Holland Hall’s Gabby Gregory Signs with Sooners
By MIKE MOGUIN
GTR Sports Writer
HEADED TO OU: Gabby Gregory of Holland Hall signed to play basketball with the Sooners on Nov. 14.
Courtesy OU Athletic Dept.
Playing basketball at OU has been a life-long dream for Gabby Gregory.
It came true on Nov. 14 when she signed at a ceremony before family, friends, coaches and administrators at Holland Hall, where she currently stars on the court.
“It’s a dream of mine ever since I was little to play at Oklahoma. It’s really surreal to be able to do it,” Gregory said.
There were other schools in the running for Gregory’s talents. Arkansas, Colorado, Kansas State and Missouri were among them. But Oklahoma was destined to win out.
“Yeah. I’ve been an OU fan my whole life. I’ve been going to football games since I was really little. I was even a ball girl for one of the women’s basketball games,” she said.
Gregory believes that time may have been when she in the second grade.
“I’ve always wanted play at OU and play for Sherri Coale,” she said. “So, to be out there, it was like being a little kid, like, that’s your dream, playing for Oklahoma.”
Nowadays, Gregory makes things happen for Holland Hall. She has helped her team to state the past two seasons while leading in points scored.
She sees basketball as a place of escape.
“If I’m having a bad day, I go shoot with my dad or if I’m playing in a game, or if I go to practice, I’m not thinking about the homework I’ve done or the problems in my life,” Gregory said. “It’s just very freeing and you get to be yourself.
“The thing that sets me apart from other people is my versatility,” she added. “I’m not the biggest, the strongest, nor the fastest, but I’m able to go outside and inside and I think that really creates problems when people are trying to match up with me one-on-one, and I think that will be the one thing that will set me apart when I go to college.”
Gregory spoke with a lot of coaches while going through the recruiting process. She was impressed with the personality of the Sooners’ coach.
“You meet a lot of coaches who are very cool and very down to earth. But, I think Coach Coale is probably the most, like intellectual, and just really understanding person that I’ve talked to,” Gregory said. “I can talk on the phone with her for an hour and I wouldn’t even notice, but some coaches I’ve talked to, I would be on the phone for 10 minutes and I’m just waiting for them to be like, ‘okay, I have to go.’ But, with Coach Coale, you don’t even notice because she is so easy to talk to. She is just so intelligent about every aspect of the game and life. I’m super excited to just get to know her and play for her and then the impact that she’ll have on me for the rest of my life.”
Gregory has already immersed herself as part of the Sooner clan.
“I’ve been down there several times and I’ve met all the girls,” she said. “They’re super sweet. Everyone seems to be like really close and like a family and that’s the most important thing to me about going to play somewhere. I want to feel like I’m part of a family and that’s how it feels.”
OU is young this year with two seniors, no juniors and several freshmen and sophomores playing. That means there will be no seniors when Gregory arrives next year. But, she is confident she and other incoming freshmen next year can make an impact.
And, of course, a national championship will be the aim.
“That’s everyone’s goal,” Gregory said. “They make the Tournament every year, so that’s obviously another goal. It’s a big deal just to make the tournament. I hope we can make it back to the Final Four.”
In the meantime, Gregory hopes to lead Holland Hall to another trip to state. She scored 31 points in her team’s 59-50 win against Cascia Hall on Dec. 21. Going into Christmas, the Lady Dutch were 4-2 and ranked 11th in the state.
“We got bumped up to (Class) 4A, so, it’ll be a very tough conference once again,” Gregory said. “3A was really hard. 4A is very hard as well. Just to make it back to the state tournament is obviously our goal. It won’t be easy, but I think we can do it. We look really good so far.”
Updated 01-17-2019
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