Georgia Tech assistant basketball coach Billy Schmidt is leaving after three seasons at the school to take an assistant job on the Florida staff. It places coach Brian Gregory in the position of having to fill his second assistant coaching position since the end of last season.
“Based on 17 years of friendship and the last 11 years in Brian’s program, we thought this would be a unique opportunity for me to continue to grow and develop as a coach,” Schmidt said in a statement. “I’m grateful for the opportunities that I’ve had to work on Brian’s staff at Georgia Tech, and to work in a wonderful environment with great people.”
Last Friday, Mark Daigneault, who served as assistant to coach Billy Donovan, took a job as the head coach of the Oklahoma City Thunder’s D-League team. The job Schmidt is taking is not one of the three assistant coaching positions.
Gregory will need to move quickly to fill out his three-man staff. The team has already begun workouts in advance of the start of practice in October. Gregory first hired Schmidt to be his assistant at Dayton, where they worked together for eight seasons, and then moved together to Tech for the past three.
Schmidt has worked with the team’s power forwards and centers, and played a significant role in the development of former center Daniel Miller into an All-ACC selection.
“I appreciate all the work that Billy has done and the dedication that he has given to our players and our program over the last 11 years,” Gregory said in a statement. “I’m excited that he has this opportunity, and at the same time, I’m looking forward to bringing in a coach who will make an immediate impact on our program.”
