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UD basketball coach plans return to Iraq

Gregory is proud to show the troops his support as part of Operation Hardwood.

By Doug Harris, Staff Writer Updated 11:44 PM Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Traveling to Iraq and Kuwait last year to encourage the troops was such a life-changing experience for Brian Gregory that he wouldn’t mind becoming the Bob Hope of college basketball coaches.

Gregory will be making his second trip to the Middle East in as many years with Operation Hardwood. Although he won’t know his itinerary until he takes off Aug. 16, the seventh-year University of Dayton basketball coach will visit military bases in Iraq again and possibly Afghanistan.

“I just felt, if given the opportunity to go again, I would do it every time I was asked as long as it fit in with our schedule,” he said.

“It’s just become really important to me — to give up one week to show those guys that people back home support them and appreciate what they do. In the total scope of things, giving up one week is the minimum to ask of yourself.”

The UD players are on a three-week break between the end of summer school and the start of fall classes.

Gregory said he’ll be joined by former Boston University coach Dennis Wolff, Army coach Jim Crews, former Alabama coach Mark Gottfried and ESPN analyst Fran Fraschilla.

“I’ve been blessed and very fortunate to be in a position where I can brighten up their day a little bit or give them a diversion or sense of normalcy with the game of basketball,” Gregory said.

“I think I get more out of it than the guys we’re supposed to be touching. It puts things in proper perspective.”

Last year, Gregory and his peers mingled with the troops, passed out souvenirs, staged clinics and coached against each other in teams made up of base personnel.

“I went 0-4 last year,” Gregory said with a chuckle. “I’m hoping to win a gosh-darn game.”

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2125 or dharris@DaytonDailyNews.com.

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