Sam Griffin and Tulsa begin the Eric Konkol era vs. Oregon State

Getting Sam Griffin to stay in Tulsa was critical for new head coach Eric Konkol.

It helped that Konkol had tried to recruit the dynamic Griffin before.

Griffin, who was briefly in the transfer portal after Frank Haith resigned at TU, was quickly convinced to stay after talking with Konkol.

But Griffin also had other reasons.

"I made a name here last year. A lot of fans got to know me. The community got familiar with me. And I also became warm to Tulsa," Griffin said. "And then, with Coach Konkol coming in, he had confidence in me, and told me he will make me a better player."

Griffin, a 6-foot-3 combo guard, averaged 14.6 points per game at TU last season while showing incredible, yet sometimes inconsistent, scoring ability, both on three-pointers and driving to the basket.

The first two years of Griffin's college career were spent at UT-Arlington before a coaching change there was part of a reason for him going into the transfer portal and leading to him coming to Tulsa.

Coincidentally, Griffin played against Konkol's Louisiana Tech in 2020-2021 the year before he transferred to Tulsa. He scored 14 points, going 4 of 9 on three's and 5 of 12 overall, and had 2 rebounds, along with an assist and a steal in 22 minutes coming off the bench for UTA in La. Tech's 76-71 victory in Ruston, La.

Griffin and Konkol both remembered the game.

"It was weird, the pace of the game," Griffin said. "Sometimes they would speed it up, sometimes they would slow it down.

"He (Konkol) said he remembered me because when I transferred from UTA, they were trying to get me to come to Louisiana Tech. But I ended up coming here, because, of course, Tulsa is Tulsa. UTA was in the Sun Belt, and I wanted to try this conference with Coach Haith."

Interestingly, Griffin played against TU while at UTA just three games after he played against La.Tech, scoring 13 points to lead UTA in a 79-64 Tulsa victory at the Reynolds Center. The previous year, Griffin scored 4 points as a freshman in UT-Arlington's 73-59 win over TU in Arlington.

Overall, Griffin has gotten better each year of his college career, and this year should be no exception He averaged 9.4 points as a freshman while averaging 21.1 minutes per game, scoring 13.3 points in 24.5 minutes per game as a sophomore at UTA, and played 30.3 minutes per game last season.

Obviously, Tulsa's 10-20 record last season was a huge disappointment, and a big reason Haith is no longer at TU. However, Griffin is upbeat about the new season and what Konkol brings to Tulsa.

"I honestly don't think I've reached my peak," Griffin said.

Griffin will be one of three players to play point guard this season, although sophomore Webster HS grad Anthony Pritchard figures to be the starter. Chicago State transfer Brandon Betson, along with Griffin, will play more off the ball, but will also handle the point guard position at times.

Playing off the ball was different for Griffin.

"It was a quick adjustment for me because I had to learn to play off the ball," Griffin said of playing for TU last season. "I had the ball in my hands a lot at UTA.

"I will still be off the ball a lot because of my scoring ability. But under Coach Konkol, because of the way it flows, I'll be able to push more because we play so fast. I'm called a pusher, and when I'm a pusher, I can make things happen."

Griffin lists his ball skills on offense as his biggest strength, while he knows he needs to improve on defense.

"Off the ball defense. Because you can be playing good defense on the ball, but off the ball you can get backdoored, when you get screened and you give up a shot," Griffin said of what he needs to work on the most. "That's a part of my game that's improving, having more awareness. And also making reads."

The big switch on defense this year will be from Haith's matchup zone to man defense. Although there will be a zone, 1-2-1-1 full court press. Not switching off screens, with fighting through the screens and following your man is the biggest adjustment on defense.

"We don't switch at all," Griffin said of Tulsa's man defense. "Coach Konkol is continuously telling me, since I was so wired to playing zone, I was so used to pointing and say, 'go there", now, he says, 'get through it. Go'.

" And it's helped me as a player because I'm quick and athletic, and I'm always active, offensively. Now defensively, I'm kind of the same way now, so it just helps my game. On offense, the biggest change will be more trying to get transition buckets off missed shots - more pushing the ball down the court off missed shots."

The biggest wish for change, however, is a reversal of last year's tough season. With Griffin leading the way, that is is distinct possibility.

Tulsa begins the season at Oregon State on Monday, November 7, at 11 p.m. Central.