Episode 37: Introducing the Columbia Basketball Coaches

 Welcome to the CUSP Show, Basketball Edition. For the next couple of weeks, we will have an additional podcast where we dive into the stories of the people that make Columbia Men’s and Women’s Basketball so great. 

For our inaugural episode, we have Jim Engels and Megan Griffith, the coaches of Men’s and Women’s Basketball, joining us this week for a conversation on the intricacies behind coaching an Ivy League team. Coach Griffith spent six seasons on the women’s basketball coaching staff at Princeton University, including the last four as an assistant coach and the team’s recruiting coordinator. The last two years, Griffith helped Princeton make back-to-back trips to the NCAA Tournament. During that span, the Tigers posted a 54-7 overall record, including an undefeated 30-0 regular season in 2014-15.This year marks her first as the coach of the Columbia Lions.

Named the 2015 Metropolitan and Mid-Major Coach of the Year, Engles returns to Columbia after spending the past eight years as head coach for the New Jersey Institute of Technology. Over the past six seasons at NJIT, Engles compiled a 100-88 record, including back-to-back 20-win seasons the past two years. Prior to leading the Highlanders, Engles served as an assistant coach at Columbia under former head coach Joe Jones from 2003 to 2008.

In this episode, the coaches talk to Joe and Tom about their stories prior to becoming head coaches at Columbia, they also share their experiences working with the Lions and give us some unique insights on how to instill culture in a team. You can find Coach Griffith on Twitter @mgriffith12 and Coach Engels @CoachJimEngles. Be sure to also follow both Men’s and Women’s Basketball accounts on Twitter @CULionsMBB and @CULionsWBB. For more information and highlights be sure to check out http://www.gocolumbialions.com