Chris Giffin Takes Over as Lawrence North Boys Head Basketball Coach
Writer / Ryan Kennedy
Photographer / Walker Photography
When legendary coach Jack Keefer retired after 46 years, Lawrence North High School didn’t have to look far to find his replacement. In April, Lawrence North announced the appointment of Chris Giffin, girls head basketball coach, as the school’s second-ever boys head basketball coach.
A Ben Davis High School graduate, Giffin attended Indiana University, where he was a student manager from 1998 to 2000 for Bob Knight, boys head basketball coach. After graduation, he became a graduate assistant coach for Knight at Texas Tech University for two years. Giffin then left Knight’s side and moved back to Indiana, where he got a job at Lawrence North and served as an assistant coach for Keefer for 10 years.
In 2012 Giffin was named head coach of Lawrence North’s girls basketball team, and accumulated a record of 201-60. His tenure with the team included seven 20-win seasons, five Metropolitan Interscholastic Conference championships, four Marion County tournament championships, five sectional championships and four regional championships. His teams made the Class 4A state title game twice, winning it once in 2020.
Giffin says he was approached about accepting the boys basketball head coaching position the day after Keefer announced his retirement, but wasn’t aware that this was the plan beforehand. “It was not completely shocking to me based on the fact that I have been at Lawrence North now for 20 years, we were fortunate and had really good success on the girls side, and I had worked with the boys before and been an assistant for Coach Keefer for a long time,” he says. “So I’m not completely shocked by it, but I definitely wasn’t aware that that was the plan.”
He says he was sad and surprised when Keefer announced his retirement. Like many others, Giffin assumed Keefer would keep coaching forever. “It just seems like that was kind of an institution here,” he says. “They had a good year last year – a really good year. He did a great job as always.” Giffin says he’d never thought about stepping into the role of head coach for the boys team, and didn’t think he’d ever have the opportunity. “I really, really loved my time on the girls side as the head coach there, and the relationships developed there,” he says.
Giffin met with Keefer before accepting the position. He says he wanted to be sure that the retirement was Keefer’s choice. He had a candid conversation with Keefer and Keefer’s wife. The legendary coach gave Giffin his blessing. “I figured they would because we had had a great relationship when I worked for him, and shared ideas and supported each other when I was on the girls side,” he says. “It wasn’t surprising by any means that he supported me or gave me that blessing, but I definitely wanted to get that from him. That was important to me.”
Giffin says he is humbled and flattered to have been offered the job. He’s grateful for the opportunity. He says he doesn’t lose sight of the fact that he wouldn’t have this opportunity if it wasn’t for Keefer allowing him to be a part of his staff in so many different roles, and learn at his side. “I’m very grateful for that,” he says. “To be only the second coach in a school that’s been around since 1976, that’s pretty surreal. I’m very, very hopeful that we can do a good job and can continue on the rich tradition that Coach Keefer has put in place.”
There’s no replacing Keefer. Giffin knows that. He says he’s focused on trying to be the best version of himself. “I’m going to bring the best qualities and attributes that I have, many of which are similar to or have been learned from Coach Keefer and Coach Knight and others, to continue with the basketball excellence,” he says.
Giffin had a lot of success on the girls side. He feels that one of his strengths is building relationships, and he will try to continue that on the boys side. He says he has an excellent staff, several of whom are holdovers from Keefer’s staff.
The bar is set high, but he’s excited about the opportunity. He believes the boys team will be very competitive and continue to be a strong team that does it the right way.
