He enjoys being along for the ride

In his two seasons as a member of the Gonzaga University men’s basketball team, Andrew Sorenson has logged a mere 17 minutes of playing time. His career totals include four points, one rebound, an assist and a steal.

But you won’t hear the 6-foot-2 walk-on guard from Olympia complaining. Not after failing to make the team as a freshman, but being awarded a spot on the Bulldogs’ roster last year and then redshirting.

Earlier this week, Sorenson sat down with The Spokesman-Review to answer some questions about his experiences.

S-R: How did you react, after trying out a second time, to the news you had made the team?

Sorenson: After the tryout, (assistant coach) Tommy (Lloyd) thanked us all for coming, so I figured he was getting ready to let us all down easy again. But then he said, “I think we’re going to give Andrew a shot.”

I immediately started looking around to see if there was another Andrew, because I knew there was no way he was talking about me.”

S-R: Obviously, he was. So how did you celebrate?

Sorenson: I called my dad when I got home that evening, and that was the first time it hit me. I got all teary-eyed, my dad got teary-eyed, and my mom got on the phone and just started bawling.

S-R: Still, there was no scholarship money involved, you didn’t play at all last year and you’ve hardly played this year. Have the physical demands of practicing every day been worth it?

Sorenson: Obviously, like any athlete, I want to be playing, and I’ll work my butt off to play as much as I can. Buy you know what? Even if I only play 30 seconds in a game, I figure that’s 30 seconds more than I had when the game started.

S-R: How much are you anticipating postseason play and the possibility of making the NCAA tournament?

Sorenson: I can’t wait – especially after last weekend. With everything we’ve been through, and for us to go on the road and play the way we did, we proved we are an absolute team. So many people say that, but this is the closest team I’ve ever been a part of.

And we’re very confident we can make the tournament. When we play out butts off like we did last weekend, when we’re flying around and having fun, there aren’t many teams that can beat us.