Feeling Like Her Old Self in a New Uniform
Nov 10, 2022 | Women's Basketball, Sports Extra
By: D. Scott Fritchen
She laughs at the absurdity of it all. Here's Gabby Gregory, the Oklahoma senior transfer, sitting in the postgame news conference in Bramlage Coliseum after Kansas State's 83-43 win over Central Arkansas on Monday night. She had been in Bramlage a few times before, except she wore crimson and cream.
Now she wore a white No. 12 jersey. She just scored a game-high 19 points on 7-of-11 shooting from the floor and added a team-high seven rebounds against Central Arkansas, scoring the most points by a K-State player in a debut in seven years.
And prior to the game, she totally felt like a newbie. And she chuckles about it.
"I was super excited," she says. "I've obviously played in Bramlage before, but I felt kind of like a freshman again. Coming out, you don't know exactly where to go, and how things go in warmups and things like that."
Come gametime, the 6-foot guard is getting the hang of things just fine for the Wildcats.
Gregory had 22 points and nine rebounds in the first exhibition game against Fort Hays State and four nights later had 21 points, three rebounds and three assists in the second exhibition contest against Newman.
"Gabby two years ago was one of the leading scorers in the Big 12 and played 36 minutes a game," K-State head coach Jeff Mittie says. "She had some health things last year that really hampered her and she never really got on track. We have a healthy Gabby Gregory and what you saw tonight wasn't a surprise. I saw it from the other bench.
"This is a player who can score at all three levels. She brings a swagger and thinks every shot is going in and she loves to compete and loves to play, so there's a lot of really good things."
Gregory averaged 10.9 points, 3.7 rebounds and 1.3 assists in 72 games with 46 starts under Hall-of-Famer Sherri Coale. She scored in double digits in 41 games and had a career-high 30 points at Baylor on February 22, 2020. She also had at least five rebounds in 24 contests.
However, she faced an obstacle along the way when doctors determined that she had vocal cord dysfunction, prompting her to undergo surgery last August. She was unable to play until January.
Gregory entered the transfer portal on April 3 after the 2021-22 season in which she played only 18 games. Mittie, who originally recruited Gregory before the Tulsa, Oklahoma native chose to play for her in-state team, got another chance at landing the former Big 12 All-Freshman Team honoree.
So far, Gregory has been an aggressor, a facilitator, a scraper, and a leader.
"I feel even just people texting me and saying, 'You look like your old self,' and that's how I feel," Gregory says. "I'm confident again, I have that swagger, and I have everything back in my game. I feel like I just fit perfectly with the way that we're playing and my teammates and everything. It just feels good."
Mittie believes that Gregory is fitting in just fine as well.
"When I recruited her the second time, what I knew about her was how competitive and how much she loved to play," Mittie says. "We'd seen it. I loved the swagger and the toughness. You saw a lot of that tonight.
"Gabby was really aggressive. She has a great mentality. She in stretches was a little hurried and she has to play with poise in those stretches because we're going to get her the ball a lot. I liked her aggressive mentality."
Later, Mittie adds: "I thought she was really solid across the board, really solid. I think the turnovers in the first half were the problem area for her, but she settled in. She was probably too aggressive off the bounce. She loves that behind-the-back dribble, which we continue to discuss. I thought it was a really solid performance. It was the right balance.
"She continues to not just from a scoring perspective, but she's getting into areas of the floor and finding other people, so her balance of her play is really good."
Gregory's aggressiveness began early on. During a legendary career at Holland Hall Prep, Gregory earned 2019 Oklahoma Gatorade Player of the Year and was just one of four players in state history to reach 2,500 points and 1,000 rebounds in a career. As a junior, she averaged 31.2 points and 11.6 rebounds.
And now? After helping Oklahoma, she appears to be taking the reins of the Wildcats.
K-State will play Wisconsin in the Brew City Battle in Milwaukee, Wisconsin at 3:30 p.m. Friday at American Family Field, home of the Milwaukee Brewers. The game will be televised by the Big Ten Network.
It'll mark Gregory's next opportunity to showcase her skills while helping the Wildcats strive for success.
"Every night I'm going to come out and play my hardest and give it everything I have," she says. "I'm going to do everything in my power to help my teammates and help this team get a win.
"I'm just so excited to be here."
After an exciting debut performance, she's a K-State newbie no longer.
She laughs at the absurdity of it all. Here's Gabby Gregory, the Oklahoma senior transfer, sitting in the postgame news conference in Bramlage Coliseum after Kansas State's 83-43 win over Central Arkansas on Monday night. She had been in Bramlage a few times before, except she wore crimson and cream.
Now she wore a white No. 12 jersey. She just scored a game-high 19 points on 7-of-11 shooting from the floor and added a team-high seven rebounds against Central Arkansas, scoring the most points by a K-State player in a debut in seven years.
And prior to the game, she totally felt like a newbie. And she chuckles about it.
"I was super excited," she says. "I've obviously played in Bramlage before, but I felt kind of like a freshman again. Coming out, you don't know exactly where to go, and how things go in warmups and things like that."
Come gametime, the 6-foot guard is getting the hang of things just fine for the Wildcats.
Gregory had 22 points and nine rebounds in the first exhibition game against Fort Hays State and four nights later had 21 points, three rebounds and three assists in the second exhibition contest against Newman.
"Gabby two years ago was one of the leading scorers in the Big 12 and played 36 minutes a game," K-State head coach Jeff Mittie says. "She had some health things last year that really hampered her and she never really got on track. We have a healthy Gabby Gregory and what you saw tonight wasn't a surprise. I saw it from the other bench.
"This is a player who can score at all three levels. She brings a swagger and thinks every shot is going in and she loves to compete and loves to play, so there's a lot of really good things."
Gregory averaged 10.9 points, 3.7 rebounds and 1.3 assists in 72 games with 46 starts under Hall-of-Famer Sherri Coale. She scored in double digits in 41 games and had a career-high 30 points at Baylor on February 22, 2020. She also had at least five rebounds in 24 contests.
However, she faced an obstacle along the way when doctors determined that she had vocal cord dysfunction, prompting her to undergo surgery last August. She was unable to play until January.
Gregory entered the transfer portal on April 3 after the 2021-22 season in which she played only 18 games. Mittie, who originally recruited Gregory before the Tulsa, Oklahoma native chose to play for her in-state team, got another chance at landing the former Big 12 All-Freshman Team honoree.
So far, Gregory has been an aggressor, a facilitator, a scraper, and a leader.
"I feel even just people texting me and saying, 'You look like your old self,' and that's how I feel," Gregory says. "I'm confident again, I have that swagger, and I have everything back in my game. I feel like I just fit perfectly with the way that we're playing and my teammates and everything. It just feels good."
Mittie believes that Gregory is fitting in just fine as well.
"When I recruited her the second time, what I knew about her was how competitive and how much she loved to play," Mittie says. "We'd seen it. I loved the swagger and the toughness. You saw a lot of that tonight.
"Gabby was really aggressive. She has a great mentality. She in stretches was a little hurried and she has to play with poise in those stretches because we're going to get her the ball a lot. I liked her aggressive mentality."
Later, Mittie adds: "I thought she was really solid across the board, really solid. I think the turnovers in the first half were the problem area for her, but she settled in. She was probably too aggressive off the bounce. She loves that behind-the-back dribble, which we continue to discuss. I thought it was a really solid performance. It was the right balance.
"She continues to not just from a scoring perspective, but she's getting into areas of the floor and finding other people, so her balance of her play is really good."
Gregory's aggressiveness began early on. During a legendary career at Holland Hall Prep, Gregory earned 2019 Oklahoma Gatorade Player of the Year and was just one of four players in state history to reach 2,500 points and 1,000 rebounds in a career. As a junior, she averaged 31.2 points and 11.6 rebounds.
And now? After helping Oklahoma, she appears to be taking the reins of the Wildcats.
K-State will play Wisconsin in the Brew City Battle in Milwaukee, Wisconsin at 3:30 p.m. Friday at American Family Field, home of the Milwaukee Brewers. The game will be televised by the Big Ten Network.
It'll mark Gregory's next opportunity to showcase her skills while helping the Wildcats strive for success.
"Every night I'm going to come out and play my hardest and give it everything I have," she says. "I'm going to do everything in my power to help my teammates and help this team get a win.
"I'm just so excited to be here."
After an exciting debut performance, she's a K-State newbie no longer.
K-State Rowing | Media Day
Tuesday, February 24
K-State Rowing | Weights Practice
Tuesday, February 24
K-State Tennis | Weekend Recap vs Old Dominion & Minnesota
Tuesday, February 24
K-State Track and Field | Sights & Sounds Steve Miller Invitational
Monday, February 23
