School. Griffin helped lead the Tigers to state Class C basketball crowns in 1971 and 1972.
An All-State selection as a senior, Griffin averaged 26.9 points and 25 rebounds per game in his final year of prep play. After graduation, he enrolled at Western Michigan University.
The only WMU men’s basketball player to finish with over 1,000 points and 1,000 rebounds in his four-year career with the Broncos, Griffin led Western to a 25-3 record and a No. 10 national ranking in 1976. His career marks have stood the test of time at Western.
Today, Griffin ranks first with 1,008 rebounds, second with a .567 in field goal accuracy finished his career with 1,078 points at WMU.
Drafted by both the NBA’s New Orleans Jazz and the San Antonio Spurs of the ABA, Griffin made his mark as a role player in the professional ranks. Signed by the Jazz, Griffin served as the feed-man to sharp shooting Pete Maravich. In 1979, he was traded to San Antonio, now of the NBA, where he became a member of the “Bruise Brothers,” the Spurs’ big, physical front line.
