DAVE BOLING

My on-site scouting report on Gonzaga’s Braden Huff last week: Despite a stubborn knee injury suffered in January, Huff was still able to elevate and was dangerous at the rim.

When Graham Ike was announced as the Most Outstanding Player of the West Coast Conference Tournament for the second consecutive year, his Gonzaga teammates all started jumping around and flashing signs.

Let’s consider this a Quad 1 win for Gonzaga. Not because the vanquished Oregon State (17-16) was highly regarded by those who rank such things. The Quad in question belonged to Jalen Warley who returned to action Monday night after missing the last two games with a quadriceps contusion, and being limited by it for an unknown number of previous games.

Twenty years ago, March 2006, Adam Morrison executed his own celebratory leap onto the scorer’s table before surfing back onto the court on the shoulders of surging Zag zealots.

LAS VEGAS – Just a theory: The scant representation of Gonzaga players on this season’s all-conference teams is starting to look more like a compliment than an insult.

Yeah, No. 9-ranked Gonzaga pulled away from a gritty first-half effort by Washington State on Thursday to move to 18-1. But that was nowhere near the headline from the night.

To extract expectations from recent history, this Gonzaga basketball team should find huge success come March. Or the world will once again be struck by a global pandemic. Either way there is great promise with this team, and also a hint of mystery around it.

Without question, the Zags are back on the track they negotiated successfully in their first seven wins.

Just nine seconds into Gonzaga’s basketball game against Michigan last week, Wolverine forward Yaxel Lendeborg swished a distant 3-point shot.

LAS VEGAS – They call this tournament the Players Era Festival.

Two convincing wins in two nights is a parlay that landed Gonzaga in the title game at The Players Era Championship, and has focused the national spotlight on the undefeated Zags.Win or lose Wednesday against Michigan, and Gonzaga is sure to continue the rocket ride up from its preseason No. 21 ranking.