Gonzaga's Ben Gregg credits Ted Lasso for 'goldfish' mentality

'I’ll be a goldfish,” Gregg said after Gonzaga's win over Kansas. 'Just having a short memory.'

Gonzaga v Kansas / Christian Petersen/GettyImages

SALT LAKE CITY - Ben Gregg has fully embraced his inner Ted Lasso.

The Gonzaga Bulldogs junior forward has taken great inspiration from the hit Apple TV show, especially Lasso’s phrase “be like a goldfish,” which essentially is a way of embracing a short memory when it comes to failure and moving on to the next play. Gregg referenced the mantra during the West Coast Conference Tournament after having a strong second-half performance in the Zags’ win over San Francisco. Now in the NCAA Tournament, Gregg — with the help of his family — has enveloped himself into the Lasso mentality.

Following his 15-point, nine-rebound performance in Gonzaga’s 89-68 win over Kansas in the second round of the 2024 NCAA Tournament, Gregg sported a T-shirt that read “be like a goldfish.”

“I’ll be a goldfish,” Gregg said. “Just having a short memory man. You know plays aren’t going to go your way all the time. Just got to forget and get a stop on defense or make a big shot. Always got to have that, ‘next shot is going in’ mentality and not worry about the past.”

Here’s more of what Gregg had to say following Gonzaga's big win over Kansas:

Gregg on what advancing to the Sweet 16 this season feels like compared to previous seasons:

“This feels so much sweeter. I mean, all the doubters we’ve been hearing all year, saying that we were going to make the tournament, this isn’t going to be the team to do anything in March. We just be a Kansas team that’s unbelievable by 20 you know, so, I mean, it’s, it is a lot sweeter. We got a big chip on our shoulder right now in this tournament. I wanna keep on rolling.”

On his health status and battling Kansas’ bigs:

“I came out a little lackadaisical, honestly. Which can’t happen personally. I got outran after a free-throw for a dunk, got out-hustled for some rebounds that I just can’t have happen. I didn’t want to make any excuses. I just didn’t bring what I was supposed to be doing and coach Few got on me and I needed it. And that kind of flipped the switch and got me going.”