A Gregg family basketball saga

Gordy Gregg of Lewiston may reasonably be called a towering figure, both in stature and in accomplishment.

He might also be called the runt of his family. At 6-foot-5, the former Lewis-Clark State basketball player and Lewiston fire chief is dwarfed by relations like his 6-11 younger brother Matt and 6-10 nephew Ben, the latter of whom currently starts as a forward for the No. 18 Gonzaga Bulldogs.

Now retired aside from a part-time position as an assistant golf coach for LC State, Gordy Gregg (like much of the valley) has been closely following Gonzaga’s season. He sat down for an interview with the Tribune on Thursday to discuss what he has seen from his nephew and the Zags, who host Washington State in West Coast Conference action today at 6 p.m. for the programs’ first meeting in a decade.

A clan of giants

Ben Gregg grew up in a basketball-saturated environment, with family members from his father and uncle to older brothers and cousins excelling in the game at the high school and collegiate levels — some even going on to play professionally overseas.

“Ben’s basketball IQ is off the charts, because he’s just seen so much,” Gordy Gregg said.

Above all, Matt Gregg, who himself grew up in the valley and played stints of college basketball for LCSC and Idaho and went on to coach and become athletic director at Warner Pacific (Portland, Ore.), mentored Ben in the game. Gordy Gregg describes his nephew as having spent his formative years “at the gym, and kind of sitting at his dad’s right hand.”

A Zag through-and-through

Ben Gregg would earn Oregon Gatorade Player of the Year recognition and graduate a year early from Clackamas High School before joining the Bulldogs as a freshman for the 2020-21 campaign, in which they made an undefeated run to the NCAA Division I national title round only to fall 86-70 to Baylor.

Now a fifth-year senior, he has averaged 10.1 points and 5.4 rebounds per game through 17 contests so far this season.

“Ben’s done an outstanding job,” Gordy Gregg said. “He’s a Zag through-and-through. They’ve kind of, I don’t want to say ‘pigeonholed’ him, but they put him in a role they wanted him to play. At first, I think he was a little hesitant. He’s the kind of kid that wants to please, so he was trying real hard, and it took a while to kind of find his footing. But once he did, once he got inserted into the starting lineup last year, he’s just been killing it since then.”

Gordy Gregg reports that he is often approached by community members with opinions and advice relating to Ben and his play, but takes it all with a grain of salt.

“I had a guy at the country club come up to me (and say), ‘Hey, Ben’s got to get that elbow in when he’s shooting,’” he said. “People come up to me all the time and talk about Ben, and I’m like, ‘Yeah, he’s working hard.’ What can you say?”

Likewise, he avoids pushing his own opinions on his brother or nephew, with whom he last spoke on a phone call around the new year.

“I just ask (Matt) how he thinks (Ben’s) doing, and I don’t share any of my opinions,” Gordy Gregg said. “It keeps the family vibe nice and copacetic.”

"Grandmas for Gregg"

Along with his virtues as a player, Gordy Gregg is not shy to speak of his nephew’s high character and esteem among the family and community.

“One of the really neat things about Ben is, in all of his NIL deals, he’s structured them so that part of his compensation goes toward somebody in need in the community,” Gordy Gregg said. “There’s a heating and cooling group he’s done some stuff for, and they ended up putting in a furnace and something in somebody’s home. He’s with Walker’s Furniture, and they’ve given out to a woman who’s experienced domestic abuse issues, got her and her kids some beds and furniture and different things. He’s doing really good things in the community.”

Ben Gregg’s clean-cut presentation and good deeds have not gone unnoticed by Gonzaga fans young or old.

“My mom, Ben’s grandmother, was a big Zags fan,” Gordy Gregg recalled. “She passed away before he committed to Gonzaga. She would’ve been super proud. She was in a retirement community over at Evergreen Estates, and there were a ton of people that would come into the community room to watch the games.”

Though not all relations of his, a great many living grandmothers are indeed proud of Ben Gregg, to such an extent that there is a fan club dubbed “Grandmas for Gregg” based out of Evergreen Fountain Senior Living.

“They just ‘Ooh’ and ‘Ah’ over him,” Gordy Gregg said. “He’s just the nicest young man.”

A spring 2023 visit from Gregg to the group was the subject of a KREM2 News segment in which one Grandmas for Gregg member proclaimed, “Every one of us would be proud to have him for a grandson.”

Zags looking for momentum

At 13-4 overall and 4-0 in West Coast Conference play, Gonzaga has enjoyed a successful season so far, but somewhat less so than it often has since becoming a national standout program around the turn of the 21st century. Gordy Gregg attributes this in part to turnover in the roster disrupting the team’s characteristic dynamic while players learn to gel and find their place.

“Gonzaga’s always (had) a team approach, so they’ve been just off-kilter a little bit,” he said. “They’ve lost some close games this year, but you can lose early; it’s no big deal. It’s the end that counts.”

The Zags enter today’s contest on a four-game winning streak, and are favored to defeat the Cougs (13-4, 3-1), who are coming off a heartbreaking 95-94 overtime defeat to Pacific (Stockton, Calif.).

Wendt may be contacted at (208) 848-2268, or cwendt@lmtribune.com.