Radakovich: No question Gregory will succeed
Georgia Tech athletic director Dan Radakovich said there’s “no question” that new men’s basketball coach Brian Gregory will succeed.
“Brian Gregory is not only an outstanding basketball coach, but he is a tireless worker and recruiter who cares deeply about his players,”
Radakovich said in a statement. “There is no question that he will succeed as basketball coach at Georgia Tech, and he will win by doing things the right way.”
Tech released a statement at 3:42 p.m. to confirm the hiring, which has dominated the Atlanta news throughout the day. A press conference is scheduled at 5 p.m.
Gregory said leaving Dayton for The Flats was a tough decision.
“It’s the toughest decision I’ve ever made in my life,” he told the Dayton Daily News. “It’s been eight great years. I love this place. People have been great to us. I can’t express how much I appreciate all the support and all the great times we had.
“We’ve built up a lot of relationships. As my wife (Yvette) said, it’s not a job or an occupation. It’s our life. It’s been our basketball life for eight years, and it’s tough to say good-bye to that.”
Gregory’s contract terms haven’t been announced. His pay package was at Dayton was near $1 million annually. Paul Hewitt, Tech’s former coach, made approximately $1.3 million annually. He’s also due $7.2 million per the buyout terms of the contract. That total will be paid out monthly over the next five years.
Gregory, 44 and a native of Mount Prospect, Ill., had coached the Flyers since 2003, amassing a record of 172-94 overall and 70-58 in the Atlantic 10 conference. He led the Flyers to the NCAA tournament twice, once during his inaugural season in 2003-04 and again in 2008-09. Dayton won the NIT championship in 2010.
The Flyers have had three winning conference records, including marks of 12-4 (2004) and 11-5 (2009). They went 22-14, 7-9 this year, losing in the first round of the NIT. They have won at least 20 games each of the last four seasons. Before taking over in Dayton, Gregory served as an assistant coach to Tom Izzo at Michigan State from 1999-2003.
“I know what this guy can do,” Izzo told Wes Durham on 790AM this morning. “He can have discipline yet still be a player’s coach. The hours he is going to work, that’s the only area I can say for sure that he’s No. 1. No one can outwork him. At the end of the day that’s the most important thing. Do you work your way through the good times, the bad times, the in-between times? ”
Tech has been looking for a coach since Radakovich let go of Hewitt more than two weeks ago. Hewitt led the Jackets to a 190-162 record in 11 seasons. Tech did reach the 2004 national championship game as part of five NCAA tournament appearances. However, Tech didn’t win the ACC’s regular-season or tournament titles under Hewitt.
Eventually, attendance at Alexander Memorial Coliseum began to decline. Paid attendance dropped to a few more than 6,000 this season, its lowest figure in more than a decade. However, that many rarely attended games. Tech will likely play its home games at Philips Arena and Gwinnett Arena next season while the $45 million McCamish Pavilion is constructed. It will replace AMC.
Multiple websites reported on Friday that Tech had offered the job to Gregory. However, the school issued a statement later in the day saying that the search was still ongoing.
Tech was supposed to talk to Richmond’s Chris Mooney on Sunday, but he signed a 10-year contract extension to stay with the Spiders.
Gregory was one of five candidates interviewed. The others were Tulsa’s Doug Wojcik, Missouri State’s Cuonzo Martin (who accepted the job at Tennessee on Sunday) and former alums Mark Price and Craig Neal, who is an assistant at New Mexico.
Gregory doesn’t have any previous ties to the ACC or the South. His coaching experience has been exclusively in the Midwest, starting as an assistant at Michigan State in 1990. He then moved to Toledo in 1996, Northwestern in 1997, and Michigan State again in 1999.
He played at Navy before transferring to Oakland.
In 15 years, he has coached 20 players who have made it to the NBA. He has a reputation for winning big games, going 12-5 against teams from the big-six basketball conferences in the last four years. They were also 7-11 against ranked teams during Gregory’s time as coach, including a win against Georgia Tech in 2009.
The team has done well in the classroom as well. Its Academic Progress Rate, a measurement used by the NCAA to ensure that students are moving toward graduation at an acceptable pace, has never fallen below 974 since the 2004-05 season. The NCAA considers 925 to be the minimum score before penalties are considered. He’s a perfect 23-for-23 on seniors graduating.
“The academic part of the school really fits the type of school I want to be associated with,” he said. “That’s really important. At Georgia Tech, you can recruit the highest quality player without compromising the important character components necessary for success. They have great tradition there. I’m excited about re-establishing that tradition and re-energizing the program — and getting the former players back, like we did here, and becoming engaged in the community, like we did here.”
– Doug Roberson, AJC
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576 comments Add your comment
Dycal
March 28th, 2011
7:00 pm
Good choice!!
Dycal
March 28th, 2011
7:01 pm
Calipari would have been better..
Buzz 2011
March 28th, 2011
7:03 pm
Good hire!! Dawgs on the run and defense again..
Ready for the ACC most importantly..
Dycal
March 28th, 2011
7:06 pm
Wonder if Cremmins applied
gumbee
March 28th, 2011
7:10 pm
I knew nothing about this guy as of this a.m. I strongly questioned the hire at first and I have been reading blogs on him all day. I watched the live feed at 5:00 PM on ramblinwreck.com introducing Coach Gregory. I am very impressed and 100% behind this guy now.
Old Tech & Mountaineer fan in NC
March 28th, 2011
7:12 pm
Mr Whatt, since Tech has hired a new guy that seems not to meet your expectations, what are you going to do about it?
You have already “showed your azz”.
Whatttttttttttttttttttt
March 28th, 2011
7:16 pm
Super size- Not a fan of humor? Big surprise!! Well if you want to raid the A10 why would you not go after Chris Mack from Xavier???
Whatttttttttttttttttttt
March 28th, 2011
7:22 pm
Old Tech- I’m not sure how to respond because I have no idea what you are saying. “What am I going to do about it”??? I am a Tech fan and always will be. I hope the guy never loses a game. What I am giving is called an opinion.
Old Tech & Mountaineer fan in NC
March 28th, 2011
7:25 pm
We all heard you. You are excused now.
Whatttttttttttttttttttt
March 28th, 2011
7:26 pm
I guess 6 million for 6 years is the kind of money you guys just throw around at mediocrity, and there is no one on this blog that can show me this guy is anything more than mediocre.
Old Tech & Mountaineer fan in NC
March 28th, 2011
7:28 pm
So. He is already hired. You stated your opinion….several times.
Supersize that order, mutt
March 28th, 2011
7:29 pm
Whattt, if that’s what you call humor, then so be it. I saw it as a rude answer to a fair question. And I know no more about Mack than I do about Gregory. If you do, fine; as you say, you’re entitled to your opinion. My first choice varied from day to day, and I will admit, Gregory was never one of them. But I also trust those making the decisions over my OPINIONS and, for that matter, the opinions of any who post here. At least they didn’t hire Price; I HOPE you and I are on agreement on that.
Whatttttttttttttttttttt
March 28th, 2011
7:32 pm
Old Tech- If you are not a Tech fan anymore and now a Mountaineer fan and you live in NC why are you even in this blog?? Not much to do tonight??
mowreck
March 28th, 2011
7:38 pm
You guys need to read what Tom Izzo said about our new coach. I think he knows a little bit more about basketball that all you “so called GT fans” that are complaining.
IL Jacket
March 28th, 2011
7:38 pm
Maybe someone has made this point already, but going back looking at the timeline and the Dayton Daily News article of Friday, I wonder if Gregory was not perhaps the leading candidate after all. Seems to be much speculation about Tech’s actual contacts with Mooney and early on reports were that Richmond was working on a package to keep Mooney. Additionally, I think we should not give too short a shrift to the academics angle. Gregory seems to take pride in the academic success he had at Dayton and I would not be surprised if it was one of the main criteria DRad had on his list.
Whatttttttttttttttttttt
March 28th, 2011
7:44 pm
Supersize- Sorry I was rude, hope your feelings aren’t hurt…. I had no desire for GT to hire Mark Price until now. At least he was an NBA all star and knows GT and the Atlanta area and could inspire a little excitement and get recruits excited about playing for him. This guy is a generic coach from Dayton Ohio who has no history of consistent success, how is that different from Price?
Supersize that order, mutt
March 28th, 2011
7:44 pm
mowreck, I read it, and although a lot of it was typical coach-speak, he had some very cogent things to say too. I also listened to the interview with Gregory broadcast at 6:15 in The Zone. I’m not stupid enough to think that what a former boss says (even that that is more than coach-speak) or what a person says during an interview is much of an indicator of how he will perform in real time, it’s definitely a good sign. I liked what I read and what I heard. If nothing else, it’s a good start.
IL Jacket
March 28th, 2011
7:45 pm
Perhaps someone has raised this already, but looking back at the time line of the report out of the Dayton Daily News on Friday, I wonder if Gregory may not have been DRad’s first choice. Given how Gregory is taking pride in his players’ academic achievements, I imagine that was high on DRad’s list.
Whatttttttttttttttttttt
March 28th, 2011
7:47 pm
Mowreck- John Wooden could say that Gregory is the greatest coach in the world, what difference does it make. That is opinion, what is fact is his poor record at a mediocre program what does Izzo say about that? Separate someones opinion from what the coach has actually done.
Supersize that order, mutt
March 28th, 2011
7:50 pm
Sorry, Whatttt, but until that last statement I gave you the benefit of the doubt. You have lost all credibility now. Regardless, however, I have no problems with guys coming on here giving their opinions. You, however, at least in my opinion (which, I might remind you you have said is an important part of these blogs)……you come on here pontificating, like nobody else’s opinion is valid except yours. You might not be a mutt fan, but the attitude you display in posting your thoughts on here is every bit as arrogant and self-inflated as that of the worst of the mutts who post here. And that is my opinion, whether you like it or not.
Supersize that order, mutt
March 28th, 2011
7:51 pm
IL Jacket, I posed that question earlier on one of the blogs, but nobody ever responded.
IL Jacket
March 28th, 2011
7:53 pm
Not to interrupt the dialogue, but do you know what Coach K’s record was the year before he took the Duke job? 9-17. He got the job primarily on the recommendation of Bob Knight. I hope our success is half that good.
Supersize that order, mutt
March 28th, 2011
7:53 pm
good point, IL Jacket
goldwreck
March 28th, 2011
7:53 pm
Duke fans did not give Mike Krzyewski much of a welcome and he turned out just fine.Coach K’s
73-59 record at West Point was quite boring and certainly not a “sexy” hire.Only time will tell about BG but he deserves some time to prove himself.GO JACKETS!
Whatttttttttttttttttttt
March 28th, 2011
7:55 pm
Supersize- Which statement was it that I lost you on?? you didn’t say. I do by the way think every opinion on here is valid if that is the way that particular person feels. When did I ever say that any of them were wrong? If you like Gregory that’s great, congrats, you got your man. I will however defend my opinion if challanged on it.
sk
March 28th, 2011
7:56 pm
By Whattt’s apparent criteria, Bobby Cremins did not succeed either … a lot of middle of the pack finishes in the ACC … won a couple of ACC titles by catching lightining in a bottle … obviously I exaggerate but Tech hasn’t been a perennial in either football or basketball – when has GT EVER been a sure thing in either sport? Can’t win em all (even if you get a BCS bid in year numero dos)
Hewitt’s ouster made sense – there was unhappiness in the fans view of the program and he was not producing consistency, the dreaded combination of being boring and unsuccessful … you can survive one but not both. There are other folks who might have been more exciting – but none of the guys out there were riskless. Much is made of Dayton being middle of the pack at times in the A10 – but they were also still actually winning games … no issue with never having back to back winning campaigns. I am not sure if this is the right hire – but obsessing with the “name” versus can this guy improve the permanent characteristics of the program, get Georgia Tech closer to being a legit consistent force in the ACC? Why not.
If you are expecting Gregory to deliver five ACC titles or to finish at the top of the table in the ACC year after year … then Cremins was a colossal failure too. But if the expectations for the program are “a clean program that can be a consistently above avg/pretty good and occasionally be better than that with student/athletes we’re proud of” i.e. Wisconsin basketball now, George Welsh’s UVA football … then there’s something to work with
goldwreck
March 28th, 2011
7:57 pm
IL jacket.We’re on the same page with the Coach K thought.There are other examples as well,I’m sure.
hank329
March 28th, 2011
7:58 pm
If you all want some inside information, here it is from a Flyer fan.
BG is a good, upstanding man. He is a really good recruiter, so you should get some high quality guys.He does have a downside and that is why many Flyer fans are happy to see him go. 1. He is a pretty bad in-game coach. He doesn’t make enough adjustments. He needs a good assistant who can help him with the X’s and O’s.
2. He has trouble developing players. A lot of his players are just as good when they leave as when they came in. See Chris Wright for an example.
He may do well at Tech and I wish him the best, but he was signed for 7 more years at UD and most people are happy that we’re moving on, even though he left the program better than when he came.
Supersize that order, mutt
March 28th, 2011
7:58 pm
Whatt, your statement that Price would have been as good a choice as Gregory; sorry, but in my opinion, that’s just plain stupid. And you don’t have to say that somebody is wrong to give the impression that that is what you think. Sorry, but you really do convey an image of “I’m right; you’re wrong.”
Always a Jacket
March 28th, 2011
7:59 pm
A month ago, fans were saying a high school coach would be better than Hewitt. Now they are disappointed Tech didn’t get the hottest coach this year.
Gregory is a solid hire, but only time will tell. Let’s not do the UGA Mark Fox welcome or the Auburn Gene Chizik welcome.
Whatttttttttttttttttttt
March 28th, 2011
7:59 pm
Guys, that’s great!!!!!!!! but how many coach K’s have been hired in the last 30 years. I have said it 15 time today but I will say it again I hope Gregory goes 90 and 0 in his first three seasons and I hope he coaches at Tech for the next 40 years and wins 15 national championships but thats not my opinion of what we are in for and I should be allowed to say it.
Supersize that order, mutt
March 28th, 2011
8:02 pm
Whattt, you HAVE said it, pretty much ad nauseum. And every time somebody else proffers an opinion to the contrary, you say it again. You’ve made your point
Supersize that order, mutt
March 28th, 2011
8:03 pm
Although to your credit, you are far more entertaining and informative than Obama’s speech was. LOL
Whatttttttttttttttttttt
March 28th, 2011
8:07 pm
sk- you have just summed up why Tech sports will always just be average because the fans are satisfied with that. I’m not…… You would never see a blog like yours on a UK, Duke, UNC, Kansas, Ohio St. etc… hoops blog.
IL Jacket
March 28th, 2011
8:07 pm
One final point and I’ll quit beating a dead horse. I for one think character matters, in the end I think it is the only thing that matters. Every one on this blog cares passionately about the Jackets, but for me, I had rather have a high quality, character led coach than one who has won everywhere he’s been and left train wrecks at all of his previous stops. There is much about
Bob Knight not to like vut his criticism of coaches like Calipari are spot on for my money. The way to really find out about character is to ask those who have seen them up close over an extended period of time. That is why I put great credence in what Coach Izzo has to say.
Supersize that order, mutt
March 28th, 2011
8:07 pm
I didn’t renew my subscription for Tech b’ball this past year, partly because of the long, late-night drives back to Augusta, quite often alone, but mainly because of Hewitt. I just got an email from Tech which says they will be offering an ACC-only package for the games at Phillips next year (apparently all the ACC games will be played there). I actually may decide that late night drive isn’t that bad at least one more year and subscribe. I would like to be there to see just how Gregory is actually going to do.
Old Tech & Mountaineer fan in NC
March 28th, 2011
8:10 pm
Annul? Doubtful.
Impeach? Doubtful.
Accept? Doubtful if you are Whatt
Bitzh. That’s it!
ps…If you are only 41, I’ve been a Tech fan longer that you have been around.
I’m also an App State fan…different class you know.
Whatttttttttttttttttttt
March 28th, 2011
8:14 pm
Supersize- Maybe I will be a Dayton fan now, at least I have something in common with them. All of the ones I have heard from are happy Gregory is gone.
Old Tech & Mountaineer fan in NC
March 28th, 2011
8:16 pm
I second that motion!
Whatttttttttttttttttttt
March 28th, 2011
8:21 pm
Old Tech- I’m sorry, I’m trying but I just don’t understand what you are saying???? Are they jokes?? maybe its the mountaineer in you but it doesn’t make any sense.
Old Fashioned
March 28th, 2011
8:24 pm
I apologize in advance,because WHATTT doesn’t like my boring comments,but I have just one more. To correctly state a coach’s record and give the conference for it is a FACT. To call it a “poor” record in a “mediocre” conference is,dear sir,an OPINION!!!!
Supersize that order, mutt
March 28th, 2011
8:24 pm
Whatt, you actually got a laugh out of me with that one.
sk
March 28th, 2011
8:24 pm
Yes, my low standards involve my alma mater continuing to be a world class educational institution while producing a winning basketball product is pathetic. After all, my diploma is measured entirely in terms of banners flying in wherever the heck they will fly whenever. My low standards acknowledging high achieving peer schools like Duke and UNC sort of having a really big head start in this whole tradition thing along with fairly bottomless budgets (thus giving them a different set of goals than most of even upper middle class kids like Maryland) are whining.
My low goals involve a standard of winning that actually is higher than anything Tech has actually achieved except for a stretch with Bobby … if aspiring to be pretty good is a loser standard – Tech has actually not been very good in their history reaching that sort of “rock” level. Maybe a national championship will come – but using that standard 330+ schools might as well shut down their programs.
Old Tech & Mountaineer fan in NC
March 28th, 2011
8:28 pm
You have stated your “thing” 15 times according to you. Like someone above said, you seem to love to beat a dead horse. Are you trying to convince the rest of us to scream and shout that he should not have been hired? What good would that do? It’s done already. Evidently you just cannot accept that.
Rodney
March 28th, 2011
8:28 pm
Goodbye GT, hello UGA!
Whatttttttttttttttttttt
March 28th, 2011
8:38 pm
sk- I’m using a standard that a team in Atlanta, GA (Arguably the hottest area for High school recruits in the country) and a team in the greatest conference in the history of college basketball should be using. How many of those 330+ programs can say that. GT basketball should be among the elite programs in the country every year and I truly believe that. I’m sick of watching the NCAA tourney and hearing about kid after kid being from Atlanta GA. If you could get just 5 kids from the top high schools in Atlanta you could compete in the NCAA tourney every year.
Supersize that order, mutt
March 28th, 2011
8:43 pm
Well, Whatttt, from what I have read, Gregory IS a good recruiter, so maybe that alone will start winning you over. I believe you don’t want him to fail and hope for the best. Just wish you would at least appear to cut him some slack on here for the time being.
Whatttttttttttttttttttt
March 28th, 2011
8:43 pm
Old Tech- If you have an opinion about the hire give it. If your sole purpose on this blog is to hang on my every word and comment on it, what are you doing here??
Whatttttttttttttttttttt
March 28th, 2011
8:51 pm
Supersize- According to you I have given my support “ad-nauseum” and made my point. You want me to say it again???? You asked me to stop. Ok, I will say it again. I hope Gregory goes 90 and 0 in his first three seasons, coaches here for 40 years and wins 15 National championships. What else do you want me to say?
Supersize that order, mutt
March 28th, 2011
8:54 pm
Whattt, it’s cool. I’ve actually begun to take a liking to you. I respect you for being a long time Tech fan and supporter, and you, as am I, are entirely entitled to your opinions. I really hope that in time we will both be happy. Meanwhile, I’ve been sitting here long enough; I’m going to go watch the tube for awhile. Have a good one, and GO JACKETS !!!!!