Gregory leaving UD?

[Raiderfan]

ESPN radio reported that DePaul's coach took the Virgina vacancy and that Brian Gregory is the front runner for the DePaul job.

Interesting.............

[John]

Depaul may want him but it will become known very soon that he doesn't want them from what I heard.

[Big D]

Gregory rumored to be top DePaul candidate
By Bucky Albers

Dayton Daily News

DAYTON | For the first time in the two years since he has been head basketball coach at the University of Dayton, Brian Gregory found his name in the middle of speculation about a job at another school on Friday.

Two Chicago newspapers, the Tribune and the Sun Times, reported that Gregory would be a prime candidate for the head coaching post at DePaul University after its coach, Dave Leitao, was hired as expected by the University of Virginia late Friday.

The Chicago news media considered Gregory a strong candidate because he interviewed for — and nearly took — the DePaul job a year before he was hired by UD. While growing up in Chicago, he was a DePaul fan. His wife, Yvette, also is from Chicago and their parents live there.

Gregory avoided local reporters all day, according to UD sources, because he didn't want to comment on rumors about a job that wasn't even open at the time.

Eventually he issued this statement: "There is always speculation and rumor about potential job openings. I'm not going to be part of that. I am committed to building a championship program at the University of Dayton. That's my focus."

Last night, a newspaper in Newport News, Va., reported that Leitao would receive a salary of $1.2 million.

Would Gregory be interested in moving to DePaul, which will be joining the Big East Conference? Leitao was reportedly earning $660,000 coaching the Blue Demons while Gregory's salary at UD is believed to be in the vicinity of $420,000.

If DePaul were to offer Gregory the same salary, however, the difference between that and his UD salary might not be as great as it appears. Gregory signed a five-year contract when he came to Dayton, but the Dayton Daily News learned recently that discussions about a contract extension and presumably a salary increase have been ongoing since the 2004-05 season ended.

Gregory's first UD squad, a senior-laden team, won the Maui Invitational and finished 24-9. Ironically, the Flyers lost a 76-69 double overtime decision to Leitao's DePaul team in the NCAA Tournament. Gregory's inexperienced 2004-05 squad probably overachieved by compiling an 18-11 record. UD had six scholarship freshmen on the squad, and all of them played significant minutes. The Flyers lost a regular-season game at DePaul, 70-59, on Dec. 1. The Blue Demons are scheduled to play in Dayton next season.

Contact: Bucky Albers at [phone]

www.daytondailynews.com/sports/content/sports/ud/daily/0416udbb.html