Gonzaga Bulldogs men's basketball

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Gonzaga Bulldogs
Gonzaga Bulldogs athletic logo

University Gonzaga University
Conference WCC
Location Spokane, WA
Head Coach Mark Few (9th year)
Arena McCarthey Athletic Center
(Capacity: 6,000)
Nickname Bulldogs
Student Section Kennel Club
Colors Blue and White and Red

                     

Uniforms
 
Home jersey
Home jersey
 
Home shorts
Home
 
Away jersey
Away jersey
 
Away shorts
Away
 
Alternate jersey
Alternate jersey
 
Alternate shorts
Alternate
NCAA Tournament Elite Eight
1999
NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen
2000, 2001, 2006
Conference Tournament Champions
1995, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007
Conference Regular Season Champions
1994, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008

Men's basketball, thanks in large part to recent success, has become the most successful athletic program for the Bulldogs of Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington. Despite playing in the "mid-major" West Coast Conference, the Gonzaga Bulldogs have come to be regarded as one of the nation's elite collegiate powers [1] in the last decade. Gonzaga played in the Big Sky Conference until the 1979-80 season. Since 1992, Gonzaga has won more games than any other program in the three Pacific states,with 380[2]. Gonzaga is one of only nine schools to have reached each of the past nine NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournaments, and is the only school not from a major conference to do so. In 2004, Gonzaga earned its highest-ever national ranking, ending the season as the AP #3 in the final polls. At the conclusion of the 2006-07 season, current Coach Mark Few ranks fourth on the all-time NCAA D-I wins list for coaches in their eighth year with 211 wins, an average of 26 per season.

Gonzaga home games have been played at the McCarthey Athletic Center since 2004. The Bulldogs opened the arena with a 38-game win streak, the longest in the NCAA at the time. The streak was eventually snapped in February 2007 by the Santa Clara Broncos. When combined with 12 wins at home in the old Kennell (Charlotte Y. Martin Centre), the overall home win streak ended at 50 games[3].

Notable alumni of Gonzaga basketball include recent forwards and centers like J. P. Batista, Adam Morrison, Ronny Turiaf, Cory Violette, and Casey Calvary. However, Gonzaga basketball is perhaps best known for its guard play. Successful guards include John Stockton, Richie Frahm, Dan Dickau, Blake Stepp, Matt Santangelo, and Derek Raivio (the latter four have all earned at least All-American Honorable Mention Awards). Current Bulldogs players that may soon join the pantheon of Gonzaga greats include junior point guard Jeremy Pargo (2008 West Coast Conference player of the year), freshman forwards Austin Daye and Steven Gray, sophomore guard Matt Bouldin, and junior forward Josh Heytvelt.

Contents

[edit] Mark Few Era

Coach Mark Few has presided over Gonzaga's rise to the elite level of collegiate basketball. In ten years as an assistant and the past 8 as head coach, Few has led led Gonzaga to remarkable heights. Over the past seven years, Few's teams have compiled the second-highest winning percentage of any program in Division I, at .791. Only Duke basketball has a better percentage. At the start of the 2007-08 season, Few was tied with Roy Williams of the North Carolina Tar Heels with an .802 win percentage, highest among active coaches in D-I. Gonzaga's home and conference records are impressive under Few, as well. Since 1999, the Bulldogs' home record stands at 107-4 (.964), and GU is 107-12 (.899) in WCC play.

During Few's tenure as head coach, Gonzaga has won 7 consecutive regular-season conference titles (splitting the title with Pepperdine in 2002). In the WCC Tournament, Few's Gonzaga teams have won 7 of the last 9 championships, including four of the last five (The University of San Diego defeated Gonzaga in the title game in 2003 and 2008). A member of Few's team has won WCC Player of the Year each of the last 7 years. Few has coached winners of 7 AP All-American Honorable Mention awards, 2 AP or Wooden Second Team All-American awards, and 2 AP and Wooden First Team All-Americans (Dan Dickau, 2002; Adam Morrison, 2006)

[edit] Season records and tournament results

Gonzaga basketball was thrown into the national spotlight in the 1998-99 season, when an unexpected run to the Elite Eight and victories over the bracket's #2, 6, and 7 seeds made the Bulldogs an unlikely story and "Cinderella[4]" underdog[5], a characterization that would stick to the program for a few years to come.

Gonzaga has yet to appear in a Final Four, but they do not lack tournament experience or success. The Bulldogs have advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament in 7 of the last 9 years. The margin of defeat in Gonzaga's recent tournament losses is remarkably slim: in losses to #1 UConn, #1 Arizona, #2 UCLA, and #6 Texas Tech since 1999, the Bulldogs lost by an average of 2.5 points.

Year Record Postseason
1993-94 22-8 (12-2) NIT: Beat Stanford University 80-76
Lost to Kansas State University 66-64
1994-95 21-9 (7-7) NCAA: Lost #3 University of Maryland 87-63
1995-96 21-9 (10-4) NIT: Lost to Washington State University 92-73
1996-97 15-12 (8-6) none
1997-98 24-10 (10-4) NIT: Beat University of Wyoming 69-55
Lost to University of Hawaii 78-70
1998-99 28-7 (12-2) NCAA: Beat #7 University of Minnesota 75-63
Beat #2 Stanford University 82-74
Beat #6 University of Florida 73-72
Lost to #1 UConn 67-62
1999-2000 26-9 (11-3) NCAA: Beat #7 University of Louisville 77-66
Beat #2 St. John's University 82-76
Lost to #6 Purdue University 75-66
2000-01 26-7 (13-1) NCAA: Beat #5 University of Virginia 86-85
Beat #13 Indiana State University
Lost to #1 Michigan State University 77-62
2001-02 29-4 (13-1) NCAA: Lost to #11 University of Wyoming 73-66
2002-03 24-9 (12-2) NCAA: Beat #8 University of Cincinnati 74-69
Lost to #1 University of Arizona 96-95 (2ot)
2003-04 28-3 (14-0) NCAA: Beat #15 Valparaiso University 76-49
Lost to #10 University of Nevada 91-72
2004-05 26-5 (12-2) NCAA: Beat #14 Winthrop University 74-64
Lost to #6 Texas Tech University 71-69
2005-06 29-4 (14-0) NCAA: Beat #14 Xavier University 79-75
Beat #6 Indiana University 90-80
Lost to #2 UCLA 73-71
2006-07 23-11 (11-3) NCAA: Lost to #7 Indiana University 70-57
2007-08 25-8 (13-1) NCAA: Lost to #10 Davidson College 82-76

[edit] Recent teams

See 2007-08 Gonzaga Bulldogs men's basketball team.

[edit] Individual Career Records[6]

Category Player Career Stats Years
Points Frank Burgess 2,196 1959-61
Field Goal Percentage Billy Dunlap 62.5% 1980-82
3-Point Field Goals Made Blake Stepp 288 2001-04
Free Throw Percentage Derek Raivio 92.7% 2004-07
Rebounds Jerry Vermillion 1,670 1952-55
Assists Matt Santangelo 668 1997-2000
Steals John Stockton 262 1981-84
Blocked Shots Casey Calvary 207 1998-2001

[edit] West Coast Conference Player of the Year Honors (since 2001)

[edit] Players from Gonzaga

Year Player
2008 Jeremy Pargo
2007 Derek Raivio
2006 Adam Morrison
2005 Ronny Turiaf
2004 Blake Stepp
2003 Blake Stepp
2002 Dan Dickau
2001 Casey Calvary

[edit] West Coast Conference Coach of the Year Honors (since 2001)

[edit] Coaches from Gonzaga

Year Coach
2008 Mark Few/Randy Bennett (St. Mary's)
2006 Mark Few
2005 Mark Few
2004 Mark Few
2003 Mark Few
2002 Mark Few
2001 Mark Few

[edit] All-Americans

National Player of the Year

First Team

Second Team

  • Frank Burgess (1961) AP
  • Casey Calvary (2001) Wooden
  • Blake Stepp (2004) AP, Wooden

Honorable Mention

[edit] Coaching Records

Mark Few currently holds the highest winning percentage of any Gonzaga multi-year head coach. Hank Anderson compiled a school-record 290 wins in 21 seasons as head coach. Few is on pace to break Anderson's record in the next three years.

Name Years Record Win %
George Varnell 1908-09 10-2 .833
William Mulligan 1909-10 11-3 .786
Frank McKevitt 1910-11 8-1 .889
Fred Burns 1911-12 4-2 .667
Ed Mullholland 1912-13 4-2 .667
R.E. Harmon 1913-15 10-4 .714
William Higgins 1915-16 2-7 .222
McGough 1916-17 4-5 .444
Condon 1917-18 3-2 .600
Edward Geheves 1918-20 9-7 .563
Gus Dorias 1920-26 50-60 .455
Maurice Smith 1926-31 46-59 .438
S. Dagly 1931-32 4-7 .364
Perry Teneyck 1932-33 4-15 .211
Claude McGrath 1933-42; 1946-49 129-133 .492
B. Frasier 1942-43 2-9 .182
Charles Henry 1943-44 22-4 .846
Eugene Wozny 1944-45 12-19 .387
Gordon White 1945-46 6-14 .300
L.T. Underwood 1949-51 26-33 .441
Hank Anderson 1951-72 290-275 .513
Adrian Buoncristiani 1972-78 78-82 .488
Dan Fitzgerald 1978-81; 1985-97 252-171 .596
Jay Hillock 1981-85 60-50 .545
Dan Monson 1997-99 52-17 .754
Mark Few 1999-present 236-60 .800