BY MIKE LUCAS
UWBadgers.com Senior Writer
MADISON, Wis. — When Claude Gregory broke Clarence Sherrod's career scoring record and Joe Franklin's rebounding mark in the early '80s, he had no idea how long his name might last on the top line in the Wisconsin basketball record book. Records are made to be broken, he assumed without misgivings.
"No arguments there," he thought to himself. "At least I'll be on the list somewhere."
After playing in 110 games, another UW record, he left the program in 1981. His scoring record fell nine years later to Danny Jones who was then passed by Michael Finley, Alando Tucker (the all-time leader) and Nigel Hayes. Today, Gregory is the fifth-leading scorer with 1,745 points (15.9 ppg).
"Every time I got on the court, I wanted to leave the message, 'I can run with you guys,'" said Gregory, who flourished during a "Magical" era. Magic Johnson was at Michigan State, Larry Bird at Indiana State, Isiah Thomas at Indiana, Ralph Sampson at Virginia and Danny Ainge at BYU.
"When I came out of high school (Calvin Coolidge in Washington, D.C.), I was the player who was under the boards, rebounding, blocking shots," said the 6-foot-8, 205-pound Gregory. "When I got to Wisconsin, that's what carried over. I wanted people to say, 'He played hard and gave it his all.'"
Claude Gregory
Bo Ryan would be the first person to vouch for Gregory's legacy as a Badger.
"He had a nose for the ball and a lunch pail attitude," said Ryan, who helped recruit Gregory while serving as an assistant coach on Bill Cofield's staff from 1976 to 1982. "Claude just played … he really didn't say much on the court. He never changed expression, even in practice."
On March 10, 1981, Gregory had a signature moment in his final collegiate game, a 64-53 loss to Marquette at the UW Field House. Gregory, the team MVP, did everything within his power to spark the Badgers against the Doc Rivers-led Warriors. He finished with 29 points and 17 rebounds.
It was Senior Day — Gregory's class included Larry Petty and Danny Hastings — and he didn't remember any game details. "But I remember my parents got to come to Wisconsin for it; that's probably what stood out the most," he said. "Mostly what I'm proud about, I got my degree there."
In 2013, Gregory went into in the University of Wisconsin Athletics Hall of Fame. During the induction ceremony, it was noted that Gregory was still the Badgers all-time leading rebounder; 32 years removed from his last rebound. "I didn't think it would actually last that long,'' he said.
Well, it lasted another five years, or until Saturday night when Ethan Happ broke Gregory's career rebounding mark midway through the first half against Houston Baptist. When it was announced to the Kohl Center crowd, Happ was given a standing ovation. It brought a smile to his face.
The 60-year-old Gregory, a financial advisor in Silver Spring, Maryland, knew that it was inevitable that Happ, a fifth-year senior, would pass him as the UW's top rebounder. And it prompted Gregory to say, "I'm excited for him and I hope it carries over after college."
Gregory, a second-round draft choice of the Washington Bullets, spent a good deal of his professional career in the CBA and overseas. "If you remember how Paul Silas played," Ryan said, "that's how Claude played at Wisconsin. There were very few people in his day that could board with him.
"He was simply the best rebounder for his time. And now it's Ethan's time."
Ryan had a theory on what made Gregory so tenacious.
"If you look at families and brothers, Stretch was the older brother," he said of James (Stretch) Gregory who preceded Claude to Madison and started 27 games as a freshman during the 1976-77 season, leading the Badgers in scoring (15.9) and rebounding (7.2). Stretch left school the following year.
"The next guy in line, the younger brother, Claude, in this case, had to work a heckuva lot more for his shots because the older guy was taking them. The younger brother tends to be a little more aggressive and intuitive based on all the pickup games and blacktop games they played growing up.
"I just think Claude grew up hungrier."
Happ grew up hungry, too, as the product of a competitive family environment and their pickup games on the driveway and/or local gym in Milan, Illinois. His father Randy played basketball at North Central College (Naperville, Ill.) and his older brother Eric at Carl Sandburg College (Galesburg, Ill.).
He also had two cousins who competed at Northwestern: Mark Szott was a football player for the Wildcats and J.A. Happ was a baseball player and he's still pitching in the major leagues, most recently for the New York Yankees. At a young age, Ethan Happ learned how to battle and scrap.
"Ethan hates to lose," Ryan said from his winter home in Palm Springs, California. "He's very zoned in on perfection to the point when he was younger (a UW freshman), he'd let it get to him. He had to learn to deal with it. The best thing to ever happen to Ethan Happ was redshirting and playing against Frank Kaminsky every day.
"Obviously, the way he uses his body, he loves to play off contact. There were days when he was kicking guys around and there were days when he would get a little frustrated. I liked coaching those guys who you had to tone down a little bit rather than having to get them excited about competing.
"You never had to worry about Ethan Happ competing."
After the 6-10 Happ scored 30 points and pulled down 13 rebounds in a win at Xavier, ESPN college basketball analyst Jay Bilas praised Happ on a Twitter post: "The footwork of Wisconsin's Ethan Happ is impeccable. McHale-esque without the McHale shooting touch. Impressive."
Kevin McHale, also 6-10, was a star at the University of Minnesota and with the Boston Celtics.
Dating back to his UW-Platteville days, Ryan taught five post moves and named each after an NBA player for the purpose of instant recognition. Since taking over the Badger program, Greg Gard has continued to refer to the McHale, the Moses, the Dominique, the Bernie and the Sikma.
The McHale is a jump hook; the Moses (Malone) is a drop-step power move; the Dominique (Wilkins) is an up-and-under move; the Bernie (Bernard King) is a shoulder fake one-way, turn the other way move; and the Sikma (Jack Sikma) is a reverse pivot where you open up to the basket.
"Claude Gregory had a great Bernie, that was his best move," Ryan said. "Ethan has either the right-handed or left-handed McHale hook. And he's got a Dominique, he can go up and under. He can do a Sikma and make a move off the Sikma. But he can't shoot it … not right now… not yet."
The implication was the best may be yet to come for Wisconsin's all-time leading rebounder.
"In order to be the most complete player that he can be," Ryan said, "based on where his strengths are, being able to utilize all those post moves is how he can make money and, more importantly, in college, that's how he can be on a winning team. It's going to be fun to watch."
