Tiff was an elite black athlete at UCLA at the same time as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, in an era when converting to Islam was happening.

[3] He went on to become the first American to jump 57 feet while winning his second USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships.

[8] Later, switching to UCLA to work with Jim Bush, where he was a teammate of John Smith and Dwight Stones.

[10] Later he joined Bush as an assistant coach[11] After completing UCLA, he was a member of the Southern California Striders.

[15] Tiff's father Benjamin ran on the East Technical High School (Cleveland) sprint relay team with Jesse Owens.

[18] Tiff expected to retire from the sport after the Olympics, but continues to jump in Masters athletics events into his 60s.