Adrian Darnell Griffin Jr. was born August 25, 2003, in Dallas, Texas. His father Adrian Griffin Sr. played ten NBA seasons after going undrafted from Seton Hall in 1996 — a journeyman wing who started in the 2006 NBA Finals for the Mavericks. His mother Aubrey Sterling was an All-American track athlete at Seton Hall. His brother Alan played at Illinois and Syracuse. His sister Aubrey played at UConn. Basketball and athletic excellence ran through every branch.
At age two, while other kids played with kiddie hoops, AJ took an NBA regulation basketball, cocked it behind his head, and launched it at a regulation net. The first time it went in, everyone thought it was cute. Then he kept doing it. The whole team stopped to watch. “His strength at that age was unbelievable,” his father said. “He just loved basketball.”
At Archbishop Stepinac in White Plains, NY, he played alongside his brother Alan as a freshman, winning the school’s first CHSAA title since 1984. As a sophomore: 20.9/10.9/3.9/3.5 blocks, forming one of the nation’s top backcourts with R.J. Davis. In 7th and 8th grade at Ossining, he played varsity alongside future NBA player Obi Toppin. Five-star recruit, projected top-five pick.
He committed to Duke in November 2019 over Kentucky and Villanova. But in 2020, during COVID lockdowns, AJ gave his life to Christ. “My values started to change. My heart started to change.” The transformation that would eventually lead him away from basketball had already begun.