Pargo knows it’s put-up time

Jeremy Pargo could have said eager, but instead characterized himself as being anxious – and so we’ll take him at his word.

His final basketball season at Gonzaga University begins, or starts counting, tonight. He’s anxious.

“It’s time to put up or shut up,” he allowed.

Since there is little likelihood of Pargo clamming up – even he must know that – then it seems the Bulldogs will have to get on with the more welcome alternative, perhaps the first time in their now decade-old history as a prominent player in college basketball that it’s been so starkly or outwardly articulated from within the program.

Put up.

That’s the Pargo imprint, all right.

The Zags have had no shortage of confident and driven achievers getting to this point – from the Santangelos and Calvarys of the 1999 liftoff through the Dickau period and into the Morrison spectacle, to say nothing of those who laid the program’s foundation. But it’s hard to think of another Zag who arrived here with those qualities so obviously a part of his DNA, and who pulled them on every day like a favorite shirt – or, in some cases, armor.

He put his name into the NBA draft pool last spring believing he was first-round material. The NBA’s evaluators didn’t agree, but doing the reasonable thing – returning for his senior year – didn’t necessarily mean Pargo thought they were right but only that they needed more convincing.

There have been times when Pargo’s resolution has rescued the Bulldogs from disaster and other times when it has seemed to overwhelm the mission. But you have to wonder if this is the season that the proper balance is struck, the Zags deep both in skill and veterans whose urgency should now match that of their point guard.

“It’s our senior year,” Pargo said. “No coming back. No ‘we have another chance at it next year.’ This is it. And I’m pretty sure the other seniors around here feel the same way.”

And what is it Pargo wants to put up?

“A banner,” he said, looking up toward the rafters of McCarthey Athletic Center. “Right under the center speakers. A national championship banner.”

Incomparable as Gonzaga’s rise has been, just whether the Zags will ever have the philosopher’s stone to produce that final bit of gold is held in considerable dispute – but less and less with the passage of time. Just the other night, none other than ESPN talking head – make that exploding head – Dick Vitale put “Gonzaga” and “Final Four” in the same sentence by way of a prediction, surely at the risk of losing his honorary Duke alumnus status. Then the ESPN bracket guru seconded the motion. This must mean something, though probably not much.

Likewise, for the fourth time in six years the Zags begin the season ranked among the nation’s Top 15 teams – and third time in the Top 10. High regard is no assurance of high reward, and the painful truth is only one of those seasons lasted into the second weekend of the NCAA tournament, though being unfulfilled is not to be confused with failure.

In any case, Jeremy Pargo didn’t need Dickie V’s latest decibelfest to validate his own notions, based not only on Gonzaga’s weighty experience but on a couple of early observations. For instance:

“With this team, we can actually win a game on defense,” Pargo insisted. “Maybe we did a couple of times last year, too, but there were times we didn’t get stops late in games that we needed to get a win. This can be a team that will do that.”

And he has witnessed, in both the Zags’ exhibition game romp and last weekend’s closed-door scrimmage against Texas in Denver, an increased commitment to sharing and ball movement that also made an impression on coach Mark Few, as well.

“No one was selfish, no one took crazy shots,” Pargo said. “Everyone played together and came out with a smile on their face.”

Of course, that job starts with the point guard and will never change. Something else should. Behind Pargo is his heir, Demetri Goodson, who is very much a true point guard and very much ready to play even as a freshman.

“He gets it,” Few said. “He helps us. The issue, if there is one, is that he’s playing behind a conference player of the year. What that allows us (is) everybody’s minutes should be shrunk just with our depth. We just have to all buy in when we’re out there on the floor, maximizing our energy and effort and not coasting, which I think at times last year Jeremy could a little bit because he knew he had to be out there a long time.”

The guess is, Pargo won’t be watching the clock.

“My role never changes,” he insisted. “I’m a guy who goes out and does whatever he has to do to help the team win. I’ve seen it before – I’ve had two points and we win by 30, and I’ve had 25 and we lose by two. It’s no different now.”

Except it’s his last time. And he’s anxious.