In 1990, when Lower Merion High School students answered Gregg Downer’s public address call to join an after-school basketball scrimmage in the gym, they were surprised to find the new coach dressed and ready to go. “I figured the best way to get respect was to show them I could play,” says Downer.
Turns out Downer was a pretty good player at Penncrest High School and the University of Lynchburg. Now 61, he was 27 when he took over as Lower Merion’s head boys’ basketball coach. He sees his 35th season, which begins Nov. 23 against Bishop McDevitt High School, as a “potential reload.” Last year’s team wasn’t supposed to do much, either. Downer figured they might win 15 or 16 games. Instead, the Aces went 28-2, didn’t lose a Central League game, won their third District I title in the past four years and reached the second round of the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association’s state tournament. “Hopefully, I’ll be pleasantly surprised again,” he says.
Now 61, Downer was only 27 when he took over as Lower Merion’s head boys’ basketball coach. He sees his 35th season as a “potential reload.”
The season before Downer came in, the Aces weathered a 54-14 loss to Ridley High School with just four players on the floor due to academic issues. And though keeping every player eligible remains a challenge for Downer, he’s accomplished more than even he could’ve imagined. He’s won 696 games and captured three state titles, the first of which came in 1996, when Kobe Bryant was terrorizing opponents. Lower Merion won the other two in 2006 and 2013. Under Downer, the Aces have captured 17 Central League championships.
Son of former 76ers coach Brett Brown, Sam Brown played four years at Lower Merion and is now a sophomore at the University of Pennsylvania, where he started 18 games last season. He describes Downer as “a maniacal competitor” and praises his ability to scout rivals and prepare his teams for games. Downer also made sure Brown was ready to start as a freshman for the Division I Quakers. “Playing under him prepared me as well as any place could have to play college ball,” Brown says. “It’s amazing how much time and effort he puts into his players.”
After graduating from Lynchburg, Downer coached the ninth-grade team at Penncrest, then spent two years on the hoops staff at the now-shuttered Cabrini University. He was teaching at the Shipley School and coaching soccer there when the Lower Merion job opened. Once there, it took him a little while to gather some momentum, but the wins started coming. “Then I met a guy named Kobe Bryant,” he says.
Kobe Bryant’s junior year, the aces won 26 games and reached their first district final since 1978. The next year, Lower Merion took the state crown. “He taught us how to work hard,” Downer says.
Bryant’s junior year, the Aces won 26 games and reached their first district final since 1978. The next year, Lower Merion took the state crown. “He taught us how to work hard,” Downer says of the late NBA superstar. “One decision we made was, ‘Let’s not lower the bar. Let’s keep the standards high and make a 20-win season the norm.’”
The team continues to win—doing so with an interesting mix. The “Bryant effect” has led some players from other school districts to approach Downer. Sometimes, their parents join them in a move to Lower Merion Township. Other times, the players may live with relatives. Downer has been accused of recruiting, something the PIAA doesn’t permit. “If you have a product academically and athletically that people want, occasionally the phone will ring,” he says. “If I don’t answer the phone call, someone else will. I’m not cheating. It’s not my job to maintain tabs on who’s in the [school] halls.”
Now in his 35th season, Downer knows he has some decisions to make. And while he admits he’s “on the 17th hole” of his career, he has no retirement plans. He teaches health and PE at the school and loves the challenge of assembling a team every year. “I’ve been lucky enough to find my passion,” he says.
Downer says he likes the impact he makes on kids—and he has no hobbies. That’s just fine with Lower Merion athletic director Jason Stroup. “Gregg is great at finding ways to motivate student athletes and coaches to make themselves better,” Stroup says. “He’s great at developing a game plan, communicating it to the coaches and players, and having them execute that plan on the court.”
And Downer can still hit a jumper—though, these days, he’d rather let his players handle that.
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