Division II Western Oregon to visit Gonzaga for Oct. 27 exhibition

One of Gonzaga’s final tune-up games before the regular season will reunite Mark Few with a longtime friend and coaching colleague from his hometown of Creswell, Oregon.

The Zags will play Division II Western Oregon University in an exhibition game on Oct. 27 at McCarthey Athletic Center, according to an official schedule on the Wolves’ website. A tipoff time for the exhibition, which won’t count toward either team’s win/loss record, has yet to be determined.

While GU’s assistant coaches often handle scheduling duties, particularly when it comes to preseason exhibitions, the Western Oregon game may have been orchestrated by the Zags’ and Wolves’ head coaches, who have a longstanding relationship dating back five decades.

First-year WOU coach Ryan Orton is the son of Doug Orton, Few’s varsity basketball coach at Oregon’s Creswell High in the late 1970s and early 1980s. After playing point guard at Creswell, Few’s foray into coaching came when Doug Orton hired him to lead the high school’s freshman team in 1985.

Ryan Orton, who spent the last 10 seasons as an assistant and associate head coach at Alaska Anchorage, also attended Creswell High before going on to play at Eastern Oregon. Orton’s first assistant coaching gig at the Division I level came in 2000 at Eastern Washington, when he was promoted by Eagles coach Ray Giacoletti, who’d later work on Few’s staff at Gonzaga.

The Zags have played a variety of Division II, III and NAIA opponents from the Pacific Northwest in exhibition games, but this will be the program’s first meeting with Western Oregon during Few’s tenure.

GU’s nonconference schedule still hasn’t been finalized, but WOU is the only known exhibition at this point. The Zags will hold Kraziness in the Kennel on Oct. 4 and the regular season is expected to start on Nov. 3, when GU hosts SWAC opponent Texas Southern.