The Utah Jazz announced today that the team has signed center/forward Eric Griffin to a two-way contract. Per team policy, terms of the agreement were not released.
Griffin (6-8, 205, Campbell) competed with the Jazz during both the 2017 Utah Jazz Summer League in Salt Lake City and NBA Summer League in Las Vegas. In three games in Salt Lake City, Griffin averaged 8.6 points, 6.0 rebounds and 1.3 blocks in 17.8 minutes per game while shooting .588 percent from the field. He displayed steady improvement once the team arrived to Las Vegas, averaging 10.8 points, 7.8 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 3.0 blocks in 25.5 minutes over four games (one start), including two double-doubles.
Prior to summer league, the Orlando, Fla., native most recently competed for Hapoel Galil Gilboa in the Israeli Basketball Premier League, where he averaged 14.9 points, 7.1 rebounds and 1.8 blocks in 31.7 minutes per game this past season.
Additionally, Griffin has international experience playing in the United Arab Emirates, where he helped lead Al-Nasr Dubai SC to the 2015-16 Cup Final, as well as Venezuela, Puerto Rico and Italy. Stateside, he spent the 2014-15 season with the (now) NBA G League’s Texas Legends, where he was selected as an All-Star and chosen to the All-League Third Team and All-League Defensive Second Team after posting 19.0 points, 6.6 rebounds and 2.4 blocks in 49 games (48 starts). Griffin has also attended NBA training camps with Miami (2013), Dallas (2014) and Detroit (2015)
Griffin finished his collegiate career at Campbell University in Buies Creek, N.C., where in just two seasons (2010-12) he finished as the school's career field goal percentage leader (.559) and ranked third on the Camels’ all-time blocks list with 134 rejections. As a senior he averaged 15.7 points, 8.6 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 2.4 blocks in 30.3 minutes and was selected All-Big South First Team. He also competed at Hiwassee College in Madisonville, Tenn., and Garden City Community College in Kansas before arriving at Campbell.
The 2017-18 season will mark the first year NBA teams can utilize two-way contracts. Teams will be permitted to carry two such players on their roster in addition to their 15-man regular season roster. Utah’s two-way players will spend time with the team’s exclusively owned and operated NBA G League team, the Salt Lake City Stars, as well as the Jazz, but no more than 45 days in the NBA, not including any time prior to the start of the Stars’ training camp and at the conclusion of the season. Griffin becomes the first Jazz player to sign a two-way contract.