FINAL - North Carolina wins, 71-65...

GLENDALE, Ariz. – All season Gonzaga has heard the criticism. The Bulldogs read countless posts over social media that said Gonzaga was overrated and would never be good enough to get by teams like Kansas, Villanova, Arizona or Kentucky.

Gonzaga president Thayne McCulloh stood in the student section at the end of the basketball court on Saturday.

More than 700 college basketball players transferred last season, emblematic of the impermanence riddling the sport. The trend, powered by less restrictive rules for graduates and a generational shift in the desire for immediate playing time and scoring responsibility, has infiltrated most every major program in America during the last half-decade. It has been labeled, by many coaches, an epidemic.

There is something almost Rat Pack-y about them, only they’re in shorts and sports shirts instead of tuxes and unknotted bow ties.

Amidst a starry night sky and rows of trees, members of the Gonzaga men’s basketball team lined in a row and stretched out on their backs on a dock alongside Lake Pend Oreille River and collectively started dreaming.

Josh Perkins dreamed of wearing a North Carolina uniform as a kid. Mark Few admits he installed Tar Heels coach Roy Williams’ fast break scheme for his first seven seasons at Gonzaga.

“Dadgum” Roy Williams has become famous for his mountain-country accent, but he’s hardly the only person on the North Carolina bench with a drawl.

College basketball coaches have become prominent, polarizing figures and it can be hard to remember that they are also human. So, here is a reminder.