 | |
| Biographical details | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1966-12-15)December 15, 1966 (age 58) Mount Prospect, Illinois, U.S. |
| Playing career | |
| 1985–1986 | Navy |
| 1987–1990 | Oakland |
| Position(s) | Point guard |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 1990–1996 | Michigan State (assistant) |
| 1996–1997 | Toledo (assistant) |
| 1997–1999 | Northwestern (assistant) |
| 1999–2003 | Michigan State (assistant) |
| 2003–2011 | Dayton |
| 2011–2016 | Georgia Tech |
| 2017–2023 | South Florida |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 327–287 (.533) |
| Tournaments | 1–2 (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 thePhoenix Suns and formercollege basketball coach who was most recently the head men's basketball coach atSouth Florida. He was previously serving as a consultant toTom Izzo atMichigan State after being let go as head coach withGeorgia Tech. Prior to coaching at Georgia Tech, he was the head coach atDayton and an assistant coach under Izzo at Michigan State.
From 1985 to 1986, Gregory attended theU.S. Naval Academy where he played on the Navy team that featuredDavid Robinson and advanced to theElite Eight of theNCAA tournament. He then went toOakland University where he was a three-time all conference selection and in 1990 was named an Academic All-American. In 1990, Gregory graduated fromOakland University with a Bachelor of Arts in secondary education. He went on to earn a Master of Arts in athletic administration atMichigan State, graduating in 1992.[1]
Gregory was an assistant atMichigan State for five years, from 1999 to 2003, under head coachTom Izzo. During that time, the Spartans reached theFinal Four three times and won the2000 national title.[2]
On April 9, 2003, Gregory was named the head basketball coach of theDayton Flyers.[3] As Flyers head coach, he led the team to the2004 and the2009 NCAA tournaments as well as the2008 National Invitation Tournament. On January 14, 2008, Gregory led the Dayton Flyers to a top-14 ranking in theAP poll.[4] This was the highest ranking for Dayton in 40 years.[5]
He capped off the2009–10 season by leading the Flyers to the2010 NIT championship overNorth Carolina. Gregory had a 172–94 record with the Flyers over eight seasons and NCAA Tournament appearances.[6]
On March 28, 2011, it was announced that Gregory would become the 13th head coach atGeorgia Tech replacingPaul 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 the2015–16 season, Georgia Tech improved, finishing the season 21–15 and did receive a bid to theNational 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 DirectorMike 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.
Gregory served as a consultant to his old head coach Tom Izzo at Michigan State during the 2016–17 season.
On March 14, 2017, Gregory was hired as head coach at South Florida to replaceOrlando 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 theYuengling 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 byGardner–Webb transfer Laquincy Rideau, who came off aredshirt season in 2017–18 andAlexis 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 byUConn, USF received a bid to play in theCollege Basketball Invitational, the third tier postseason college basketball tournament.
The Bulls came back from a 25-point deficit to defeatStony Brook in the first round before defeatingUtah Valley andLoyola Marymount to reach the CBI finals.
In a three-game series againstDePaul, 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 amongNCAA 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 againstArkansas–Pine Bluff and was ruled out for the season. FormerLSU transferMayan 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 playWar on I-4 rivalUCF in the first round of the conference tournament before the conference announced the cancelation of the game due to theCOVID-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. FormerMississippi State power forward Prince Oduro andTexas 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, againstWofford.[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]
On June 10, 2024, Gregory was hired as thePhoenix Suns' vice president of player programming, joining formerLong Island Nets general manager andBrooklyn Nets vice president of strategy Matt Tellem as the newest front office hirings.[16] He would join the team that's currently owned byMat 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.
| 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 | |||||||||