South Florida hires former Georgia Tech basketball coach Brian Gregory

South Florida gave Brian Gregory the task of rebuilding its program after announcing the hiring of the former Georgia Tech and Dayton coach Tuesday.

The school in Tampa reportedly gave Gregory a six-year contract. He inherits a team that went 7-23 in 2016-17.

“I am very excited to get to work, to talk with the players and to meet Bulls Nation and the Bay Area community,” Gregory said in a statement. “USF is a terrific university with great facilities, an excellent conference and located in a beautiful area with great basketball talent. My family and I are very excited to join the Bulls family.”

Gregory, 50, has a 248-180 record in 13 seasons as a college head coach. He compiled a 172-94 record at Dayton from 2003-11 but was just 76-86 in five seasons at Georgia Tech.

He was fired after a 21-15 record in 2015-16 and has been serving as a consultant for Michigan State this season.

Gregory will try to turn around the fortunes of a South Florida program that has suffered through four consecutive losing seasons.

“He is the right fit for our men’s basketball program,” South Florida president Judy Genshaft said in a statement. “He will bring passion, discipline, mentoring and leadership in building a successful program in USF men’s basketball.