By ERIC TABER
Former Montana basketball all-conference guard Jordan Gregory is heading down under to pursue his dream of playing professional hoops, signing a one-year deal to play for the Rockhampton Rockets of the Queensland Basketball League.
Gregory finished his college career as Montana’s fourteenth highest scorer of all-time, totaling 1,234 career points as a Grizzly. He earned a place on all-Big Sky teams three years in a row, highlighted by a first team all-conference nod his senior season.
A three-year starter for the Grizzlies and four-time letterman from 2011 to 2015, Gregory played in two NCAA tournaments, and helped lead the Griz to the 2014-15 Big Sky regular season championship.
The Pueblo, Colo., native will board a plane for Australia in April to begin his time in Rockhampton, a city of over 80,000 located near the Great Barrier Reef in Queensland, north of Brisbane. His contract runs from April through August during the Australian winter season.
“It’s a good starting point for me to start my career and then build up,” said Gregory. “Hopefully I can play well, and kind of make my way up the ranks from there, and keep advancing to better leagues and better competitions.”
Since graduating in 2015 with two degrees from UM in sociology and psychology, the Academic All-American has been training in Colorado and working as a gym teacher at his alma mater, Pueblo East High School.
The Rockhampton Rockets won the Queensland Basketball League championship in 2013 and 2014, and have won five championships since the league’s inception in 1986.