Gonzaga’s Top Dog Kinloch Provides Valuable Link To Past For Uninitiated Litter Of Young Bulldogs

There’s a temptation to suggest that Gonzaga’s men’s basketball team resembles some of those great rhythm-and-blues groups from the ‘60s that continue touring under the same name - even though there’s only one guy from the original group still alive.

In the case of Gonzaga, that lone hold-over is Jon Kinloch.

As a fifth-year senior, he’ll be asked to be a team leader. As top returning scorer, he must be aggressive offensively.

And as the second-best 3-point shooter in the league, he won’t be bashful about firing from the nether regions.

But Kinloch’s most important role might be as a link to the past. He’s the one player who can gather the newest incarnation of Bulldogs and tell them exactly how it was that this golden age of Gonzaga basketball developed.

“When I was recruited here, they were coming off 8-20 and 14-14 seasons,” said Kinloch, who has helped GU stack up 82 wins in four seasons and earn back-to-back NIT/NCAA appearances.

“I think my style of player is kind of a dying breed here. I’m one of the last players who is maybe a half-step slow, but who really understands how to play.”

Young Bulldogs might ask: How, then, Uncle Jon, did a team full of remedial athletes achieve such success?

“I think we’ve had a collection of guys who could have or should have played at a higher level; and when you combined enough stubborn guys together, we took it to a higher level,” he explained. “We had a bunch of guys who believed in themselves more than anybody else believed in them.”

What he sees around him now - as the Bulldogs prepare to open their 1995-96 campaign at the Spokane Arena Friday against Washington State - is a group of athletes who are not a half-step slow, who have not been overlooked in the recruiting process, who have not had to succeed solely by their wits.

“What we have to do now, is take those better athletes and make them the same type of players as we used to have in terms of understanding the game and always playing hard,” Kinloch said.

”(Leadership) is important here, because a lot of the younger guys had nothing to do with the success we’ve had here in the past, and they need to understand there was a lot of work done to attain that success.”

Kinloch understands work. Aside from the demands of Division I basketball, he has put together a 3.7 grade-point average with a double major in finance and marketing, while also being married and playing on the GU tennis team when time permits.

Unwaveringly confident and unrelentingly competitive, the 6-foot-6 Kinloch went from being lightly recruited out of Bellingham’s Sehome High to having an impressive college career.

As the seasons passed, he went from being a surprising contributor as a freshman, to a key sub as a sophomore and then to second-leading scorer last year.

“He’s probably come as close to reaching his full potential as anybody we’ve had,” GU coach Dan Fitzgerald said. “He’s also a lot more than just a scorer. He’s one of the best athletic minds we’ve ever had. He really, really understands the game. Plus, he’s 6-6, can shoot it and is a lot more athletic than it first seems.”

It is clear, though, that Kinloch’s trademark as a Bulldog is the 3-point shot, having netted 42.9 percent of them in his GU career the scoring equivalent of shooting nearly 65 percent from 2-point range.

Several times a week in individual drills, he will shoot 50 straight 3-pointers - generally netting 40 or so. Although reluctant to pass on the information, he concedes that he once made 29 consecutive 3-pointers.

And although he’s most dangerous from long distance, Kinloch is not about to simply phone in his final season.

“I expect a lot out of myself; it’s hard to verbalize, but it all goes back to competitiveness,” he said. “I look back at our teams and I’m really pleased with what we’ve done. It would be easy to say I went to the NIT and the NCAA and played a lot and had some good games, but that’s not enough.”

As good students frequently do with their teachers, Kinloch challenges Fitzgerald in a number of ways. And his nature, Fitzgerald said, lies somewhere between strong-willed and simply stubborn.

“But that’s good,” Fitzgerald said. “He’s a guy who has had a marvelous career and a guy I have enormous respect for.”

Kinloch believes the Bulldogs have the potential to match the success of last year’s 21-9 team that advanced to the NCAA Tournament.

“We definitely have a lot of work to do, because we looked disjointed in both of our exhibitions,” he said. “But we bring a lot more experience into this season.”

Fitzgerald, meanwhile, will not compare this team to any of its predecessors.

“Every team is different and what has happened in the past doesn’t have much bearing on who we are now,” Fitzgerald said. “But it does set some standards - for playing hard, for effort, for behavior.

“Right now, I don’t think we’re a very good team, but I think we’re going to get better, and how competitive this team becomes will depend on how its character develops.”

Kinloch said fans can expect a huge season out of 7-foot junior center Paul Rogers. “He has an unlimited top end,” Kinloch said. “He’s our ace in the hole; he can do some things that some teams just can’t stop.”

Joining Rogers under the basket is athletic senior center Scott Snider. Jason Bond appears back to health, and along with Scott Morgan - a minor-league baseball player who will become eligible in mid-December - give GU veteran depth inside.

All-West Coast Conference point guard Kyle Dixon will once again pilot the attack, with the off-guard spot currently held by converted point guard Kevin Williams.

The wild card there, though, is junior-college transfer Lorenzo Rollins, who has shown considerable offensive potential, but needs to continue honing his defensive skills.

“We’re not very deep and that concerns me,” Fitzgerald said. “But it’s a team that has a chance, if they keep improving, to be pretty good before they’re done.”

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color Photo

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: GONZAGA UNIVERSITY The roster and schedule of the Gonzaga men’s basketball team, 21-9 overall last season, 7-7 in the West Coast Conference.

Rosters Name Ht Position Year Hometown Kyle Dixon 6-1 Guard Senior Seniors, Ore. Kevin Williams 6-1 Guard Junior Foster City, Calif. John Nemeth 5-11 Guard Junior Twin Falls, Idaho Paul Rogers 7-0 Center Junior Adelaide, Australia Mike Leasure 6-6 Forward Freshman Spanaway, Wash. Lorenzo Rollins 6-4 Guard Junior Tacoma, Wash. Jon Kinloch 6-6 Guard Senior Bellingham, Wash. Phillip Ball 6-9 Forward Freshman Cheney, Wash. Keith Kincaid 6-8 Forward Freshman Tempe, Ariz. Bakari Hendrix 6-8 Forward Sophomore Vallejo, Calif. Jason Bond 6-8 Forward Junior Seattle, Wash. Scott Snider 6-9 Center Senior Federal Way, Wash.

Schedule Nov. 24 Washington State at Spokane Arena 7 p.m. Nov. 30 Central Washington 7 p.m. Dec. 2 Southern Utah 7 p.m. Dec. 7 at Montana State 6:30 p.m. Dec. 9 at Fullerton State 7:30 p.m. Dec. 16 Western Washington 7 p.m. Dec. 22 Eastern Washington 7 p.m. Dec. 29 South Alabama at UW 6 p.m. Dec. 30 Washington/Lehigh at UW 6/8 p.m. Jan. 3 Boise State 7 p.m. Jan. 5 at Eastern Washington 7 p.m. Jan. 7 Sacramento State 1 p.m. Jan. 12 at Santa Clara 7:30 p.m. Jan. 13 at Saint Mary’s 7:30 p.m. Jan. 18 San Diego 7 p.m. Jan. 20 San Francisco 7 p.m. Jan. 24 Portland 7:30 p.m. Jan. 27 at Portland 7:30 p.m. Feb. 2 at Loyola Marymount 7 p.m. Feb. 3 at Pepperdine 7 p.m. Feb. 8 Pepperdine 7 p.m. Feb. 11 Loyola Marymount 2 p.m. Feb. 15 at San Francisco 7 p.m. Feb. 17 at San Diego 7 p.m. Feb. 22 Saint Mary’s 7 p.m. Feb. 24 Santa Clara 7 p.m. March 2-4 WCC Tourney at Santa Clara TBA