Gonzaga’s Few will have a nice opportunity this summer
A GRIP ON SPORTS • Mark Few has finally made it. Read on ...
•••
• Few is a big deal in Spokane, right? We can all agree on that. And he’s a respected coach nationally, right? We can all agree on that. But to have really made it, to be considered among the crème de la crème, a college basketball coach has to be the head coach of one of our national teams, right? Yesterday, that happened for Few. USA Basketball named the long-time Gonzaga mentor as this year’s Pan-Am games head coach. Not an assistant coach. No, Few has done that before for USA Basketball. Head coach of a team in a competition that occurs only once every four years. A competition that at one time was considered the Western Hemisphere’s off-year Olympics. It’s a prestigious honor, filling a role held by such greats over the years as Marv Harshman, Bobby Knight, Denny Crum, Gene Keady and Tom Izzo. But it’s also an honor filled with danger. Not physical danger, mind you, but danger to your reputation. After all, the United States is the best in the world in basketball, right? So the U.S. team should win every time, right? No. There are age restrictions on the teams and other considerations that limit who the U.S. sends. In 2011, when the games were held in Puerto Rico, the U.S. squad was made up of mainly D-Leaguers (and coached by a D-League guy, the well-known Nate Tibbets of the Tulsa 66ers). The only name I recognize on the roster is Justin Dentmon, and only because he played at Washington. They finished third, getting blown out in a semifinal by Mexico. Mexico. OK, this isn’t soccer, it’s basketball. Losing by 16 to Mexico in any international competition is hard to accept. Yes, it might have been a blip on the radar screen back then – I remember SportsCenter showing the highlights and the commentary being really negative, but that’s about it – but it was unacceptable to USA Basketball. Hence the change in direction, back to a college coach. This year – the games will be July 21-25 in Toronto – the team will be picked in early July at a training camp in Colorado Springs. But whatever group Few and USA Basketball chose, they will be charged with bringing home our first gold medal since 1983. Yep, we haven’t won this competition since Reagan was president. Which is where the danger lies for Few. Win the gold medal and, more than likely, the national reaction will be a shrug of our collective shoulders. Lose and there will be national outrage. OK, probably not. But at least a little shame for a while. Honestly, though, Few has a golden opportunity. We’ve finished out of the medals in two of the last three competitions. The shine has been rubbed off the Games by now. You can buff it up, though, at least a little. Win and for the rest of your career you’ll be known as the guy who led the U.S. to a gold medal it hadn’t won in 32 years. That’s a pretty nice nugget on anyone’s resume.
••••••••••
• WSU: The Cougars’ post-spring depth chart holds few surprises. But it is something Jacob Thorpe pores over in this blog post. ... California is finally getting around to hiring a new athletic director. ... Where do the Pac-12 football coaches rank?
• EWU: Jake Rodgers heard his name called at the NFL draft and, starting this week, the Shadle Park High graduate will get his opportunity to impress the coaches of the Atlanta Falcons. Jim Allen has more in this story.
• Chiefs: The Chiefs had the first pick in the WHL’s bantam draft yesterday and they picked defenseman Ty Smith (pictured) of Alberta. Chris Derrick has the information on Smith and all Spokane picks in this story.
• Shock: It’s game night in the Arena, with Spokane hosting the winless L.A. Kiss. But if the Shock wants to rock and roll all nite, they’ll have to play better than they have in their 1-4 start. Jim Meehan has the advance.
• Preps: The spring playoffs just keep rolling along. Greg Lee was at the Region 5 Division I state-qualifying meet in Idaho yesterday and has this story. ... Central Valley rallied past Ferris in District 8 4A soccer yesterday, 2-1. Jim Allen has the story. ... District 8 4A baseball took place at Avista yesterday and Tom Clouse was there for Gonzaga Prep’s and U-Hi’s wins. ... After thinking they had qualified for state a few days ago, C’dA baseball’s team was eliminated yesterday.
• Seahawks: The biggest discussion in Seattle right now seems to be concerning Russell Wilson and his contract status. What great off-season fodder. ... Michael Bennett says he doesn’t want to be traded. But he would like some more money. ... Frank Clark has very little wiggle room with Seattle and the NFL. ... The Hawks signed a couple draft choices yesterday. ... Tom Brady spoke last night. But he really didn’t speak to “Deflategate.” But it’s something you can study if you want.
• Mariners: Jack Zduriencik spoke about the Mariners’ slow start yesterday. There is one sentence he told Ryan Divish that would give me pause if I were the manager: “I think we’ve kicked ourselves a few times with fundamental mistakes that we’ve made, whether it be running the bases or defensive issues.” It seems to me that’s what well-managed teams don’t do. ... Felix Hernandez is off to a good start. Dustin Ackley isn’t. Both aren’t real surprising. ... Danny Hultzen and the M’s are in go-slow mode.
• Sounders: The Sounders won’t lose anyone for the U-23 World Cup team. ... San Jose has lost a key player.
•••
• It’s been a long morning already. We’re out of here. See you tomorrow. Until then ...
