Georgia Tech hires Dayton's Gregory as head coach

[Warrior Forever]

Anybody else surprised that Brian Gregory (Dayton) is rumored to be getting the Georgia Tech job.  Two NCAA appearances, plus a NIT title, over eight seasons.

I was thinking the Yellow Jackets might be looking for a younger, more successful coach or well thought of assistant.

Interesting to see what Gregory does in the ACC

[theodoc]

I'm hearing Mooney from Richmond will get it.

[avid1010]

I'm hearing Mooney from Richmond will get it.

+1 - I don't believe Gregory gets it.

[Chili]

I'm hearing Mooney from Richmond will get it.

Mooney just signed a 10 yr extension today with Richmond. I think he is staying put this yr.

[avid1010]

Mooney just signed a 10 yr extension today with Richmond. I think he is staying put this yr.

He's not even the best coach in the small city of Richmond 

[VegasWarrior77]

http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/story/14868977/georgia-tech-hires-daytons-gregory-as-head-coach/rss

Dayton's Brian Gregory has reached an agreement in principle to become the next men's basketball coach at Georgia Tech, a source told CBSSports.com on Monday.

An official announcement is expected soon.

A source said Gregory told his team at a meeting early Monday.

Gregory spent eight seasons at Dayton and took the Flyers to two NCAA tournaments, but he only finished higher than seventh in the Atlantic 10 once in the past six seasons. The former Michigan State assistant is replacing Paul Hewitt at Georgia Tech. The ACC school fired Hewitt earlier this month after five NCAA tournaments in 11 seasons.

This development leaves N.C. State as the only open job in the ACC.

[avid1010]

WOW!

[GGGG]

I've been thinking about this...  Athletic Directors don't hire coaches very often.  I mean, Barry Alvarez really hasn't had to make one profile hire since being named AD.  (Outside of hiring his top assistant as football coach.)  Yet it is so important...likely the most important thing they do.

It seems that with this hire, and in some ways the Martin hire at Tennessee, that it is done every haphazardly.  They take the name of the day and try to work things out quickly to get that guy in the fold.  I guess it goes back to the process argument that we have had here.

[Lennys Tap]

Talk about the Peter Principle in action - 7th or worse in the Atlantic 10 in 5 of the last 6 years should have you worried about being fired. If I'm a Flyer fan I'm celebrating. If I'm a GT fan I'm wondering WTF?

[PJDunn]

Agreed!  Gregory's name came up during our post-crean search and many (includding myself) were not excited about that possibility.  He has not done a lot during the last 3 years to improve his stock. 

[Warrior Forever]

I guess we'll find out if the man makes the program or does the program help the man.

Gregory's run at Dayton was less than stellar.  Georgia Tech must be banking on the Izzo protege thriving in a BCS situation.

Go Warriors.

[NYWarrior]

what an underwhelming hire for GaTech ...

[Nukem2]

what an underwhelming hire for GaTech ...

Yup.  Guess it helps to be in the Tom Izzo tree...?

[ChicosBailBonds]

He was 172-94 at Dayton, two NCAA appearances and won the 2010 NIT Title by defeating North Carolina.

The last four years his record has been

23-11 NIT
27-8 NCAA
25-12 NIT Champs
22-14 NIT

[ChicosBailBonds]

Time will ultimately tell how good a hire is.

[NYWarrior]

He was 172-94 at Dayton, two NCAA appearances and won the 2010 NIT Title by defeating North Carolina.

The last four years his record has been

23-11 NIT
27-8 NCAA
25-12 NIT Champs
22-14 NIT

right ... but in 8 yrs his teams have a losing record in the A-10.  He's been NIT the last 2 yrs despite much higher expectations....and he had something of a player revolt this spring.    that bad hewitt contract clearly limited GaTech's options

[ChicosBailBonds]

right ... but in 8 yrs his teams have a losing record in the A-10.  He's been NIT the last 2 yrs despite much higher expectations....and he had something of a player revolt this spring.    that bad hewitt contract clearly limited GaTech's options

I was just posting his record, I'm not saying the hire is good, bad or indifferent.

[jmayer1]

Time will ultimately tell how good a hire is.

That's true with every hire, but what are your thoughts right now?  I think this an awful hire.  Gregory hasn't been too successful in the A10 and based on that, there's no reason to think he'll be real successful in the ACC.

[tower912]

Looks like the pool of good young coaches who are projected to turn a program around is not very deep right now.    That is why so many schools have Buzz rated so much more highly than some of the posters here. 

[ChicosBailBonds]

That's true with every hire, but what are your thoughts right now?  I think this an awful hire.  Gregory hasn't been too successful in the A10 and based on that, there's no reason to think he'll be real successful in the ACC.

I was speaking a few minutes ago to my counterpart here who is a UMASS grad and huge A-10 fan.  He thinks it's a good hire.

Honestly, not sure how I feel about it yet.  Dayton is clearly in a weird spot because Xavier is the king program with Temple not far behind.  It's a quality league historically (not sure what has happened to St. Joe's recently).  Can anyone keep Dayton in the top 3 consistently in that league? Maybe, but I'm not sure.

This year they had a lot of close games against NCAA teams but didn't win.  Lost by 3 to Old Dominion, lost to Xavier by 4 points and 5 points and then beat them in their tournament. 

They did beat Seton Hall at Seton Hall this year.  They beat New Mexico (NIT) and George Mason (NCAA) but lost to Richmond twice.  Kind of all over the board.

I also wonder what Georgia Tech's motivation here is.  They went strong after a recruiter in Hewitt and had to deal with players leaving early all the time.  Are they going after a program builder rather than a high end recruiter?

A number of people like to roll out that recruiting is 90% of it and just get a great recruiter and the pieces fall into place.  I never quite bought into that.  Pat Kennedy is my poster child for this.  Steve Lavin was at UCLA...we'll see if he has gotten better at coaching over the next few years.  I have to believe that G. Tech thinks he's a solid X's and O's guy that couldn't get the talent to Dayton that they think he can get to an ACC school. 

He's certainly had some good teams and blew us out of the gym in Buzz's first year. 

I don't think it's a bad hire right now, but whether it works out remains to be seen.  I would take him over the VCU coach only because no one really knows what you have with the VCU coach yet. 

[lab_warrior]

BUZZ TO DAYTON! 

/katz
/morons who don't read
/rumor-mongers
/people who can't point out milwaukee on a map

[Stuckin1977]

Congrats to Gregory if it goes through.  That's a huge step up from Dayton.