GLENDALE, Ariz. — It's been 52 years since The Plumber's Final Four moment.

Ron Thomas, a power forward for Louisville basketball in the early 1970's, was said to have the shooting touch of a plumber, hence the nickname. But that didn't stop him from averaging a double-double for the Cardinals for two consecutive seasons. It didn't stop him from reaching the Final Four, or from being drafted by the the Seattle SuperSonics, or playing four years of pro ball for the ABA's Kentucky Colonels.

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Bill Walton, on the other hand, stopped him pretty good.

And 52 years later, Alabama guard Rylan Griffen recalls with remarkable accuracy what Walton did to his grandfather's team in the Cardinals' 96-77 Final Four loss to eventual national champion UCLA. A game played some 31 years before Griffen was even born. No matter.

"Walton had 33 points, 21 boards, shot 11 of 13 from the floor," Griffen said.

A search of online records from that game confirms Griffen has committed Walton's night to memory with perfect accuracy. Thomas, according to his son, Ron Griffen, used to recall Walton as one of the toughest matchups he ever had. Two generations later, Thomas' grandson will return his family back to the Final Four stage against UConn on Saturday at State Farm Arena.

And this time, shooting's not a problem.

Griffen is shooting a scorching-hot 50% from 3-point range in four NCAA Tournament games (11 of 22) as a key contributor to one of the nation's most prolific offenses. It's a shot he first learned in his home as a child, on a Nerf hoop, from his father, who played four years of college ball at North Texas from 1988-1993. At a young age, he took that shot from the Nerf goal to the local YMCA, to the AAU ranks, to a prolific high school career, and now as a sophomore with the Crimson Tide.

Ron Griffen, unlike his father before him, was more of a shooter. He averaged 10.5 points per game as a senior at UNT, reaching the Southland Conference title game, only to lose and miss out on his last chance to experience an NCAA Tournament. For Rylan, who reached the Sweet 16 as a freshman and now the Final Four as a sophomore, a family legacy has been restored.

"It means everything. My grandfather made it, that's huge. My dad didn't get there. So for me, going to the Final Four makes up for my dad not making it, and it carries on the legacy of the family," Griffen said.

Griffen didn't know his grandfather especially well; Thomas lived in Louisville and passed away in 2018, while Griffen was raised in Texas. But he's aware of Thomas' reputation as a bullish rebounder and stoic defender. He describes what he knows of his grandfather's skillset as the opposite of his own, but the reality is Griffen is much more than just a shooter. He's been one of Alabama's better defenders this season, and said his father pushed him to be a better defensive player last summer. He can get to the rim offensively — a skill he acquired before he became an accurate shooter — and averages 3.5 rebounds per game as well. He's had a well-rounded skill set ever since he arrived at UA and carved out 16 minutes per game as a freshman on the most talented team the Crimson Tide's ever had.

But against UConn, the tournament's No. 1 overall seed, it's Griffen's shooting that must remain hot, along with Alabama's other 3-point threats, for UA to advance. And that's one aspect of the legacy he'd like to turn around, because while he has Walton's stat line committed to memory, he wasn't 100 percent sure how many points his grandfather scored.

"He didn't have a great performance in the Final Four, so I'm not trying to carry that legacy on. I'm trying to have a different kind of legacy when it comes to that," Griffen said. "I think he had like ... what did he have, four points? I think it was four. I just know The Plumber had an off game."

Right again, Rylan. Four it was.

Fire away.

Tuscaloosa News columnist Chase Goodbread is also the weekly co-host of Crimson Cover TV on WVUA-23. Reach him at cgoodbread@gannett.com. Follow on Twitter @chasegoodbread.

This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: For Alabama basketball's Griffen, Final Four run is a family affair