Kiffin was raised in Queens, New York.[1] His father, Irvin Kiffin, was born in Jamaica and moved to New York when he was 19.[2] Kiffin has two sisters and a brother.[2]
Kiffin began smoking marijuana and sniffing heroin when he was 12 before he started injecting heroin at 15.[3] Kiffin played basketball on the playgrounds of New York and did not play at an organised level until his senior year of high school.[4]
College career
Kiffin received a scholarship to play for the Virginia Union Panthers.[3] He sold drugs and stole money to support his addiction while his basketball career suffered.[5] Kiffin dropped out of university twice due to his addiction.[3] With the help of his partner in New York, he gave up his drug habit.[5]
Kiffin was noticed by an assistant coach from the Oklahoma Baptist Bison while he was playing in New York and joined the team in 1972.[5] He averaged 18 points and 10 rebounds per game as a senior.[6] Kiffin graduated in 1975 with a degree in physical education.[7]
Kiffin was inducted into the OBU Athletics Hall of Fame in 1987.[8]
Professional career
Kiffin played for Athletes in Action for four years.[9] He received interest from professional teams after his fourth season.[5] Kiffin averaged 13.9 points and 7.6 rebounds per game during his Athletes in Action stint.[4] At the time of his departure, he was Athletes in Action's all-time scoring and rebounding leader.[1]
Kiffin and his family returned to California after his playing career ended.[13] His first job was for a Californian newspaper where his responsibility was to check on paper boys.[13] Kiffin's parents encouraged him to join them in Pembroke Pines, Florida, where he found a job in Fort Lauderdale at Rogers Middle School as a substitute teacher.[13] He was teaching physical education when he was offered the position of peer counsellor coordinator by the school's principal because "all the kids looked up to him."[13] Kiffin left Rogers Middle School in 1989 to work as the peer counsellor and adviser/advisee co-ordinator at the Walter C. Young Resource Center.[13]
Personal life
Kiffin married Myra in 1972.[9] They had been introduced when a mutual friend brought Kiffin over to get some drugs; she ultimately helped him end his habit.[9] They have two children.[13]
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