June 29, 2005
University of Dayton men's basketball coach Brian Gregory has announced that Bob Beyer will join the Flyer basketball coaching staff, effective July 1. Beyer replaces Mike Jackson, who recently returned home to Michigan to take a position at the University of Michigan.
In addition, Gregory announced that Flyer Director of Basketball Operations Jon Borovich is moving on to become an assistant coach at Oakland (MI) University (Gregory's alma mater).
Beyer, 43, brings a wealth of basketball experience to Dayton. The Alfred University graduate was a player in college, and has coached as a head coach and assistant at the college level, internationally and in the NBA. His last three coaching stops have been in the Big Ten, the Big 12, and the NBA.
"I am extremely excited to have Bob join our staff," Gregory said. "The wealth of knowledge and experience he brings to our program will make an immediate impact on our current players, and in our efforts to continually recruit high-quality players. Bob has already set himself apart as a teacher, coach and recruiter. Now, with his experience at the NBA level, he brings and added dimension to our staff that I believe our players and recruits will really enjoy."
The LeRoy, NY native played for three seasons at Alfred University, and when an injury ended his playing days, began his coaching career as a student coach. After graduating from Alfred in 1984, Beyer became a teacher and also served as a volunteer assistant at Alfred for the 1984-85 season.
A year later, he became a full-time assistant at the University at Albany, where he stayed for four seasons with teams that compiled a record of 85-34. From there, Beyer moved on to Siena College, where he joined Mike Deane's staff. Siena was 76-46 in Beyer's four years as an assistant there.
After one season as an assistant at Wisconsin under Stu Jackson (the Badgers were 18-11 and made their first NCAA appearance in 47 years), Beyer returned to Siena as head coach (Deane moved to Marquette after guiding Siena to third place in the 1994 NIT). With the program in a rebuilding mode, Beyer had a three-year record of 22-59 from 1994-97, but it is worth noting that players he brought to Siena went on to win three straight regular-season MAAC championships.
After Siena, he joined Kevin O'Neill's staff at Northwestern in 1997, where he first worked with Gregory (two years) and current Flyer assistant Billy Schmidt (three years). After three seasons at Northwestern, Beyer went to Lubbock, Texas to serve as a Texas Tech assistant in Bob Knight's first two seasons (2001-03) with the Red Raiders.
Beyer became reunited with O'Neill for the one season, when O'Neill coached the Toronto Raptors in 2003-04. Last year, Beyer served as an NBA advance scout.
"I am really excited to be reunited with coach Gregory here at the University of Dayton," Beyer said. "Brian is an outstanding coach with a great basketball mind. I have the utmost respect for him both as a person and a coach. I really look forward to working with him as we continue to build our program into a first-class and highly-successful winning team."
Beyer earned his BA in History from Alfred University in 1984. He also carried minors in Coaching, Writing and Secondary Education. While coaching at the University at Albany, he received Master's in Curriculum Planning and Development in 1989.
Borovich has been on the Dayton staff for the last two seasons. In taking the position at Oakland, he returns to his basketball roots. The Bloomfield Hills, Michigan native played four seasons at Central Michigan University. After serving as team captain as a junior and senior, he went to Michigan State where he was a graduate assistant on the Spartan basketball staff from 2001-03.
"This is great for JB," Gregory said. "He's paid his dues and has prepared himself well for the opportunity to become a Division I assistant coach. It's time for him to make the next step in his professional development, and we all wish him the best of luck."
