Say It Ain’t Joe … It’s Joe But Gonzaga Isn’t Complaining Despite Drawing Player Of The Year Candidate Joe Smith And 10th-Ranked Maryland

Cardinal sin: Stanford women passed over as a No. 1 seed in the women’s 64-team field./C5 As coach Dan Fitzgerald sees it, his Gonzaga Bulldogs won’t bother packing their slings and a supply of stones when they travel to Salt Lake City for Thursday’s NCAA Tournament opener against Maryland.

“It’s not exactly David vs. Goliath - but it might be the prelim to it,” Fitzgerald said of his team’s meeting with what will certainly be the heavily favored, No. 10-ranked Terrapins.

Fitzgerald and his team were among several hundred gathered at a selection-show party Sunday, awaiting word on how the Bulldogs would be rewarded for the West Coast Conference Tournament championship they had won Monday.

The berth in the West Sub-Regional at the University of Utah’s Huntsman Center (game time to be announced today) was viewed as a positive “so our fans and student body can get there,” Fitzgerald said, preferring that to being shipped to the East or Midwest.

But the No. 14 seeding put the Bulldogs (21-8) in steep company against a No. 3-seeded Maryland team (24-7) that is led by perhaps the best big man in the nation - Player of the Year candidate Joe Smith, a 6-foot-10, 220-pound sophomore center.

“They’re athletic and well-organized, and they really get after you hard,” Fitzgerald said of Maryland, which is coached by a friend of his, Gary Williams.

“We were hoping to get some run-and-jump athletes that might come in and not pay much attention to us,” Fitzgerald said. “We won’t have that opportunity with Gary Williams; he knows what we do and how we do it because we’ve spent a lot of time talking Xs and Os.”

Maryland tied for the Atlantic Coast Conference regular season title with a 12-4 record, but suffered an overtime loss to No. 4-ranked North Carolina in the ACC Tournament. As late as two weeks ago, Maryland was ranked No. 6 in the nation.

“There was a feeling of joy followed immediately by a feeling of nervousness,” GU forward Jason Rubright said of the pairings. “But I’m elated, regardless of who we’re going to play. When you get to the caliber of teams that we were going to draw, we knew we’d get a team that’s athletic and is a good team.”

In the Ratings Percentage Index, used by the NCAA Selection Committee, Gonzaga was rated 89th and Maryland 10th.

Also in GU’s bracket are No. 6-seed Oregon and No. 11 Texas. In the bottom half of the bracket, No. 7 Cincinnati takes on No. 10 Temple and No. 2 Connecticut meets No. 15 Tennessee Chattanooga.

In something of a surprise, WCC regularseason champ Santa Clara (21-6) was given an at-large berth and a No. 12 seeding in the subregional at Boise.

A first-round appearance, Fitzgerald estimated, would be worth somewhere between $540,000 and $600,000. That income goes directly to the conference, Fitzgerald said.

Somehow, intuitively, several of the Bulldogs expected to be paired against Maryland in the first GU appearance in the NCAA in 37 years of Division I competition.

“Three or four of the guys were convinced we were going to play Maryland,” GU forward Jon Kinloch said.

And the chance to meet Smith was not daunting - at least initially - to a Bulldog who might be called upon to stop him, GU center Paul Rogers.

“I’m really excited about playing against him,” the 6-11 Rogers said. “It’s something that will be really fun and something to remember.”

Smith is averaging 20.8 points and 10.4 rebounds a game, hitting 58 percent of his field goals. What sort of games has he had? Oh, 40 points and 18 rebounds against Duke, and 29 points and 21 rebounds against Virginia, for instance.

GU’s leading scorer, guard John Rillie, said he is very familiar with Maryland and the Terps’ talents.

“I know a lot about Maryland because I’ve been sitting in front of the TV watching them a lot this year,” Rillie said. “They’re the guys we’ve been going ‘ooh’ and ‘ahh’ over when watching them with our buddies. But we’ve got to get out of the mindset that we’re spectators. We’re not spectators anymore.

“This is going to be great fun if you ask me,” Rillie said.

Williams, who had previously coached at Boston College and Ohio State, said he had no serious concerns about heading west.

“It’s O.K. to be out there,” Williams said Sunday. “We were in Wichita last year and that worked out really well for us (with wins over Saint Louis and Massachusetts), and there are some good things about being away from home. It looks like a pretty good region we are in, but they are all good - there are no easy regions.”

Williams missed the Terps’ last four games after being hospitalized on Feb. 28 with pneumonia. He said Sunday he would certainly be in Salt Lake City, though.

“I had sent him a letter, telling him the best thing for (pneumonia) was good Irish whiskey,” Fitzgerald said. “I hope he drinks a lot of it.”

Santa Clara’s berth had to surprise Broncos coach Dick Davey, who guaranteed his team would have to settle for an NIT bid after losing in the first round of the WCC Tournament to bottom-seed Loyola Marymount.

“I’m elated they’re in, it’s a testament to the caliber of play in our conference,” Fitzgerald said.

The last time the WCC landed two teams in the NCAA was 1989, when Loyola Marymount and Saint Mary’s lost first-round games.

Kinloch expressed surprise and a little dismay that Santa Clara was added to the tournament.

“I’m very, very surprised,” Kinloch said. “Sure, it’s great for the conference, but you’ve got to have mixed feelings. We’re all cutthroat competitors and they had a great regular season, but it’s hard to wish the competition well and I didn’t have any problems with seeing them sit at home.”

Fans interested in attending the GonzagaMaryland game should contact the University of Utah ticket office at (801) 581-8849.