Gannon men’s basketball coach Kelvin Jefferson has filled out his coaching staff for his first season in Erie, announcing the hiring of Jordan Martz and Stephen Griffin as assistant coaches.
Combined the pair brings experience from multiple levels of college, professional, high school and grassroots basketball.
“Jordan and Stephen come to Gannon with a unique skillset for the Division II level,” Jefferson said. “They not only bring experience from the highest level of Division I basketball, but also from the professional level. They have established themselves as two of the best at on-court teaching and developing talent.”
Martz was most recently the video coordinator for the Milwaukee Bucks’ G League affiliate Wisconsin Herd during the 2017-18 season. There, he prepared opponent scouting reports and led player development workouts, while also organizing video from practices and games.
Prior to his season in Wisconsin, Martz was the assistant video coordinator at Division I Creighton in Omaha, Nebraska, in 2016-17, when the Blue Jays went 25-10 and reached the NCAA tournament. His first full-time coaching position came at Division II Trevecca Nazarene in Nashville, Tennessee, in 2015-16. There, Martz was heavily involved in recruiting, scouting and player development, helping the Trojans reach the Great Midwest conference final.
Martz was a graduate assistant at Messiah College in Grantham, Pennsylvania, for two seasons from 2013-15, helping the Falcons go 32-17 over that stretch. He was involved in all recruiting activities, as well as scouting, player development, fundraising and operations.
A 2013 graduate of York College (Pa.) with a bachelor’s degree in sport management, he was a member of the Spartans’ 2011-12 Capital Athletic Conference championship team. He earned his master’s degree in college athletics management from Messiah in 2015.
Griffin comes to Gannon after spending the past two seasons as a graduate manager with the Penn State men’s basketball team. That role in State College saw him performing a number of various duties, including assisting with on-court development, maintaining players’ class and study hall schedules, and preparing video and opponent scouting. He also managed the annual Growing the Game youth summer basketball league, which saw as many as 170 players each year.
During 2016-17, Griffin was a member of the player development and video support staff with the Dallas Mavericks, where he assisted in editing practice and scouting film, as well as pre-draft prospect scouting videos and workouts.
Griffin was an assistant coach with Mid-Atlantic Select AAU 16U/17U between 2013-16, working on-court development with guards and assisting in fundraising and travel expenses. Also during that time, he spent two seasons as an assistant coach at Division III Widener in Chester, Pennsylvania, working with all facets of the program and leading the recruiting for two future first-team all-conference performers.
He spent the 2013-14 season as an assistant coach at Germantown Friends School in the Pennsylvania Independent Schools Athletic Association, helping the team to a postseason tournament berth.
Griffin earned his bachelor’s degree in business management from Philadelphia University in 2014, playing two seasons for coach Herb Magee. He earned his master’s in educational leadership from Penn State in 2019.
Gannon will open its 2019-20 season in November.
