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SupaDave
07-01-2011, 10:32 AM
I got a chance to catch up with new Georgia Tech Head Men's Basketball Coach, Brian Gregory, yesterday during an impromptu interview held during his youth summer bball camp.

Coach Gregory is already making quite an impression. This was already the second youth bball camp of the year. Throngs of young boys have come out and quite a few them have high skill levels for their ages. I have to say that I was rather impressed with the drills being run for the youngsters. The only difference in drills between the younger (8-12) and the more seasoned kids (13-15) was the time allowed to do them.

I must say, it's rather surreal to watch 9 year olds run the fast break and get the foul but these kids are playing like THAT. Oh yeah, this aint one of those lowering the goals camps. These kids already dribble with both hands, pump fake, cross over, and shoot threes. Things have changed.

On to Coach Gregory, to be honest I talked to him from the perspective of a Tech grad so he was quite candid in his speech. He's thoughtful and engaging and obviously still getting settled in. It's obvious that he's paying attention to all the detals since he stopped and took the time to chat with me even while still overseeing drills.

Coach Gregory

On Georgia Tech...

He loves the school and appreciates it's basketball history. He even makes sure to point out that Tech was in the National Championship just a few years ago (6). He believes big things can be done.

The City of Atlanta...

I made a point to stress to him the politics of Atlanta. It's a show your face kinda city. I think he's up to the challenge and he's already popped up at a few functions.

On Recruiting...

He knows he's in a mega rich recruiting pool and he appears to be quite excited about that. He intends to exploit the area and has already made inroads. I believe he will have much success in that area. And ummmm, he's got scholarships to give and a new practice facility to offer.

The team...

We only briefly mentioned Shumpert and Oliver - no need to discuss them here. There will be 8 scholarship players on the team this year which should make for some tough sledding. Key returning players include Guard Mfon Udofia, Glen Rice Jr., Miller, and hopefully they get some contribution from Kam Holsey. Julian Royal will be new to ACC play and Gregory expects some adjustment will be necessary. It will be a rough year indeed but I offered that if he could steal a win or two then he'd be golden. There are two potential walk-ons but we both agreed that walk-ons don't generally make big splashes - except one - who went to Georgia Tech....(who can tell me?)

The student support...

Actually, this is one of trickier things we talked about. Tech's attendence at bball games has been horrendous unless it was the UNC/Duke game. I'm not sure what he intends to do to get student support but I informed him that this was one of Hewitt's weak points. No student interaction. No pep rallys. No midnight maddness that I can recall. I strongly implied that these things might help with student support tremendously. I told him he didn't have to Bruce Pearl it out but he should look at Sidney Lowe and his first year at NC State.

He commented that Cameron was easier to fill than the Coliseum to which I countered - but it's ALWAYS full (even practices would be full! LOL!) I then informed him that students got into all events for free and he seemed shocked by this. It is at this point that I have to get one of my football homies to concur and then he adds the following gem: "Tech is a much harder school than we are given credit for, we've got too much studying to come out and see a team that sucks." End quote. LOL! I looked at him like, "wow, seriously?" So I'm thinking Coach Gregory got the point that I was trying to make. Anyway, this is further complicated by the next issue.

The stadium...

There will be no games on campus this year b/c as of right now the stadium's guts are open for all to see. You can actually see the court from outside. As much money as they are spending they should have torn it down and built something new fangled - but that's a sidebar for me and Tech folks.

Anyway, it has already been established that the team will play about 5 games in Gwinnett County this season. It's a ridiculous hour drive if you want to make it for a 7:00 game from campus - in rush hour - in ATL's worst traffic. Get out the car and walk if there's an accident ahead. When I inquired to Coach Gregory how they would handle the situation, they will most likely bus the team up there in the early afternoon and then "sit" around and wait on the game. Gonna be a long year for the boys. As far as team support, he didn't seem to have thought that far ahead. Right now, they plan to offer some real nice packages for folks in the Gwinnett area (get your tickets now!). Hopefully, they provide a few buses for the students.

on Julian Royal...

He hasn't actually seen him play in live action. I told him that he's like a baby Charles Barkley and he lit up. Nuff said...

On the offense...

I mentioned that Shumpert was the offense last year. He stated that means there was no offense. I agreed. Needless to say that there will be some quite different schemes coming from GA Tech in the near future. It should be interesting.

We chatted a little after that so there's a high probability I'll be able to get you guys more as the season approaches.

And that's all folks! But be on the lookout b/c I've got some other things cooking for you guys!

Enjoy your weekends! Me? I've got a criminal law exam on Tuesday so it's back to the books!

sagegrouse
07-01-2011, 11:01 AM
Enjoy your weekends! Me? I've got a criminal law exam on Tuesday so it's back to the books!

Fantastic post! Great stuff. And BTW I hope you pull a Dominique S-K and beat the charges.

sagegrouse

OZZIE4DUKE
07-01-2011, 12:10 PM
SupaDave = SupaSpy! :cool:

OldPhiKap
07-01-2011, 12:13 PM
Excellent break-down, thanks. GT has a really rough road for next season but things are looking up. They've got a very good coach and one of the best recruiting cities in the conference.

Re: crim law -- just remember Wharton's Rule and it's all good.