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Hot Seat?
Hot Seat?
John Mad Dog Churan
Published by John C.
03-27-2008
Hot Seat?

CHANDLER (AZ) -- As a voting member of the “I think the Flyers are Going to Win the National Championship in Men’s Basketball” fraternity, this year was again disappointing. One of the few advantages of age (as I hobble around on a sprained knee that still hasn’t healed after four weeks) is the fact that I can actually remember when the Flyers were just 40 minutes away from a national championship. Sadly, that 40 minutes seemed like it took 40 hours. It has been a long time since, 41 years to be exact.

With the season just completed, there were certainly strides made. With the injury to Chris Wright and his loss of play during that time, not only was the team worse, he did not have the chance to mature as a basketball player. That injury alone cost UD a trip to the NCAA Tournament.

That doesn’t change the fact that UD did not get the invitation. If memory serves me correctly, you have to be invited to the NCAA Tournament to actually have an opportunity to win that national championship. Since that journey to the finals, UD has had 8 opportunities to make it back (1 in the 60’s, 2-70’s, 2-80’s, 1-90’s and 2-00’s.) Amazing that in those 41 years, the Flyers have not gone more than twice in any decade. Frustrating, to say the least.

We have entered a time when, “What have you done for me lately?” is the battle cry of most sports fans. As a result, there are a number of UD fans that have questioned if Brian Gregory is or should be on the hot seat. I am going to try to answer that and other questions as if I actually know something.

Q--Will UD ever win a National Championship?

A—No. The only thing that could change that is if they become part of a top conference which is not likely under the current level of football importance. They made the mistake of being bad at the wrong time or they could have been part of the biggest conference in the world, the Big East. As we all know, the level of basketball played in the Big East is far superior to that played in the A-10 due to their inclusion of eight teams into the Big Dance. Never mind the fact that the A-10 more than held their own against the Big East in the pre conference schedule. Never mind that UD beat two of the top teams in the league and earned the NIT because of it.

Q—Will UD ever be a regular in the NCAA Tournament?

A—Possibly, but Brian Gregory needs to do a number of things better for that to happen. In the five years he has been head coach, UD has made it in one time and we all know that was with a stacked team that Oliver Purnell left behind. It was also a team that did not do as well as virtually the same team did the year before.

Before UD can become a regular, Gregory will have to change the way that they are perceived. There are only two teams that are from the non-BCS conferences that get in every year if they win their conference or not and that is Xavier and Gonzaga. The Selection Committee obviously uses the rules to put in whomever they want. What you do during the season can either be used against you or for you depending on how they perceive your team (name). An RPI of 50 for one team is death, for another it doesn’t matter. A terrible record against the top 50 can kill your chances or it can be ignored. A good run over three or four days (ala St. Joes) can get you in despite sub par references. Injuries can be used as an excuse as to why you did poorly or why you just aren’t any good.

A school (not team) has to be viewed as top tier by the committee to have things looked at favorably. Dayton is not one of those teams. Don’t tell me that UD lost 9 out of 16. They actually lost 9 out of 29. It is all in how you look at the numbers, or should I say, how you want to look at the numbers.

Q—Is Brian Gregory on the hot seat?

A—Nope, not per Ted Kissell and he is the only guy that counts.

Q—If you just looked at the results, should Gregory be on the hot seat?

A—Yes. Four years with no NCAA is not acceptable when you have a player like Brian Roberts. After five years of being a head coach, Gregory should not be making the kind of coaching mistakes that he makes (this is from a guy that got fired from coaching his intramural work basketball team.) When you can’t get the ball in against the press, you do not stand around waiting for the defense to set up after a made shot. You do not put five guys on the floor that can’t score. You do not have a team shoot barely over 50% from the free throw line when you take out the contributions of your two best shooters. You cannot consistently lose to your biggest rival and survive. Anybody familiar with Michigan and Ohio State football? If you look at his recruiting classes thus far, he has not had a winner. He has had some very good players, but never two in one class.

Do I think UD got the shaft this year? Without a doubt. However, losing to teams that are far inferior to you has to be placed squarely on the shoulders of the coaching staff. One more win and we are not having this conversation.

Q—So why isn’t Gregory on the hot seat?

A—Actually a multitude of reasons exist. First and foremost, he represents the University as it should be represented. He does it with class either win or lose. He has done a great job with the students and alumnae. He is very visible in the community and has done some wonderful things.

I really believe that Kissell wants him to succeed. We all know Gregory’s warts. When you bring in someone new, you really don’t know all of their warts. Is it worth the risk?

More than anything, though, I believe the recruits that he has coming in next year and the two that have verbally committed mean more than all of that. Let’s not kid ourselves. Gregory needs to win and win more than he has. However, it does appear that he continues to get better on the sideline and certainly the level of recruiting seems to be improving. Of course, I drank that Kool Aid before. I truly believe if there was a dud recruiting class coming in, Gregory might be feeling some real heat.

Q—Will this team be better next year?

A—Hard to believe that they will be better than what was on the floor this year. The loss of Roberts will be hard to ignore. Certainly Johnson and Wright showed signs of greatness at times, but because they are young, consistency is always an issue. They will have to step up next year because counting on freshmen is a mistake. The real problem comes from the point guard position.

This will be Gregory’s fifth recruiting class. In that time, he has recruited a handful of point guards, most notably Trent Meacham, London Warren, Andres Sandoval and Stephan Thomas. I’m still waiting for that first difference maker to show up. Meacham would have been a good serviceable point guard in UD’s system, probably the best of the group. No need to go into his leaving, but he ended up being a shooting guard on a mediocre team. Sandoval was more of a hope than a fact at the point and ended up playing more small forward than point guard (tell me how those mix.) Thomas played 123 minutes this year and had 4 assists. I have never seen a point guard do so little as he didn’t even turn the ball over much. He basically caught it and passed it around the horn. Too early to tell, but no real signs of potential difference making.

Warren has gotten plenty of playing time and plays great on the defensive side of the court. However, on offense he is a disaster. He averages one assist every 10 minutes and commits more turnovers than creates assists. I had hoped at the beginning of the season he would continue his development and be the answer. He did not and is not. Defenses back off of his 44% shooting because he has a range of two feet. If platoons were used in basketball, he would be a star.

Unless someone leaves and Gregory brings in a JC point guard, be ready to be disappointed again next year. There were actually a number of people on this site that believed that Roberts was a good point guard. That in itself should tell you that it has been so long since we have seen a good point guard, we can’t even recognize one.

For a guy that earned a scholarship playing the point position, I am amazed at Gregory’s inability to successfully recruit one. Until he does (two years from now) we will all be agonizing on Selection Sunday.


I hope this clears up any misconceptions about Brian Gregory and his future at the University of Dayton. If Chris Wright hadn’t gotten injured, we might all be talking about how we can keep Gregory here with all the big schools calling. It is strange how one little broken bone can change the perception of an individual. Personally, I’m glad he’s staying. I think he brings more positives than negatives. In addition, I really believe (this time) we are on the road to success. Let’s just hope that there are two or more winners in this incoming class.
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