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Brian Gregory

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This article is about the basketball coach. For the rugby league footballer, see Brian Gregory (rugby league). For the Northern Irish association footballer, see Brian Gregory (footballer).
Brian Gregory
Biographical details
Born (1966-12-15) December 15, 1966 (age 57)
Mount Prospect, Illinois, U.S.
Playing career
1985–1986Navy
1987–1990Oakland
Position(s)Point guard
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1990–1996Michigan State (assistant)
1996–1997Toledo (assistant)
1997–1999Northwestern (assistant)
1999–2003Michigan State (assistant)
2003–2011Dayton
2011–2016Georgia Tech
2017–2023South Florida
Head coaching record
Overall327–287 (.533)
Tournaments1–2 (NCAA Division I)
10–3 (NIT)
5–1 (CBI)
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
NIT (2010)
CBI (2019)
A-10 West Division (2004)

Brian Francis Gregory (born December 15, 1966) is an American vice president of player programming for the Phoenix Suns and former college basketball coach who was most recently the head men's basketball coach at South Florida. He was previously serving as a consultant to Tom Izzo at Michigan State after being let go as head coach with Georgia Tech. Prior to coaching at Georgia Tech, he was the head coach at Dayton and an assistant coach under Izzo at Michigan State.

Early life and education

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From 1985 to 1986, Gregory attended the U.S. Naval Academy where he played on the Navy team that featured David Robinson and advanced to the Elite Eight of the NCAA tournament. He then went to Oakland University where he was a three-time all conference selection and in 1990 was named an Academic All-American. In 1990, Gregory graduated from Oakland University with a Bachelor of Arts in secondary education. He went on to earn a Master of Arts in athletic administration at Michigan State, graduating in 1992.[1]

Coach

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Michigan State

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Gregory was an assistant at Michigan State for five years, from 1999 to 2003, under head coach Tom Izzo. During that time, the Spartans reached the Final Four three times and won the 2000 national title.[2]

Dayton

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On April 9, 2003, Gregory was named the head basketball coach of the Dayton Flyers.[3] As Flyers head coach, he led the team to the 2004 and the 2009 NCAA tournaments as well as the 2008 National Invitation Tournament. On January 14, 2008, Gregory led the Dayton Flyers to a top-14 ranking in the AP poll.[4] This was the highest ranking for Dayton in 40 years.[5]

He capped off the 2009–10 season by leading the Flyers to the 2010 NIT championship over North Carolina. Gregory had a 172–94 record with the Flyers over eight seasons and NCAA Tournament appearances.[6]

Georgia Tech

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On March 28, 2011, it was announced that Gregory would become the 13th head coach at Georgia Tech replacing Paul Hewitt.[2][7][8] Gregory struggled at Georgia Tech, only finishing above .500 two times.

He failed to make a postseason appearance in his first four years at Georgia Tech. On March 16, 2015, Georgia Tech announced that Gregory would continue as head basketball coach for another year, despite the fact he never had a conference finish higher than ninth. In the 2015–16 season, Georgia Tech improved, finishing the season 21–15 and did receive a bid to the National Invitation Tournament, their first postseason trip under Gregory. The Yellow Jackets won two games before losing in the quarterfinals.

After a 5th consecutive losing record in the ACC, Georgia Tech Athletic Director Mike Bobinski announced on March 25, 2016, that Gregory would not return for the 2016–17 season.[9] His record was 76–86 overall and 27–61 in ACC play.

Michigan State

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Gregory served as a consultant to his old head coach Tom Izzo at Michigan State during the 2016–17 season.

South Florida

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On March 14, 2017, Gregory was hired as head coach at South Florida to replace Orlando Antigua.[10][11]

USF went 10–22 in Gregory's first season, which was the first time the program posted ten wins since the 2014–15 season—the first of the Antigua era. It posted a 7–11 record at the Yuengling Center (formerly the USF Sun Dome), but struggled away from home, collecting just three wins away from Tampa. The Bulls finished 3–15 in AAC play, last in the conference and was a first-round exit in the 2018 conference tournament.

Gregory welcomed nine new players to the program for the 2018–19 season. USF also was benefitted by Gardner–Webb transfer Laquincy Rideau, who came off a redshirt season in 2017–18 and Alexis Yetna's addition to the hardwood. It started the season 10–2 through non-conference play before going 8–10 in AAC play. Under Gregory's eye, Rideau earned an AAC Defensive Player of the Year honor, while Yetna was named the league's Freshman of the Year for their efforts during the regular season.

Although it was bounced in the first round of the conference tournament yet again, this time by UConn, USF received a bid to play in the College Basketball Invitational, the third tier postseason college basketball tournament.

The Bulls came back from a 25-point deficit to defeat Stony Brook in the first round before defeating Utah Valley and Loyola Marymount to reach the CBI finals.

In a three-game series against DePaul, the Bulls took two-of-three (63–61, 96–100 OT, 77–65) to win the tournament. Sophomore guard David Collins was named as the tournament's MVP. In the process, USF finished 24–14 and had the largest improvement among NCAA Division I teams.

Three Bulls—Rideau, Collins and Yetna—were named preseason all-conference selections before the 2019–20 season. Yetna, who had battled a leg injury and rehabbed over the previous summer, suffered a devastating knee injury in practice prior to the team's season opening game against Arkansas–Pine Bluff and was ruled out for the season. Former LSU transfer Mayan Kiir left the team as well, turning the Bulls into one of the largest teams in the AAC to one of the smallest teams in the conference. As a result, the Bulls struggled offensively and failed to reach 70 points in 24 in 31 of their games. However, USF was extremely strong on the defensive side of the court, ranking 20th in the NCAA in scoring defense (62.7 PPG), while holding 27 of its 31 opponents under their season scoring average at the time of play.

USF failed to put together a second straight winning season under Gregory, going 14–17 and 7–11 in AAC play. The Bulls were slated to play War on I-4 rival UCF in the first round of the conference tournament before the conference announced the cancelation of the game due to the COVID-19 pandemic, just 65 minutes before tipoff between the Bulls and Knights.[12]

Over the extended break caused by the coronavirus, the Bulls added length and saw the return of Yetna to the starting rotation. Former Mississippi State power forward Prince Oduro and Texas Tech center Russel Tchewa joined the squad and the Bulls brought in consensus four-star combo guard Caleb Murphy to bolster a team that just lost two seniors and one outgoing transfer. USF was picked to finish 5th in the AAC in the 2020–21 season.

Gregory won his 300th career game as a head coach on December 12, 2020, against Wofford.[13]

It was announced, on January 4, 2022, that Gregory's contract would be extended until the 2025–26 season, as a part of 14 overall head coach extensions executed by USF Vice President of Athletics Michael Kelly.[14]

After enduring a fourth straight losing season, on March 10, 2023, Gregory was relieved of his duties as South Florida head coach.[15]

Front office

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On June 10, 2024, Gregory was hired as the Phoenix Suns' vice president of player programming, joining former Long Island Nets general manager and Brooklyn Nets vice president of strategy Matt Tellem as the newest front office hirings.[16] He would join the team that's currently owned by Mat Ishbia, a player he had previously worked with while as an assistant coach for Michigan State University during their 1999–2000 NCAA championship season run.

Head coaching record

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Gregory coaching at Georgia Tech, 2012
Statistics overview
Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
Dayton Flyers (Atlantic 10 Conference) (2003–2011)
2003–04 Dayton 24–9 12–4 1st (West) NCAA Division I Round of 64
2004–05 Dayton 18–11 10–6 T–2nd (West)
2005–06 Dayton 14–17 6–10 T–11th
2006–07 Dayton 19–12 8–8 T–7th
2007–08 Dayton 23–11 8–8 T–7th NIT Quarterfinal
2008–09 Dayton 27–8 11–5 T–2nd NCAA Division I Round of 32
2009–10 Dayton 25–12 8–8 7th NIT Champions
2010–11 Dayton 22–14 7–9 T–8th NIT First Round
Dayton: 172–94 (.647) 70–58 (.547)
Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (Atlantic Coast Conference) (2011–2016)
2011–12 Georgia Tech 11–20 4–12 11th
2012–13 Georgia Tech 16–15 6–12 9th
2013–14 Georgia Tech 16–17 6–12 11th
2014–15 Georgia Tech 12–19 3–15 14th
2015–16 Georgia Tech 21–15 8–10 T–11th NIT Quarterfinal
Georgia Tech: 76–86 (.469) 27–61 (.307)
South Florida Bulls (American Athletic Conference) (2017–2023)
2017–18 South Florida 10–22 3–15 12th
2018–19 South Florida 24–14 8–10 T–7th CBI Champions
2019–20 South Florida 14–17 7–11 T–7th
2020–21 South Florida 9–13 4–10 T–8th
2021–22 South Florida 8–23 3–15 11th
2022–23 South Florida 14–18 7–11 8th
South Florida: 79–107 (.425) 33–72 (.314)
Total: 327–287 (.533)

      National champion         Postseason invitational champion  
      Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
      Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion
      Conference tournament champion

References

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  1. ^ "Brian Gregory". Georgia Tech. Archived from the original on 2016-03-12. Retrieved 2016-01-05.
  2. ^ a b Prasadh, Nishant (2001-04-01). "Gregory appointed basketball coach". The Technique. Retrieved 2011-05-31.
  3. ^ "Brian Gregory Named Head Coach At Dayton". msuspartans.com. 2003-04-09. Retrieved 2023-06-18.
  4. ^ "2008 NCAA Men's Basketball Rankings – AP Top 25 Week 11 (Jan. 14)". ESPN. Retrieved 2011-05-31.
  5. ^ "Flyers Vault to Best Ranking in 40 Years". Dayton Flyers. 2008-01-14. Retrieved 2011-05-31.
  6. ^ Harris, Doug (2011-03-28). "UD's Gregory bids farewell in emotional team meeting". Dayton Daily News. Retrieved 2011-05-31.
  7. ^ Roberson, Doug (2011-03-28). "Radakovich: No question Gregory will succeed". Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Archived from the original on 2012-10-14. Retrieved 2011-05-31.
  8. ^ "Georgia Tech hires Brian Gregory". ESPN. 2011-03-28. Retrieved 2011-05-31.
  9. ^ Goodman, Jeff (25 March 2016). "Georgia Tech parts with Gregory as head coach". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2016-03-29.
  10. ^ Perez, A.J. (2017-03-14). "South Florida hires Brian Gregory as head coach". USA TODAY. Retrieved 2017-03-15.
  11. ^ Goodman, Jeff & Borzello, Jeff (2017-03-14). "South Florida hires Gregory as head coach". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2017-03-15.
  12. ^ "AAC Tournament canceled an hour before tip". PonyStampede.com. Retrieved 2020-12-29.
  13. ^ Turner, Will (2020-12-13). "Brian Gregory earns 300th win". 247Sports. Retrieved 2020-12-17.
  14. ^ "USF sends sweeping round of extensions to head coaches". Bulls247. Retrieved 2022-01-04.
  15. ^ "South Florida Announces Change In Leadership Of Men's Basketball Program". USF Athletics. Retrieved 2023-03-10.
  16. ^ "Suns Add Matt Tellem and Brian Gregory to Basketball Operations Staff". NBA.com.
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