Pangos commits to Zags

Point guard Kevin Pangos orally committed to the Gonzaga men’s basketball program Tuesday. Then, he was heading to the gym to get in a basketball workout. “It feels great,” said the 6-foot-2 Pangos, who is entering his senior season at Denison Secondary School in Newmarket, Ontario. “It’s a comfortable feeling, knowing where I’m going to go and now I can focus on the upcoming school year.” Pangos adds to Gonzaga’s impressive 2011 recruiting class, joining guards Gary Bell, Kyle Dranginis and Chris Sarbaugh, and forward Ryan Spangler. Pangos said he had offers from Michigan, UNLV, Cincinnati, Portland, Boston College and Temple, but he listed his final three as Gonzaga, Virginia and Notre Dame. He visited Gonzaga in August and also looked at Michigan. “Really it was just the (GU) coaching staff, they’ve been great with me,” Pangos said. “I felt it was a great fit for me academically and athletically. I feel like they can make me the best I can be as a player. They came up and visited me about a year ago and from there they’ve been really serious and stayed in touch. Virginia never formally offered, but it was getting pretty serious.” Pangos was team captain and starting point guard for Canada, which earned a bronze medal at the FIBA U-17 World Championships in July in Hamburg, Germany. Pangos was named the tournament’s top point guard and selected to the All-Tournament team, along with the United States’ James McAdoo (who has committed to North Carolina) and tourney MVP Bradley Beal (Florida). Pangos averaged 15.8 points, 5 rebounds and 4.1 assists as Canada went 5-3 and knocked off Lithuania 83-81 in the third-place game. He made 53.6 percent of his field goal attempts, including 37.9 percent of his 3-pointers. Draftexpress.com described Pangos as the Canadian team’s “clear-cut leader” and “go-to guy,” adding that Pangos isn’t exceptionally athletic, but he has good size, excellent footwork and a terrific basketball IQ. Gonzaga currently has three players from Canada – Kelly Olynyk, Rob Sacre and Manny Arop. Pangos practiced with Olynyk and Arop at a junior national team training camp about 18 months ago. “Gonzaga was just a great fit,” Pangos said. “With the Canadians being there, it’s an added bonus.”