Big man on block

BUFFALO, N.Y. – The anchor for Florida State’s NCAA-best defense is 7-foot-1, 250-pound Solomon Alabi, a native of Nigeria who played his high school basketball at Montverde Academy near Orlando, Fla.

Alabi, a redshirt sophomore, rejects 2.4 shots a game, one of the best in the nation on a team that averages 6.3 blocks a game, the 10th-best total. FSU holds opponents to 37.4 percent shooting, tops in the nation.

Most schools have trouble simulating Alabi’s presence around the rim, if only because there aren’t that many 7-1, 250-pound backup centers.

Even Gonzaga lacks one. The Bulldogs’ backup post is 7-5 and 270 pounds. That may help them tonight.

“The thing too, that we have, is, they have great shot blockers, but it’s not like our guys haven’t seen size before,” said Gonzaga assistant Leon Rice, who prepared the scout for tonight’s game. “They see Will Foster every single day at practice. He’s a great shot blocker. It’s not like we’ve been playing against 6-5 guys all the time.”

Foster said Thursday he’s done his best this week in practice to simulate what Alabi can do.

“He’s got great feet and soft hands, from what I’ve seen on film,” Foster said.

Coach-speak

It’s that time of year, when coaching rumors and speculation begin to swirl. That inevitably involves Gonzaga, but its coaching staff has been remarkably stable. Still, when Ernie Kent was fired at Oregon, numerous media outlets reported that one of the Ducks’ first calls figures to be to Gonzaga’s Mark Few, but they’ll wait until GU’s season concludes.

“Would they be interested in Mark? I’m sure they would be,” GU athletic director Mike Roth said. “If I was in their shoes, I’d probably do the same thing.”

Roth said Few is on a rollover contract that keeps 10 years remaining on his deal. Roth believes Few’s salary package puts him among the top 20 highest-paid coaches in college basketball.

“We’re continuing to make sure that’s the case,” Roth said.

GU assistant coach Ray Giacoletti is among the candidates for the vacancy at Hawaii. He has talked with Hawaii officials, but not in person, as has been erroneously reported. The Toledo Blade also listed Giacoletti as a potential candidate at the University of Toledo.

Friends in nearby places

GU freshman forward Kelly Olynyk grew up in Scarborough in eastern Toronto before relocating to British Columbia when he was 13. Gonzaga has four Canadians on its roster, but freshman forward Manny Arop is sidelined with a broken foot.

“It’s about an hour and a half or so, depending on the traffic,” Olynyk said. “I’m hoping I’ll have a few friends come down. My mom’s flying in so that will be nice. I hope there will be a lot of Canadians here.”

Harris still undecided

GU freshman forward Elias Harris wants to concentrate on the NCAA tournament before deciding what his plans are for next season. Harris is averaging 14.7 points and team-high 7.2 rebounds, but his numbers have tailed off over the second half of the WCC season.

“That’s a good question,” Harris responded, when asked if he was leaning one way or the other. “I still have a feeling that I at least want to explore the next level, but right now I want to finish the tournament and then start thinking about what I want to do next year. I haven’t really thought about it much.”

Notes

GU’s Matt Bouldin, Harris and Washington State’s Klay Thompson were named to the United States Basketball Writers Association All-District 9 team, which encompasses California, Oregon, Washington, Hawaii, Arizona and Alaska. … Gonzaga sold about 350 tickets, according to Roth. “It’s probably our smallest contingent of fans ever, but pretty close to how it was in Raleigh (two years ago) and the first round in Memphis (2001),” Roth said.