Heytvelt’s sister dedicated

PORTLAND – Gonzaga senior forward Josh Heytvelt has seen this type of dedication from his older sister, Heather, before. He hopes to see it again next week.

Heather caught a Wednesday flight from South Korea and was scheduled to arrive in Portland this morning in time for the Gonzaga-Akron game at 4:25 at the Rose Garden.

“Her husband has a government job over there so she’s lived there off and on for the last 2½ years,” Heytvelt said. “They were in Clarkston for about a month at Christmastime and she’s coming this weekend. Then she’s flying back to Korea and if we win these two, she’ll fly back for the next round.

“She’s a diehard.”

Want further proof?

“I don’t remember if it was her first child or second, but when I was in high school (at Clarkston) she gave birth and a day or two later she drove across the state to watch us play in the state championships,” Heytvelt said. “She’s probably my biggest fan, next to my dad.”

New threads

Gonzaga will be one of four schools in the NCAA tournament (along with Duke, Memphis and Michigan State) wearing specially designed uniforms and, if the players choose to, customized shoes through Nike.

The Bulldogs wore the uniforms at the WCC tournament in Las Vegas, but the shoes weren’t quite ready.

The base layer has basketball-specific padding without restricting movement, according to Nike. The uniform tops provide zoned cooling and weigh 31 percent less than GU’s regular jerseys. Gonzaga players assisted with the design of the shoes.

Senior guard Jeremy Pargo said the team split into two groups at two different computers to come up with ideas for the shoes.

“One group at one end and one at the other,” Pargo said. “Who do you think won?”

“Your group?” a reporter guessed.

“Good choice,” Pargo said.

Akron also has a partnership with Nike. The Zips’ shoes, uniforms, warmups and accessories are licensed under Nike and LeBron James’ “LJ23” trademarks.

“Our shoe deal with (James), it’s just us and Ohio State,” said Akron coach Keith Dambrot, who coached LeBron James in high school.