Kaylie and Hannah Griffin grew up around college basketball. Now, they’re experiencing it themselves.

When the St. Joe’s women’s basketball team won the Atlantic 10 championship in 2013, members of the program participated in the tradition of cutting down a piece of the net.

There also were two girls, years younger than the players on the team, partaking in the celebration: Kaylie and Hannah Griffin.

“Running on the court and being able to hug my mom and cutting down the net was one of my favorite memories and definitely something that I keep in my head now that I’m playing,” Kaylie said.

Kaylie and Hannah’s mom, Cindy Griffin, has just completed her 23rd season as St. Joe’s coach. As a former Hawk herself, who got the head-coaching job while she was engaged and started a family a few years later, she’s been around the program for half her life. Her children have been around the program for the entirety of theirs.

Beyond A-10 championships, the Griffin girls grew up attending practices, traveling with the team when they could, and interacting with a number of role models in the players, Cindy said. She believes that upbringing helped them develop into college basketball players today, with Kaylie a junior at St. Joe’s and Hannah a freshman at Holy Cross in Worcester, Mass. Cindy and her husband, Curtis, also have a son, Curtis Jr., who’s a freshman at St. Joseph’s Prep.

“They remember all those things, and I think the girls wanted to have that experience themselves, whether it be at St Joe’s or somewhere else,” Cindy said. “I think that’s kind of what fueled their interest in playing basketball at the next level.”

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Kaylie emphasized her mother’s point about the players she grew up around. After all, not all 10-year-olds grow up watching future WNBA guards practice.

“I had a lot of role models growing up and throughout the years ... people like Erin Shields and Natasha Cloud, those people, and [having] those people to look up to is really special,” Kaylie said. “And growing up, obviously, with my mom and having her just be a role model for me, and for even all my friends, it’s just really great, and it really made me who I am today.”

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Kaylie and Hannah stood out in soccer and basketball at Gwynedd Mercy Academy but chose to pursue the latter, a decision Hannah said her upbringing and passion for the game played a role in.

“Being able to see what my next steps would be like if I played in college, and now that I am playing in college, that’s something that I always kind of looked up to and always really wanted,” Hannah said. “Being able to actually do that is something really special.”

There also was another layer to Hannah’s college choices, between staying with what was familiar or branching out. Ultimately, Hannah said she wanted to push herself out of her comfort zone and chose Holy Cross.

“When I came here on my visits, it just felt really like a family community, and it was something I really wanted to be a part of,” Hannah said. “I know at St. Joe’s I would also have that family community, but I just wanted to kind of branch out.”

Hannah found herself experiencing a historic season with the Crusaders (21-13), one that included a Patriot League championship and NCAA Tournament berth, where they lost to Iowa in the round of 64. It’s something her mother said they are “so proud” of her for.

“I think going up there being so far from home, and knowing some people, not knowing everybody, but just being very open-minded and being very selfless as far as you know, ‘How can I help this team?’ She has the right mentality of her role and what they need from her,” Cindy said.

Meanwhile, Kaylie is following in her mother’s footsteps while experiencing a historic season of her own. The Hawks went 28-6 this season, the most wins in program history, while Cindy became the third coach to earn 200 conference wins in the A-10.

“She wants to win a championship, and that’s why she came to St. Joe’s, and she wants to help us win a championship, and we did win the Big 5 championship, we won the Hawk Classic championship, fell short of the A-10,” Cindy said. “She has another year to do that, and that’s really special.”

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Despite not bringing home the A-10 title this year, sharing in this record run and her entire collegiate experience with her mother is something that can only be described as “special,” to Kaylie.

“It’s so personal and so close to my heart, wanting and having the same love for the game and the same experiences,” Kaylie said. “Especially because my mom went here so she understands that process, too. She understands what it is like to be from St. Joe’s and to be a St. Joe’s women’s basketball player.”

With the three family members split across two schools, Hannah said their constant support for each other and their shared love of the game are just some of the things that keep them connected.

“I call my mom all the time,” Hannah said. “She’s always there for me, obviously, to give her basketball IQ perspective. But as a mom, she’s just always there if I need anything, I just need to talk to her, and same with my sister. They’re always there for me whenever I don’t want to talk about basketball, or if I ever do.”

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This line between family and coach is one Cindy said she’s had to learn how to toe, and Kaylie as well, but distinguishing between the roles has come with practice.

“I’m just like every other player and when there’s a correction or something like that needs to be talked about. You talk about it as ‘Coach,’ but then when I’m up in her office and we’re talking about, ‘Oh are you going to come home for Sunday dinner?’ I know that that’s my mom and not my coach talking to me,” Kaylie said.

And even during those Sunday dinners where Cindy finds herself playing the role of mom, basketball seems to find a way to creep into the conversation.

“We talk about basketball a lot, even though we try not to sometimes,” Cindy said. “We end up talking about it.”

Ultimately, basketball remains part of the Griffin family DNA.

“You can love something yourself, but being able to share that love for something with the people that you love the most is really important,” Kaylie said.