Gonzaga – Not A Mid-Major Anymore (Sweet 16 in Chicago – Part 2)

(Chicago, IL) – Don’t ask Gonzaga Head Coach about being a ‘Cinderella’ in the NCAA Tournament. He doesn’t believe the term applies where the Bulldogs are concerned.

They show up in the Mid-Major Top 25 every week. They play in a non-power 5 conference, but nothing about Gonzaga, except the league they play in, says ‘mid-major’.

Few has been part of the Zag Family for 27 years, spending the last 17 as the head coach. In all 17, Gonzaga has played in the NCAA Tournament. GU’s streak (18 years counting Few’s final season as an assistant) is the fourth longest in the nation. The Zags have been to one Elite Eight, and this season marks their fifth Sweet Sixteen appearance.

Few is the winningest active head coach in the country. Ironically, Few who still looks like he could be a student manager, began working at Gonzaga the same year Roy Williams became a head coach at Kansas. He edges Williams in winning percentage (.808 to .789). He ranks as the fifth fastest coach to reach 400 wins. He did so in 499 opportunities.

During Few’s tenure, Gonzaga has had 10 All-Americans and 11 West Coast Conference players of the year. Four former Zags are currently playing in the NBA.

And yet, they are in a ‘mid-major’ league.

Few says the Cinderella slipper doesn’t fit the Bulldogs, and that the Gonzaga program has proven a team from a non ‘money conference’ can be a nationally relevant program.

 

 

Few’s March Madness record is 21 and 16, overall Gonzaga’s is 24 and 18.

Wichita State and Gonzaga are the only two teams in the conversation about mid major programs that compete nationally. Teams like Belmont, (Ohio Valley Conference), Valparaiso (Horizon), Dayton (Atlantic 10) are all programs that are the annual leaders in their respective leagues and have impressive win totals, but they aren’t relevant on a consistent basis, when tournament time comes.

Few credits the mentoring of people like Friday’s opponent Jim Boeheim with the idea of staying in one location and building a program, rather than pursuing the next best job. He says the icons of the coaching world are all men that endured at one school.

 

 

Mark Few and Gregg Marshall (at Wichita State) are the gold standard when it comes to mid-majors making a national statement, and Few is making his in Chicago this weekend.

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