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Gonzaga
Bulldogs (Zags) Updated 03/28/24 |
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Location: Spokane, WA Enrollment: 4,900 Cost of Attendance:
$77,000 Venue: McCarthey Athletic Center Arena
Capacity: 6,000 Conference:
West Coast (2nd) Record:
27-7 (14-2) NET
Rank: 17 Committee
Rank: 47 Tournament
History Appearances:
25 Final
Fours: 2 Championships:
0 Win-Loss:
46-25 Most Recent:
2023, #3 seed, lost to eventual champion #4 UConn in Elite Eight, 54-82. |
Gonzaga University Nobody knows where Gonzaga is located. Jimmy Kimmel insists it does not exist. Gonzaga University has an entire section on its website dedicated to its location. It's in Spokane. Where is Spokane? Canada? Nope. Spokane is in Washington (state, not a neighborhood in DC). It's in the eastern part of the state along the Spokane River, 90 miles south of Canada. And it's not "spo-CANE", it's "spo-KAN." Ok, so why is not called Spokane
University? In 1881, Father Joseph Cataldo used $936 in hard silver dollars to buy 320 acres of land and water, what people then referred to as the old piece of gravel near the falls, to build a Jesuit Catholic college to counteract the expansion of the Protestant schools on the region's native people. Six years later, Gonzaga College officially opened the doors of its only building for young Scholastics, whose ambition it is to become priests. Gonzaga is named for the young Jesuit saint Aloysius Gonzaga. Exclusively for boys, the College was under the charge of the Jesuit priests. Enrollment for the 1887-88 academic year was 18 boys and young men.
Today, it is known as Gonzaga University, a private, Catholic, liberal arts, four-year institution of higher education for both men and women. More than 105 buildings dot the 131-acre campus overlooking the Spokane River. [What happened to the other 189 acres that Father Cataldo bought with those silver dollars?] Notable alumni include Bing Crosby and John Stockton (NBA all-time assists and steals record-holder). Bing only attended for three years but did not earn a degree. He did play on the baseball team though. Stockton's grandfather played football for the Bulldogs in the 1920s. Their Mascot(s) In Gonzaga's early football history, the teams were called
the "Blue and Whites" or "The Fighting Irish". After a football game in 1921, a reporter
wrote that Gonzaga fought tenaciously like bulldogs. That description became the new mascot. Over the years, Gonzaga has had numerous live bulldogs as mascots. Human mascots replaced live dogs in 1980 when a Gonzaga student wore a cape and called himself "Captain Zag."
That student was Mike Griffin and his name is still known on campus. But no one knows where he is today. [They care a lot.] He remained the Gonzaga mascot until 1983.
Gonzaga abandoned their football program in 1949. They should also abandon the design for their mascot. Something just looks 'off' about that face. Even he seems to be saying, "Hey, I am what I am an ugly mascot. Ruff". The
Zags Gonzaga's first
official basketball season was in 1908.
They languished in mediocrity and obscurity for over 80 years until
the mid-1990s. Since then, Gonzaga has
established itself as the blueblood of the mid-majors. They have been to
every NCAA tournament held since 1999, a year in which they made a Cinderella
run to the Elite Eight, and have appeared in every final AP poll since the
2008 09 season. They have also appeared in all but one WCC conference title
game since 1995, and in every conference title game since 1998, winning 16 of
them. This culminated in 2016 17, when the Bulldogs went to their first Final
Four in school history, advancing to the national championship game, where
they lost to North Carolina. They returned to the Final Four in 2021, losing
in the national championship game to Baylor.
Last year, they lost in the Elite Eight game to eventual champion
UConn.
In 1989, Few joined the Gonzaga coaching staff as a graduate assistant. The next year, Few was promoted to a full-time assistant and stayed as such through a couple of head coach changes. In 1999, Few was promoted to associate head coach under then head coach Dan Monson. This was immediately following the season in which Gonzaga became the nation's basketball darling, making a run through the NCAA tournament, defeating Minnesota, Stanford, and Florida, to advance to the Elite Eight, losing to eventual national champions UConn by five points. When Monson left in 1999 to take the head coaching job at Minnesota, Few was promoted to head coach The Zags have been to every tournament since Few took over in 1999 (24 straight seasons), including twelve Sweet 16s (the last nine straight), five Elite Eights, two Final Fours, and two National Championship games. That Championship still eludes them. Does that name Dan Monson ring a
bell? Dan Monson began his head coaching career at Gonzaga in 1997, staying for only two seasons before heading to Minnesota in 1999. He stayed at Minnesota for 8 seasons, only making the NCAA one time. Well, not a full 8. He resigned early in the 2006 season after starting 2-5. But, not to fear. The following year he was hired by Long Beach State. He coached there for 17 seasons, including this season. Except, on March 11, 2024, the school announced that they would be parting ways with Monson at the end of the season. Six days after the announcement, Long Beach State won the 2024 Big West tournament earning the team an automatic berth to the 2024 NCAA Tournament. Long Beach State lost to #2 Arizona by 20 points in the Tournament. But not before Monson was the butt of the "can you believe that" stories, mostly criticizing LBS's athletic director for firing him while he was still taking his team to the NCAA tournament.
He got Monsonned. Holy
Cow, I mean conference Gonzaga is a member of the West Coast Conference
(WCC). That might be part of the
reason why Gonzaga has gone to so many Tournaments. The WCC is not really know as a powerhouse
conference. It consists of ten schools
across the states of California, Oregon, Utah and Washington. All of the current members are private,
faith-based institutions. Seven
members are Catholic Church affiliates.
Pepperdine is an affiliate of the Churches of Christ. Brigham Young University is an affiliate of
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the Mormons not the
Munsons). The conference's newest
member, the University of the Pacific (which joined in 2013), is affiliated
with the United Methodist Church, although it has not been financially
supported by the church since 1969. With all this religion, you'd think God would be on their side. Premium
Vanilla Ice Cream
Going to this school is like buying Ben & Jerry's plain vanilla ice cream it's good but rather plain, small, and FREAKIN EXPENSIVE. I'll wait for the 2 for $5 Turkey Hill deal at Giant.
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A
few more students donned the Captain Zag uniform before a costumed bulldog
mascot was introduced in 1985.
Mark
Few was born in Creswell, Oregon, and was a star point guard at Creswell High
School, graduating in 1981.
Other
than their streak of NCAA appearances under Mark Few and the WCC religious
foundation, there really was nothing interesting about Gonzaga
University.