Players “follow his every word”

By Alex Strom | gargoyle@flagler.edu
Kyle Cregan has settled into his new job as assistant basketball coach at Flagler College after six years at Florida State University.
“I haven’t found the transition to be too hard at all,” said Cregan. “Anytime you’re getting to know a new group of people, there’s a little bit of a transition period. I think it helps that I recruited a lot of the news guys … so I think there’s some comfort because I got to know them through the recruiting process.”
Members of the Saints basketball team say Cregan has had an impact in recent months, promoting a faster, more aggressive style of play.
“It can very difficult for us to trust a first-year coach that you don’t really know,” Saints point guard Austin Howard said. “With Coach Cregan, he came in and gave an immediate impact and changed our defense to a more up-tempo style and being really involved in our preseason workouts … I think he has always had our trust because he came from a higher division school, so we knew he knew what he was doing.”

While at FSU, Cregan helped the Seminoles win their first Atlantic Coast Conference Championship in school history and make their fourth straight appearance in the NCAA tournament.
Cregan was the Seminoles’ video coordinator and managed the team’s video unit in the Florida State Basketball Training Center.
“The unit was designed specifically for the Seminole men’s basketball program and allows the coaching staff to provide the best teaching and development information to each of the players in the program,” the Seminoles’ website says. “The system allows for the instantaneous study of practice and game video which helps each player improve his skills and abilities on a daily basis. The extensive work done by the Florida State staff in the area of player development has seen nine Seminoles drafted by eight different NBA teams in the last 10 years.”
Cregan is a graduate of Flagler College, where he studied business administration. He also played for the Saints, helping the team advance to the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics Division II Sweet 16 in 2004 and 2005.

During his last four years at FSU, Cregan helped with recruiting, strategy and analysis of practice and game videos.
Keith Matthews, an assistant coach for the Saints, said he believes that Cregan has started to make an impact with the team by constantly being available for the players off and on the court.
“The guys follow his every word,” Matthews said. “You gain the trust by laying down a foundation of how you want things done, and you hold yourself accountable to those things as well,”
Cregan’s arrival hasn’t yet helped the Saints produce a winning record. The team is 2-11 in the Peach Belt Conference and 6-15 overall.
Even so, players and staff say that Cregan’s presence has been felt.
Cregan “knows a lot about basketball and has been around it for a while, so having that knowledge helps,” said Matthews. “The team has a very bright future with coach Cregan. He’s been at FSU for over six years so he knows talent and will bring in the best guys on and off the court, so the future is very bright.”
Howard agreed.
“Coach Cregan is always trying to get us better,” he said. “I can only see our team getting better with the addition of coach especially with the young team we have and as we play more and more with each other we are going to keep getting better.”
Cregan said he is pushing to boost the number of wins.
“I love Flagler College. I love this basketball program. When I was here playing under Coach [Bo Clark] we had a ton of success, won a bunch of games, and some championships and I would love to get back to where we were from a winning stand point,” Cregan said.