Gonzaga’s Ben Gregg readies for leadership role as the most experienced Zag: ‘We need to hear his voice this year’

Gonzaga assistant coach Brian Michaelson said Gregg ‘has a spirit and an energy to him that other guys rally behind’

Photo by Erik Smith, Myk Crawford

Don’t look now, but Ben Gregg is the longest-tenured Gonzaga men’s basketball player on the 2024-25 roster.

Sometimes it doesn’t feel like four years have gone by since the 6-foot-10 Oregonian first arrived on campus during that memorable 2020-21 campaign. With so much talent on the roster, there wasn’t much room in the rotation for Gregg, who joined the team after graduating from Clackamas High School early due to COVID-19 shutting down high school basketball in Oregon for the year. As such, his first year as a Zag didn’t count against his eligibility.

There were flashes during his true freshman season of what was to come down the road, though he didn’t play much behind Drew Timme, Chet Holmgren and Anton Watson. Gregg’s first breakthrough in the PK85 tournament against Zach Edey the following season earned him a spot in the main rotation off the bench as a spark plug when the team needed an energy boost. He played in all but one game in the 2022-23 season and averaged 11.9 minutes.

Everything came together for Gregg by the start of West Coast Conference play last season. Mark Few and the staff moved him into the starting lineup after a bumpy start to the season, hoping his energy would be the difference maker and lead a midseason turnaround. That ended up being exactly the case, as the Bulldogs operated like a top-five offense in the country and won 16 of their final 19 games, which led to the program’s ninth straight Sweet 16.

Now a senior, Gregg has the responsibility of sharing the leadership duties with the rest of Gonzaga’s senior class.

“It’s definitely going to be leadership by committee … but Ben definitely has to be one of those guys and probably one of the focal points of that,” assistant coach Brian Michaelson said on an episode of Gonzaga Nation. “He has a spirit and an energy to him that other guys rally behind. The other guys really like him, and he and I had talks about that this summer, when he brings his voice and his energy, he's a great leader and he brings what we need, but he's going to have to bring it every day.”

Gregg is not alone in this role. The Zags are one of the most experienced groups in college basketball this season with five seniors and one sixth-year player in Arkansas grad transfer Khalif Battle. But none have worn the Gonzaga red, white and blue as long as Gregg has, and arguably none have personified the Zag identity quite like him either. 

“Now as a senior, you've got to take that next step and he and I had a lot of talks about that this summer,” Michaelson said. “And I think he made some strides there, and I think coming into the fall he's ready to hit the ground running there because we need to hear his voice this year on a day-to-day basis.”

Michaelson shared more about Gregg as a leader this season and much more on a new Gonzaga Nation episode.

WATCH THE FULL EPISODE BELOW:

Produced by Thomas Gallagher.

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