Husker Cousins Inducted into 2015 Uniontown HOF

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Uniontown, Pa., became fertile recruiting ground for Bob Devaney when he was named Nebraska’s head football coach and changed the paradigm of Husker fortunes when he arrived in 1962. 

This month, there was a Big Red tie with the joint enshrinement of two Huskers who were cousins and inducted into the Uniontown High School Hall of Fame on the same night.

Former Husker Morgan Gregory Accepts Honor for His Late Father

The late Bennett “Pope” Gregory, a talented running back who lettered three years at Nebraska (1965-66-67), was a popular leader and close friend of Nebraska Basketball Hall-of-Famer Stu Lantz. His son, Morgan Gregory (pictured above right), accepted the honor for his father, who died at age 50 in Colorado from a heart attack in 1997. Like his late dad, Morgan was a three-year Husker letterwinner as a split end (1987-88-89).

In 2014, Ben Gregory received a similar honor from the Fayette County Sports Hall of Fame in his homestate of Pennsylvania. Bonnie Gregory, Ben's widow, accepted that honor and explained to me how her late husband earned the nickname Pope. "His name reminded folks of the Holy Father in Rome," she said.

Gregory's Cousin, Gene Huey, Spent a Decade on Osborne's Staff

Joining Gregory in the Uniontown Hall of Fame induction ceremony was Gene Huey (pictured above) after receiving his Hall of Fame award. Huey served as Nebraska’s wide receiver coach under Tom Osborne from 1977 to 1986. In his 10 seasons on Nebraska's staff, the Huskers won 100 games and lost 22. Huey coached at New Mexico and  Wyoming, his alma mater, before his Nebraska stint, then coached four years at Ohio State before serving 19 years as the running backs coach for the Indianapolis Colts.

In high shool, Huey played on a state championship basketball team in Uniontown. Ben Gregory was his cousin. "When Ben passed, it was like losing a brother," Huey said. "That's how close we were." Gregory and Lantz were prep basketball stars, teammates and close friends at Uniontown. One of three Huskers whose jerseys are retired and hang inside Pinnacle Bank Arena, Lantz benefitted from Nebraska’s football interest in Gregory. 

Lantz: How the Rest of the Story Became History for Him

When Nebraska was recruiting Gregory, Husker football coaches attended an early-season basketball game. “They stayed and watched the basketball game, saw me, went back to Lincoln and the rest became history,” Lantz said.

Gregory taught elementary school children for eight years before serving as an assistant high school coach for four years in Denver and becoming head coach at Denver’s Montebello High School. Gregory then joined Colorado’s football staff and coached Rashaan Salaam, the 1994 Heisman Trophy winner. A year after his death, the Ben Gregory Award was established in 1998. The Denver Area Football Officials Coaching Association sponsors the honor and presents the annual award to a retired coach “who was classy to opponents and to officials.”

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