Syracuse, N.Y. — Syracuse assistant men’s basketball coach Allen Griffin will miss Wednesday night’s game at Clemson because his girlfriend is close to giving birth to their child.

Griffin told Brian Higgins of ‘Cuse Sports Talk’s “The 315″ radio show today that he was still in Syracuse because “my girlfriend’s about to have a baby.”

Griffin, who works with SU’s forwards and is the longest-tenured assistant coach on staff, said he approached Adrian Autry and explained his situation.

“I went in to him and said, ‘Hey Coach, she’s about to have a procedure done on Monday and it’s gonna be day-to-day. I want to come to Clemson but I might not be able to travel to California,’” Griffin said. “And he said, ‘You’re not even coming to Clemson. Stay home. We’ll figure it out.’”

Griffin said he appreciated Autry’s flexibility.

The Orange play at Clemson tonight, are home against Pittsburgh on Saturday and then embark on a California road trip next week to play Stanford and Cal.

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