Brian Gregory - Thoughts?

[lethalweapon3]

I'm good with the hire. There's a bit of bellyaching on The Flats mostly because he's not one of the names people have rallied around. Without particularly dominating the conference his team played in (a characteristic we've grown used to ourselves in the ACC), he's kept his Dayton teams winning, relevant, and graduating, and sustained competitive expectations for a historically proud program. He has a neutral-site victory over Tech, an NCAA tournament win vs. Bob Huggins' 6th-seeded West Virginia squad, and an NIT championship victory at MSG against North Carolina under his belt within the last two years alone. He'll need staff to help with recruiting regionally but that's about all I'm worried about.

~lw3

[Swatguy]

I'm good with the hire. There's a bit of bellyaching on The Flats mostly because he's not one of the names people have rallied around. Without particularly dominating the conference his team played in (a characteristic we've grown used to ourselves in the ACC), he's kept his Dayton teams winning, relevant, and graduating, and sustained competitive expectations for a historically proud program. He has a neutral-site victory over Tech, an NCAA tournament win vs. Bob Huggins' 6th-seeded West Virginia squad, and an NIT championship victory at MSG against North Carolina under his belt within the last two years alone. He'll need staff to help with recruiting regionally but that's about all I'm worried about.

~lw3

I really think the Georgia State hire was better. Tech should have waited for Shaka Smart and Brad Stevens. Unless he hires a “Sharman White” to recruit this most fertile area, he is swimming upstream already.

[DJlaysitup]

I'm good with the hire. There's a bit of bellyaching on The Flats mostly because he's not one of the names people have rallied around. Without particularly dominating the conference his team played in (a characteristic we've grown used to ourselves in the ACC), he's kept his Dayton teams winning, relevant, and graduating, and sustained competitive expectations for a historically proud program. He has a neutral-site victory over Tech, an NCAA tournament win vs. Bob Huggins' 6th-seeded West Virginia squad, and an NIT championship victory at MSG against North Carolina under his belt within the last two years alone. He'll need staff to help with recruiting regionally but that's about all I'm worried about.

~lw3

Without knowing anything about Gregory...I'll still say a few things :derisive:

Dayton has a fairly long tradition as being a very good regional college program. I would put them on par with my SIU Salukis as far as doing well over the decades - and occasionally popping up into the national spotlight when they get a couple really good players. Gregory apparently had a nice run there - but it's not like he came into a program that was nothing before.

Recruiting-wise it's very possible that he could pull a few players from the Cincy area (Cincy being very close to Dayton)...just knowing the ropes in that area will help. Having a connection in the Midwest could be a big help. Illinois, Indiana, Ohio are some of the midwestern states that are big into basketball. Lotsa tall white boys in that region still play basketball as their #1 sport. Those are the type of kids who will play 4 years for a college program. It can give your team a base of talent. Payers who come in and are just biding their time for a year due to the NBA rules aren't going to do much as far as building a program.

I did hear on the radio that the current Richmond coach - Coach Smart - was a Gregory assistant...not sure if that means anything.