Jim Gregory (basketball)

James M. Gregory
Personal information
Born (1949-07-25) July 25, 1949 (age 75)[citation needed]
West Virginia
NationalityAmerican
Listed height6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)
Career information
High schoolGary (Gary, West Virginia)
CollegeEast Carolina (1968–1971)
NBA draft1971: undrafted
PositionForward
Career highlights and awards

James M. Gregory (born July 25, 1949)[citation needed] is an American former basketball player. He is known for his collegiate career playing for the Pirates at East Carolina University from 1968–69 to 1970–71. In three seasons he scored 1,193 points, grabbed 852 rebounds and was named the Southern Conference Co-Player of the Year as a senior.[1] Gregory averaged a team-leading 18.3 points per game as well as 11.5 rebounds per game that season en route to sharing the award with William & Mary's Tom Jasper.[1][2]

Although the Pirates never won a conference championship nor participated in any postseason tournaments during his career, Gregory was part of a unique historical oddity during his junior season in 1969–70: the three starting frontcourt players all averaged double-doubles for the year.[1][3] Additionally, each of them shared the same first name: Jim Gregory (forward), Jim Fairley (forward), and Jim Modlin (center).[1][3] Their point-rebound averages were, respectively: 16.5/10.4, 16.7/12.1, and 18.5/10.5.[1] It is believed that this may be the only occurrence in National Collegiate Athletic Association history in which three teammates each averaged point-rebound double-doubles during the same season.[3]

After college, the Memphis Pros of the American Basketball Association selected him in the 10th round of the 1971 ABA Draft, but Gregory never played in the league.[4][5] Gregory was later inducted into the East Carolina Hall of Fame as part of their 1982 induction class.[6] For his career, he averaged a double-double of 15.5 points and 11.1 rebounds per game (the latter is tied for first all-time in school history).[6]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e "2012–13 ECU Pirates Men's Basketball Fact Book" (PDF). History. East Carolina University. 2012. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 8, 2015. Retrieved June 2, 2013.
  2. ^ "2012–13 ECU Pirates Men's Basketball Fact Book" (PDF). Records. East Carolina University. 2012. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 8, 2015. Retrieved June 2, 2013.
  3. ^ a b c Durham, Andy (June 23, 2011). "With Welborne going into the Hall should we now focus our attention on making Modlin a member (Jim to GCSHOF?)". Greensboro Sports. Retrieved June 2, 2013.
  4. ^ Bradley, Robert D. (2013). The Basketball Draft Fact Book. Scarecrow Press, Inc. ISBN 9780810890695. Retrieved June 2, 2013. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  5. ^ "1971 ABA Draft". basketballreference.com. databaseSports.com. Archived from the original on July 20, 2013. Retrieved June 2, 2013.
  6. ^ a b "James Gregory". Hall of Fame. East Carolina University. 2013. Archived from the original on April 1, 2013. Retrieved June 2, 2013.