USF Director of Athletics Mark Harlan announced today the appointment of Brian Gregory, currently a member of the basketball staff at Michigan State University, as the 10th head coach of the USF men’s basketball program.
Gregory, who has previously led programs at Georgia Tech (2011-16) and Dayton (2003-11) and spent nearly a decade as an assistant coach under Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo, brings nearly 250 career head coaching wins and six postseason appearances, including the 2010 NIT championship, to Tampa.
“We are very excited to welcome Brian, his wife, Yvette, and their daughters, Isabella and Elyse, to our Bulls family,” Harlan said. “Brian brings vast head coaching experience to USF, a passion for coaching and mentoring student-athletes and a track record of leading successful programs. He has been a part of championship winning programs as a player, assistant coach and head coach and has built a very strong reputation as a tireless recruiter, skilled tactician and a coach who cares deeply about his players and graduating them. Brian will lead USF men’s basketball to a very exciting future.”
In five seasons at Georgia Tech, Gregory steadily built the program, winning 16 games in Years Two and Three and posting a 21-15 record with a pair of victories in the NIT in Year Five while playing a schedule that featured nine Top 25-ranked teams. In Gregory’s last season, the Jackets knocked off No. 4 Virginia and No. 18 Notre Dame, made the program’s first post-season appearance since 2010 and garnered eight ACC wins, the program’s most since 2007.
“The board of trustees and I are very excited to welcome Coach Gregory and his family to USF. He is the right fit for our Men’s Basketball program,” USF President Judy Genshaft said. “He will bring passion, discipline, mentoring and leadership in building a successful program in USF Men’s Basketball.”
During Gregory’s tenure, Georgia Tech defeated rival Georgia for four straight years, something Tech hadn’t done since the early 1960s, and beat five Top 25-ranked opponents – posting a win over at least one in each of his last four seasons. The wins included top-10 victories on the road over No. 6 Miami (2013) and at No. 7 Syracuse (2014). Two Tech players earned All-ACC honors under Gregory and Glenn Rice, Jr. and Iman Shumpert went on to play in the NBA.
Gregory made sure his program’s academic success was exemplary. All of the four-year seniors in the Tech program under Gregory graduated and the team’s Academic Progress Report (APR) and Graduation Success Rate (GSR) scores were at their highest levels since the NCAA began tracking program’s academic performance. Six Tech players earned Academic All-ACC Team honors.
“I would like to thank President Genshaft and Mark Harlan for the tremendous opportunity to lead the men’s basketball program at USF,” Gregory said. “I am very excited to get to work, to talk with the players and to meet Bulls Nation and the Bay Area community. USF is a terrific university with great facilities, an excellent conference and located in a beautiful area with great basketball talent. My family and I are very excited to join the Bulls family.”
As an assistant to legendary coaches Tom Izzo and Jud Heathcote at Michigan State, Gregory helped lead the Spartans to two NCAA Final Fours, three Elite Eights and the 2000 NCAA championship. He spent 13 years as a collegiate assistant coach under Heathcote (Michigan State, 1992-94), Izzo (Michigan State, 1995-96 & 1999-2003), Kevin O’Neill (Northwestern, 1997-99) and Stan Joplin (Toledo, 1996-97), before taking over the program at the University of Dayton as the head coach in 2003-04. He went 24-9 with an Atlantic 10 Tournament title and NCAA Tournament appearance in his first season. Gregory went on to earn A-10 Coach of the Year honors in 2005 and led the Flyers to five 20-win seasons and five postseason appearances in eight seasons. During his tenure, the Flyers reached as high as No. 14 in the AP Top 25 rankings, the program’s highest ranking in 40 years, and knocked off numerous Top 25-ranked opponents, including victories over No. 6 Pitt, No. 12 Louisville, No. 15 Marquette and No. 17 Xavier.
Dayton returned to the NCAA Tournament in 2009, defeating No. 6-seed West Virginia in the first round before falling to No. 3-seed Kansas as the Flyers posted a 27-8 record. The following season Dayton went 25-12 and marched to the 2010 NIT Championship – defeating North Carolina in the championship game in Madison Square Garden. Every one of the 23 seniors to play for Gregory at Dayton graduated and he recruited future NBA players Brian Roberts, Chris Wright, and Chris Johnson, Dayton’s first NBA players since 1990.
After winning 23, 27, 25 and 22 games in his final four seasons at Dayton and posting an overall record of 172-94 (.647), Gregory departed to become the head coach at Georgia Tech in 2011-12. He has posted a 248-180 record in 13 seasons as a collegiate head coach in the ACC and A-10 conferences.
A native of Mount Prospect, Ill., Gregory attended the U.S. Naval Academy for one year, where he teamed with David Robinson to lead the Midshipmen to an appearance in the 1986 NCAA Elite Eight while posting a 30-5 record. Gregory transferred to Oakland University, where he became a three-time all-conference selection and Academic All-American (1990). The point guard finished his career as the Grizzlies’ all-time leader in assists (906) – ranking second in the nation in assists (10.7) as a junior. Gregory earned a Bachelor of Arts in secondary education from Oakland in 1990 and a Masters in athletic administration from Michigan State in 1992.
Gregory and his wife, Yvette, have two daughters, Isabella and Elyse.
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