Grip on Sports: Gonzaga’s national title dream is no longer just a fantasy as it was 40 years ago

A GRIP ON SPORTS • It wasn’t an April Fools’ joke, though it certainly had the sound of one. “Hey mom, did you hear. Gonzaga won. The Zags are in the national championship game Monday night.” “That’s nice hun. Now get the garbage out.” Read on.

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• Forty years ago. A fantasy. Thirty years ago. A dream. Twenty years ago. A hope. Ten years ago. A remote possibility.  Today. Reality. That’s the progression of Gonzaga basketball and the NCAA title.

Why did we start with forty years? That takes us to 1977, when a small Jesuit university in Milwaukee, chided for its lack of pedigree and coached by a veteran lifer, won a national title. 

That would be Marquette and Al McGuire if you don’t want to use Google.

The Warriors – that was the nickname back then and it was OK for most of America – weren’t derided because of their conference affiliation. They weren’t in a conference. Like Notre Dame, the nation’s most famous Catholic school, they were an independent. But their schedule was considered soft, compared to the rest of the powerhouse schools.

There were some similarities besides the coach. They had a big old dude in the middle (Mr. Jerome Whitehead, the Mr. because you didn’t want to get on his bad side). They had a dominating guard (Butch Lee, pictured with McGuire). There was an athletic power forward (Bo Ellis) and a true leader at the point guard spot (Jim Boylan). And they had to overcome the naysayers. The Warriors lost seven times in 1977, including three consecutive home games in February. And they lost their last regular season game.

(Want another similarity? Marquette defeated North Carolina in the NCAA title game. The Tar Heels got to the Final Four by holding off Kentucky. And they held off an athletic, get up-and-down Western team (UNLV) by a single point in the semifinals. Talk about eerie coincidences.)

Marquette wasn’t the first Jesuit school to win a national title. That was USF in 1955. And Marquette isn’t the last Jesuit school to win a national title. That honor goes to Georgetown in 1984. But it is the one I remember most, mainly because of McGuire, Whitehead, Lee and the fact no one thought Marquette could win.

Sitting here on April 2, 2017, I sub in Mark Few, Prezmek Karnowski, Nigel Williams-Goss and the memory of 100 stories wondering when GU will flame out in the tournament and I’m 20 again.

Maybe I’ll even try to catch a bullpen later.

• Last night’s 77-73 semifinal win over South Carolina has me free associating a bit …

I wonder how Gonzaga can handle North Carolina tomorrow night. The term “transition defense” comes to mind every time I ponder it.

I try to figure out who will guard the Tar Heels’ 6-foot-8 “small” forward Justin Jackson. It might be Johnathan Williams but then who will match up with 6-9 Isaiah Hicks? So I wonder if Jordan Mathews can defend beyond his size (6-4) one more time and deal with Jackson. Gonzaga likes to switch screens. That might be tough against NC.

I want a Big Mac right about now. Looking at a North Carolina roster, there is this little McDonald’s insignia next to each McDonald’s All-American on the team. I count six. That’s an Unhappy Meal if you are a Tar Heel opponent. By the way, Gonzaga has one. Zach Collins. He’s the schools’ first.

How quickly will Karnowski get into foul trouble? If it’s early, watch out. If it’s late, NC has to watch out.

Another term comes to mind. “Dribble penetration.” If Joel Berry gets into the paint with impunity, and Gonzaga’s bigs have to rotate, it will be tough for the help-the-helper guys to keep Hicks and Kennedy Meeks and Jackson off the offensive glass.

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Gonzaga: Really, this internet thing has to be a fad, doesn’t it? After all, if you want to experience the full range and depth of The Spokesman-Review’s coverage of Gonzaga’s semifinal win, you have to buy a hard copy of the newspaper. People will realize that, right, and print on ink will make a rebound (see the Oregon stories below)? Wait, you’re here now and you want links? OK. But I still think you should go buy a paper as well. … We’ll start where we should, with Jim Meehan’s coverage of the game itself, what and how the Zags happened to win. He also has a story on the biggest Zag on this day: Collins. … John Blanchette, who has been covering Gonzaga since before most of its fans were born, puts things in perspective with this column. … Is it just me or does it seem as if the officiating in this NCAA tournament is below par? I mean in most games, not just last night’s GU contest? That’s a tiny part of my TV Take from last night. (And, yes, I know officiating is a really hard job.) … The crew in Phoenix includes Jacob Thorpe, who gets to cover the losing team. Well, he’s covering the Zags’ opponents and so far they have been the losing teams. He has a lot on South Carolina. And he did this blow-by-blow account of last night’s prize fight (you have to read my TV Take to understand that reference). Up next: North Carolina. … Whitney Ogden went big in her stories, with one on Karnowski and another on Killian Tillie, who nailed two late clutch free throws. She also covered the other semifinal. … Paul Turner, he of the venerable Slice column, put his skills to work with this fan feature. … Josh Horton has a piece on the locker room celebration, another on Williams-Goss’ ankle and the decision to foul late. … Speaking of fans, we have a photo gallery from Spokane by Kathy Plonka and Tyler Tjomsland that covers the folks here and a couple of stories from Tom Clouse on the student experience. The final quote in this couch-burning piece is a doozy. … Back to Phoenix where my friends Dan Pelle and Colin Mulvany have a photo report that is second-to-none. … There are also numbers from the game and keys to the win. … By the way, the Zags split a baseball doubleheader at Pepperdine yesterday.

Outside the area, there is in-depth coverage as well, with the Seattle Times, Tucson Citizen, Arizona Republic, Denver Post and Los Angeles Times covering the game. And that’s just out West. There is also coverage from the big papers back East (including the biggest) as well as national websites from CBS and to Fox and beyond. And let us not forget South Carolina as well, where the coverage is a bit more somber.

WSU: The Cougars are a third of the way through spring practice and Mike Leach isn’t displeased. Which is a good thing. Correspondent Peter Harriman has this report from Pullman on Saturday’s workout. … The Cougars’ run to the WNIT semifinals has led to one honor. … The Pac-12 came up just short of having a team in the NCAA final for the first time in years, but Oregon could not pull down one key rebound in the final seconds against North Carolina. And for lack of that, the Ducks didn’t get a chance to perform one last offensive miracle. … Utah and USC are also in the midst of spring practice.

EWU and Idaho: Both schools sent athletes to a track meet in Missoula.

Empire: Spokane had a chance to put a stranglehold on first place in the Intense Conference but were derailed at home by the Nebraska Danger, 42-36. Steve Christilaw has the game coverage.

Mariners: The spring training games are over. The M’s last three ended in draws (hey, if you are going to play ties, I’m going to use soccer terms). … The roster is set for Monday’s opener in Houston, but one pitcher won’t be there. He has a good excuse. … There is a lot to watch with these Mariners. And with major league baseball.

Seahawks: Don’t look for the Hawks to cut ties with backup quarterback Trevone Boykin.

Sounders: Real Salt Lake is in real trouble.

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• Today is the calm before the storm. And Monday is, even if the Zags weren’t in the NCAA title game, the best sporting day of the year. It’s opening day for most baseball teams and the college basketball championship. From about 10 a.m. to midnight, there are great games to watch. And on a Monday for goodness sakes. Until later …