Now at Kansas, Rylan Griffen seeks return to Final Four: ‘I like our odds right now’
Scissors in hand, Rylan Griffen had one thing on his mind as he stood atop a ladder and clipped the nets after Alabama’s historic NCAA Tournament win over Clemson on March 29, 2024 at Crypto.com Arena in Southern California.
Griffen had just scored 13 points, dished eight assists and grabbed four rebounds in the Crimson Tide’s 89-82 Elite Eight victory on the home court of the Los Angeles Lakers.
“I was like, ‘I’ve got to do this again,’” he recalled on Wednesday. “I was already thinking that. I was like, ‘Man, I don’t even want to be in the tournament if this isn’t the end result.’”
Griffen, KU’s junior transfer from Dallas, and the Jayhawks play Arkansas in a first-round NCAA Tournament West Regional game here in Providence, Rhode Island, at 6:10 p.m. Central Time on Thursday.
“The crazy thing,” Griffen told The Star Wednesday, “is we’re in the West Region again, just like my team last year was in the West Region. Nobody expected us to go to the Final Four there (for Alabama’s first Final Four appearance in school history). Nobody is expecting us to go to the Final Four here. I like our odds right now.”
KU enters the 2025 NCAA Tournament as a 7 seed with a 21-12 record. Arkansas is a 10 seed at 20-13.
Griffen, a starter at KU, who has averaged 6.4 points a game on 37.5% shooting (40-of-119 from 3-point range/33.6%), actually sees similarities between the 2024-25 Jayhawks and 2023-24 Crimson Tide.
“Just the way all my teammates and coaches encouraged us. We were down, too. We went into that tournament getting blown out by Florida. We were 5-5 in our last 10 (KU is an identical 5-5 over that span). It was a high vibe. Everybody was telling us, ‘Keep shooting and it’s going to work. If we do what we’ve got to do, we’re going to win.’ And I feel that’s the same thing here,” Griffen stated.
The topic of shooting is not a sore spot with Griffen, who enters the NCAAs in a bit of a slump from beyond the arc.
“I’m never worried about shooting. That’s never been a concern for myself or something to lose sleep over because I know I can shoot. People know I can shoot,” said Griffen, who is 17-of-71 over the 11 games for 23.9%.
He is 1-of-13 from 3-point range over the last four games and 5-of-24 over six contests. He went 1-of-10 shooting overall and 0-for-5 from deep combined in Big 12 tournament games against UCF and Arizona.
“Maybe I’m off now, but it matters when you make them,” Griffen said. “You’ve got to make them at the right time and that’s what I hope to do and that’s what I plan to do.”
Last year at Alabama he entered the NCAAs 3-of-16 over his previous three games.
He proceeded to sizzle at the right time. Griffen averaged 12.4 points, 2.1 assists and 1.8 rebounds in five NCAA games. He hit 50% of his shots overall and 48.1% of his 3s (13-of-27) in the Big Dance.
Griffen hit five 3s and scored 19 points in a two-point win over North Carolina in the Sweet 16. He was 3-for-6 from beyond-the-arc in the Elite Eight vs. Clemson. He hit two 3s and scored 13 points in a second-round win over Grand Canyon and scored nine points in an opening victory over Charleston.
“My coach last year (Nate Oats) told me to keep shooting, just like my coaches here tell me to keep shooting. I like that and I can’t wait to get out there and play,” Griffen said.
KU coach Bill Self has remained confident in Griffen all season. He’s been in the starting lineup the past eight games and has started 19 of 32 games overall.
“We’ve got to get him looks,” Self said Wednesday. “He can shoot the ball, but he hasn’t consistently of late. Last year at Alabama he got on a pretty good run in the tournament. So hopefully he will remember that and have confidence from that.”
KU senior big man Hunter Dickinson likes the fact Griffen has Final Four experience. Alabama lost to UConn in last year’s national semis.
“One of the biggest things he provides outside of his shooting and defense is his experience. Having gone to the Final Four last year is a very unique experience,” Dickinson said. “Only a couple guys on this team have experienced it. It’s something very rare and will be very valuable if we make it that far.”
The winner of Thursday’s KU-Arkansas game will meet either St. John’s or Omaha in Saturday’s second round at a yet-to-be-determined time in Providence.
This story was originally published March 19, 2025 at 3:40 PM.
