Nate Griffin, the mayor of the city of Wellston, Mo., was headed up the Thruway on Saturday afternoon toward Albany.
It’s not a political trip to New York’s capital. He’s also the co-owner and head coach of the St. Louis Griffins. He’s here for one basketball game, maybe two.
Albany vs. St. Louis
When: 3 p.m. Sunday
Where: Washington Avenue Armory, Albany
The Griffins, who hold a 1-0 lead, take on the Albany Patroons at 3 p.m. Sunday at Washington Avenue Armory in Game 2 of The Basketball League’s East Regional finals. If Albany can tie the series, they’ll play a winner-take-all Game 3 at 7 p.m. Monday at the Armory.
After winning 108-86 in Thursday’s Game 1 in Missouri, the Griffins took a bus for the 1,000-mile trip to Albany, while the Patroons flew back to New York.
Griffin, 44, has served since 2014 as mayor of Wellston, a city that borders St. Louis with a population of 1,537 in 2020, according to the U.S. Census. He has been re-elected twice. He described Wellston as a “poverty community, one of the poorest communities across the country.”
He said he and his wife, Lawonda, started a TBL team this season to provide a positive experience for the community in Wellston. He built a roster of former college players from the St. Louis area.
“These young men have master’s degrees and bachelor’s degrees,” Griffin said. “They’ve been in communities just like I was when I was their age. And so they’re mentors and role models to these young men. This is perfect for me to bring a team but also bring some positive African-American leaders to our community that love to be there and that’s from there.”
Griffin said he did not deliberately name the team after himself. He and his wife were considering names and Griffin thought of the griffin, sometimes also spelled griffon or gryphon, the mythical beast that’s a hybrid of an eagle and lion.
“It’s the ultimate protector,” Griffin said. “And (Lawonda) said, ‘You know what? That might be something good.’ And so once we put it out to the city that we’re going to be named the Griffins, of course, people said, ‘Hold on now, Nate. You’re so egocentric. You’re going to name the team after you.’ And a light went on. Wow, I never thought to name it after me, but this could be great. It was never intended to be named after me.”
He is also executive director of TruVision basketball, an organization of more than 20 youth basketball teams that he runs, coaches and manages.
He balances those duties with the responsibility of a mayor. Griffin traveled to Washington D.C. to meet with then-U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Benjamin Carson. HUD took control of Wellston’s public housing authority in 1996 because of mismanagement and unsafe conditions.
This year, Wellston secured $44 million in financing to rehabilitate almost 200 housing units that HUD once planned to demolish.
“The good thing about me is, I’m the type of person, whatever hat I’m wearing, that’s the hat I’m wearing,” Griffin said. “So when I’m Coach Nate of the St. Louis Griffins, I’m not the owner of the St. Louis Griffins, I’m not the mayor of Wellston, I’m not the executive director of TruVision. I try to stay true to each job, whichever hat or title I’m wearing, because I never want to cheat the other profession.”
His immediate goal is to try to win a game at the Armory, where the Patroons are 14-3 this season.
“It would be a very tough challenge,” Griffin said. “Albany is battle-tested. They have champions on their team. The atmosphere in their building and they have champions in that building. So we have our work cut out for us.”