By Michael A. Lough

The Sports Report

Greg Gary
Born: Feb. 14, 1970
Hometown: Anderson, Indiana
High School: Anderson Highland
Family: wife Claudia; daughters Gabrielle, Logan, Alexandra, and Brooklyn, and son Nash.

Playing career
1988-89: Aquinas (Tenn.)
1989-92: Tulane

Coaching career
2010-2019: Purdue, assistant
2008-10: Centenary, head coach
2007-08: Duquesne, assistant
2004-07: South Florida, assistant
2000-04: Miami, assistant
1998-2000: Tulane, assistant
1997-98: McNeese State, assistant
1993-97: Tulane, assistant

centralgasports@gmail.com

          Mercer will have to wait, and happily, to introduce its next head men’s basketball coach in person.

          He’s still coaching in the NCAA Tournament.

          Greg Gary, who has been at Purdue since 2010, will take over at Mercer as soon as the Boilermakers are done, Mercer announced in a late-evening release Tuesday night.

          The Mercer search was quiet, getting no attention along the way as speculation was heavy on all sorts of other programs with openings. Jeff Goodman of WatchStadium.com, a longtime college basketball writer, Tweeted at 4:32 p.m. Tuesday that a deal was coming, then added Mercer as a “filled” job in another Tweet.

           "When we set out to look for a new head coach, we recognized Greg early in the process as someone we were confident in leading our men's basketball program," athletics director Jim Cole said in the release. "Greg not only stood out for his proven background and style of play, but for the role he has played as a mentor to student-athletes throughout his career as well as his commitment to growing them into leaders off the court.”

          Purdue takes on Tennessee at 7:27 p.m. Thursday in Louisville, Ky., in the Sweet 16. The Boilermakers have beaten Old Dominion (61-48) and defending national champ Villanova 87-61 in the tournament. 

He replaces Bob Hoffman, fired on March 11 after an 11-20 season, and a 209-165 record in 11 seasons.      

          Gary’s background is broad, covering a chunk of geography and a variety of programs.

          He has spent several years around Perry Clark, now an assistant coach at South Carolina.

          Gary played for Clark at Tulane for three years, helping the Green Wave – which had restored basketball in 1989 after a point-shaving scandal and drug use - led to disbanding the program from 1985-1989 – to a 41-46 record.

          One of those wins? By 82-56 at home over Mercer on Dec. 21, 1991. He also helped Tulane to a 22-9 record as a senior and trip to the NCAA Tournament.

          He left Tulane as the school’s all-time assist leader –and is now fifth - and then began his coaching career there under Clark before moving across South Louisiana to McNeese State – alma mater of longtime NBA standout Joe Dumars – of the Southland Conference.

          After a 7-19 year at McNeese State under then-head coach Ron Everhart, Gary returned to Tulane for two more seasons with Clark before they moved to Miami. The Hurricanes went 65-54 in four seasons, and Clark was fired after going 25-33 the final two seasons after a 40-21 start his first two years.

          Gary then moved across lower Florida to Tampa where he joined the staff of Robert McCullum at South Florida. During his three seasons, the Bulls moved from Conference USA to the Big East only for the staff to be let go after going 12-18 in its second season.

          The next jump was a long one, from Tampa to Pittsburgh. Gary was reunited with another former boss, Everhart, who had gone 92-104 at McNeese, for one season, going 17-13 in 2007-08.

          Back South Gary went, this time as head coach at Centenary in Shreveport, La., a former Trans America Athletic Conference foe of Mercer. The two were conference opponents until 1998-99 when Centenary became an independent, then a member of the Mid-Continent Conference and Summit.

          The Gents went 22-19 against the Bears, last playing in 1999.

          Gary was there for two seasons going 8-23 and 8-21 in the Summit League, which had teams in Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Utah, Missouri, and Oklahoma.

          Gary left there ostensibly because the school decided drop down to Division III, and proceed back to the Midwest to Purdue.

          Head coach Matt Painter took over for Boilermaker legend Gene Keady, and has Purdue in the Sweet 16 for the fourth straight season and sixth time since he became head coach.

          Gary has been a part of seven NCAA trips at Purdue, plus a CBI quarterfinal visit in 2012-13.

          At Purdue, Gary has focused on the backcourt with some post work. The Boilermakers led the Big Ten in scoring two of the last three seasons while ranking among the nation’s leaders in offensive efficiency. 

          Mercer used a search firm run by former Vanderbilt and South Carolina head coach Eddie Fogler.

          He has been a part of 13 postseasons as a player and coach. Gary was a candidate in recent years deep into searches at Evansville, Eastern Kentucky, and Tulane, among others.

  
WHAT THEY ARE SAYING ABOUT GARY

Compiled by Mercer

“Mercer is getting a very good person and coach in Greg Gary. Coach Gary has been a big part of our success over the last eight years. He is an excellent teacher of the game and will bring the right student-athletes to enable Mercer to be successful on and off the court.”
- Matt Painter, Purdue head coach
 

“I’ve been very impressed with Greg throughout his tenure at Purdue. With great respect I’ve had for Gene Keady all the way to Matt Painter, I know that when you come out of Purdue, you come out of a class place. Greg has been very instrumental not only in recruiting, but if you look at what he’s done this year after losing four starters, I think he’ll do an incredible job at Mercer. I think it’ll be a match made in heaven. Greg knows how to work and he’s going to do it the right way, which is important in today’s day and age. I think Greg will have great success. I know he’ll have a fan at Michigan State.”
– Tom Izzo, Michigan State head coach

“Greg will be terrific at Mercer. Home run! All he knows is winning, from his time as a player through different levels and different roles as a coach.”
– Mike White, Florida head coach

“Greg Gary is an outstanding and experienced basketball coach who will provide strong leadership and direction at Mercer. He understands what it takes to build a successful program and I look forward to watching his teams in the seasons ahead.”
– Mike Bobinski, Purdue athletics director