USF Athletics

•     Guided USF to the 2019 College Basketball Invitational championship

•    USF’s 2018-19 team set a program record with 24 victories and had the NCAA’s biggest turnaround that season

•     Coached the American Athletic Conference’s Defensive Player of the Year (Laquincy Rideau) and Freshman of the Year (Alexis Yetna) in 2018-19

•     Recruited David Collins, who left USF as the program’s seventh all-time leading scorer (1,540 points)

•     At Dayton, won the 2010 National Invitation Tournament

•     Named 2005 Atlantic 10 Conference Coach of the Year by the CBS Sportsline and College Insider web sites

•     Reached NIT with a 21-win team at Georgia Tech in 2015-16

•     Former assistant of Tom Izzo at Michigan State, where he helped the Spartans to two Final Fours and the 2000 NCAA championship

•     Two NCAA bids and four NIT appearances overall as a head coach

•     Has 10 victories against top 25-ranked teams — including four in the top 10 — as a head coach

•     In 2008 and 2009, traveled to the Persian Gulf to support the troops in the USO’s “Operation Hardwood,’’ a USO/Armed Forces Entertainment tour

With a national-championship pedigree and a proven track record for building winning programs, head coach Brian Gregory has retooled the USF men’s basketball roster and believes the Bulls are ready to again make some noise in the American Athletic Conference.

Gregory, who was named the program’s 10th head coach on March 14, 2017, established the Bulls’ record for single-season victories (24) in his second year, when South Florida won the College Basketball Invitational and engineered the NCAA’s biggest turnaround that season.

Under Gregory, USF teams had the two most successful conference seasons in the program’s AAC tenure — eight victories in 2018-19 and seven in 2019-20. The CBI championship team captured five consecutive AAC victories, the program’s longest conference winning streak since USF’s 1991-92 NCAA Tournament qualifier won six straight Metro Conference games.

“Our goal is to continue to elevate the USF program, contend for conference championships, get to the postseason and make sure our players have everything they need to develop as players and people,’’ Gregory says.

Gregory, a former point guard, played on the David Robinson-led 1986 Navy team that made the NCAA Tournament’s Elite Eight before becoming Oakland University’s career assists leader when he transferred there.

His 13 seasons as a collegiate assistant coach was marked by his time at Michigan State, where he worked under Hall of Famers Jud Heathcote and Tom Izzo. Gregory helped the Spartans to a pair of Final Four trips and the 2000 NCAA championship.

Gregory spent eight seasons (2003-11) as head coach at Dayton, where he was named 2005 Atlantic 10 Conference Coach of the Year by two college basketball web sites. He won the 2010 National Invitation Tournament and had five 20-win seasons. He shifted to Georgia Tech for five seasons (2011-16), which included a 21-15 mark, two victories in the NIT and upsets of two top 25-ranked opponents in his final year.

After one season as a consultant for Izzo’s Michigan State program, Gregory was hired at USF and began a total rebuild. The fast-finishing Bulls wound up with double-digit victories for the first time in four seasons, while registering back-to-back victories against Memphis and SMU. The 75-51 win at Memphis was the Tigers’ worst home defeat in 19 seasons. The 65-54 win against SMU avenged a 40-point defeat against the Mustangs earlier that season.

Optimism was high for more improvement, but Gregory’s Bulls accelerated the process beyond anyone’s expectations in 2018-19. The Bulls began 11-2, won a school-record 18 home games and finished with eight AAC victories, the most for USF since it joined the conference in 2013.

USF stood at 19-13 after the AAC Tournament and accepted a spot in the CBI, a postseason tournament that had been won by the likes of Tulsa, Oregon State, VCU, Oregon and Pittsburgh. The Bulls captured three consecutive home victories — including coming back from a program-record 25-point deficit to defeat Stony Brook 82-79 in the overtime opener — and reached the best-of-three championship round.

After splitting the first two games, USF won at DePaul 77-65 to claim the CBI crown. How big was the moment? For the first time since winning the 1990 Sun Belt Conference Tournament, which produced the program’s initial NCAA bid, USF men’s basketball players were cutting down the nets.

David Collins, selected as the CBI’s Most Valuable Player, was named third-team All-AAC along with fellow guard Laquincy Rideau, becoming USF’s first two all-conference men’s basketball players in the AAC. Rideau, one of three players in the NCAA that season with 100 assists and 100 steals, was named AAC Defensive Player of the Year.

Additionally, Alexis Yetna was selected AAC Freshman of the Year (the program’s first since Jorge Azcoitia captured the Sun Belt Conference’s award in 1979). Yetna became only the fifth player in program history to surpass 300 rebounds in a season. Yetna also had 18 double-doubles, while averaging 12.3 points and 9.6 rebounds per game.

Hopes were high for Gregory’s third season, when the Bulls were picked for fourth in the AAC preseason poll. But two days before the opener, Yetna went down with a season-ending knee injury and the Bulls never fully recovered. USF lost nine games by eight points or fewer. The Bulls captured three of their last four regular-season games, including a miraculous 61-60 home win against SMU, rallying from a seven-point deficit with 24 seconds to play and getting the game-winner on Rideau’s buzzer-beating 3-pointer.

Just when it seemed like USF had found its rhythm, the AAC Tournament was cancelled by the COVID-19 outbreak. USF was left with some positives — 14 wins overall, seven AAC victories and a stalwart defense (USF ranked 20th in the NCAA by allowing just 62.7 points per game). The Bulls limited eight teams to fewer than 60 points and held 27 of their 31 opponents under their scoring average (at the time of play). The Bulls also ranked 44th nationally in turnovers forced (15.6 per game) and 65th in steals (7.5).

In Gregory’s fourth season, COVID-19 remained an issue. USF had 11 games cancelled or postponed, including a span of playing no games from January 10 through February 9, 2021. The Bulls were 6-5 before that stretch and the extended layoff essentially doomed any momentum. USF won its opening-round AAC Tournament game and had top-seeded Wichita State on the ropes in the quarterfinals before falling, 68-67.

USF’s top individual honor went to guard Caleb Murphy, who was selected to the AAC All-Freshman Team.

Defense has been a hallmark of Gregory’s USF tenure. The Bulls held opponents to an average of 67.2 points per game or fewer in three of Gregory’s five seasons, which has ranked among the AAC’s top four defensive efforts each time. USF’s top points-per-game allowed figures have been 62.7 (20th nationally in 2019-20), 64.9 (45th in 2021-22) and 67.2 (60th in 2018-19).

That defensive prowess springs from Gregory’s Michigan State heritage. He worked under Heathcote (1992-94) and Izzo (1995-96 and 1999-2003), along with Toledo’s Stan Joplin (1996-97) and Northwestern’s Kevin O’Neill (1997-99) before his first head-coaching opportunity at Dayton in 2003-04.

In his first season with the Flyers, Gregory went 24-9 with an Atlantic 10 Conference title and an NCAA Tournament appearance. Overall at Dayton, Gregory’s teams were 172-94 overall with five 20-win efforts in eight seasons, including five postseason trips (two NCAA, three NIT). The Flyers reached No. 14 in the Associated Press rankings, the program’s highest mark in 40 years, while defeating five ranked opponents (No. 6 Pittsburgh, No. 11 Louisville, No. 14 Xavier, No. 15 Marquette and No. 21 Georgia Tech).

In 2004-05, with one of the youngest teams in the nation (six freshmen averaged at least 11 minutes per game), the unheralded Flyers finished 18-11 with a 10-6 mark in the A-10. Gregory was named A-10 Coach of the Year by the CBS Sportsline and College Insider web sites.

Dayton returned to the NCAA Tournament in 2009, posting a 27-8 record (the second-most wins in program history). In the NCAA’s first round, the Flyers upset No. 6-seeded West Virginia before falling against No. 3 Kansas, the defending national champions.

The following season, Dayton went 25-12 and marched to the NIT Championship, defeating the North Carolina Tar Heels in the title game at Madison Square Garden.

Each of the 23 seniors to play for Gregory graduated from Dayton. He recruited future NBA players Brian Roberts, Chris Wright and Chris Johnson, Dayton’s first NBA players since 1990.

Gregory was head coach at Georgia Tech from 2011-16, where he steadily built the program, winning 16 games each in his second and third year before the 21-victory season and NIT appearance in his fifth year, when the Yellow Jackets faced nine ranked opponents. That was the program’s first postseason bid since 2010. The Yellow Jackets had eight ACC wins, the program’s best conference performance since 2007.

Gregory’s Yellow Jackets defeated rival Georgia four straight years, something that hadn’t happened since Georgia Tech’s six-game winning streak against the Bulldogs from 1955-61. During Gregory’s tenure, the Yellow Jackets had five victories against ranked opponents, including road wins at two top 10 foes (No. 6 Miami in 2013 and No. 7 Syracuse in 2014), while registering three upsets at home (including No. 4 Virginia and No. 19 Notre Dame in 2016, along with No. 23 Miami in 2015).

Entering 2022-23, in 18 seasons as a head coach, Gregory is 313-269.

Gregory, a native of Mount Prospect, Ill., attended the U.S. Naval Academy for one year, when the basketball team was 30-5. After transferring to Oakland University, he was a three-time all-conference selection and an Academic All-American in 1990. He finished as the Grizzlies’ all-time leader in assists (906) and ranked second nationally in assists (10.7 per game) as a junior. He also holds Oakland’s record for most assists in a game (25 against Northern Michigan), while having games of 23 (twice) and 20 assists in his career.

Gregory, who has been inducted into the Oakland University Hall of Fame, received a Bachelor of Arts in secondary education from the school in 1990. He got his Masters in athletic administration from Michigan State in 1992.

Gregory and his wife, Yvette, have two daughters, Isabella and Elyse.

Coaching Timeline

Head Coaching Career Records

NBA Players Coached

Gregory has coached 25 college basketball players that have gone on to play in the NBA:

• Maurice Ager – New Orleans Hornets
• Alan Anderson – Charlotte Bobcats
• Charlie Bell – Milwaukee Bucks
• Mateen Cleaves – Sacramento Kings
• Paul Davis – Los Angeles Clippers
• Even Eschmeyer – Dallas Mavericks
• Jamie Feick – New Jersey Nets
• Andre Hutson – Milwaukee Bucks
• Erazem Lorbek – Indiana Pacers
• Anthony Miller – Golden State Warriors
• Mike Peplowski – Sacramento Kings
• Morris Peterson – Toronto Raptors
• Zach Randolph – Memphis Grizzlies
• Shawn Respert – Portland Trailblazers
• Jason Richardson – Phoenix Suns
• Casey Shaw – Philadelphia 76ers
• Steve Smith – San Antonio Spurs
• Eric Snow – Cleveland Cavaliers
• Matt Steingenga – Chicago Bulls
• Marcus Taylor – Minnesota Timberwolves
• Chris Wright – Oklahoma City Thunder
• Brian Roberts – Charlotte Hornets
• Chris Johnson – Utah Jazz
• Glenn Rice Jr. - Washington Wizards
• Marcus Georges-Hunt - Boston Celtics

What They're Saying:

"I honestly think this is the best coaching job he's ever done."

- Mark Adams, ESPN College Basketball Analyst following Gregory's first season at USF

“This is an incredible hire. While Brian is lucky to be at South Florida, I feel comfortable saying South Florida is lucky to have Brian Gregory. I say that knowing the job he did under tough circumstances at Georgia Tech, the job he did at Dayton, and most important to me, the job he did here at Michigan State helping me build this program 20-plus years ago.” 

- Tom Izzo, Hall of Fame Head Coach, Michigan State 

"I think Brian Gregory is a good hire. I think he's going to be really strong there. He has a phenomenal work ethic, and the other thing he possess - he's a guy of great integrity..he learned from one of the best, working with Tom Izzo...South Florida to me has an opportunity to make some noise."

- Dick Vitale, ESPN College Basketball Analyst

"Smart hire of Brian Gregory. Great success at Dayton, won 21 games in his last year at Georgia Tech and left a nice foundation behind for new staff." 

- Fran Fraschilla, ESPN College Basketball Analyst

“Coach Gregory is the best. He worked every day to help me get better. I could always count on B.G. to be there for me and to be honest with me. He's a great coach and someone you can always trust.”

–Mateen Cleeves, Former NBA star

“Gregory has a passion for coaching, teaching and making guys better. BG's energy is infectious – it was for me and it will be for the players who learn from him.”

– Eric Snow, Former NBA star

“Coach Gregory helped me so much, I owe him a lot...He gives you everything he's got.”

– Jason Richardson, Two-Time NBA Grand Slam Dunk Champion