A Grip on Sports: Gonzaga may be walking into an ambush tonight that Santa Clara has been building for 30 years
A GRIP ON SPORTS • Steve Nash is in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. Rightfully so. His list of career accomplishments is as long as his inseam. And includes one that, after 30 years, still seems remarkable. He led Santa Clara University to the NCAA Tournament three times. That alone should have him on any greatest-players-of-all-time lists
•••••••
• It has been three decades since Nash, the West Coast Conference’s player of the year, last led the Broncos into the NCAA tournament. That 1996 team, seeded 10th, took down seventh-seeded Maryland in the first round. And earned the distinction, unknown then of course, of being the last Santa Clara team to play in the NCAAs.
Until, maybe, 2026.
Yep, this Bronco group has a chance, a good chance, to return to the tournament. It is 22-5 overall. It is 13-1 in WCC play. In first place, a half-game ahead of the team visiting the Leavey Center tonight (7:30, ESPN), Gonzaga.
Which also happens to be the team that put the “1” on the Broncos’ WCC record. January 8. In the Kennel, 89-77. Behind Graham Ike’s 34 points and 11 rebounds.
Braden Huff also played a big role in that win, the last game in which he played this season.
That’s the biggest difference tonight. Though the venue change may loom even larger. The Leavey Center should be rocking. Some 5,000 folks should pack themselves in the place, if only to see the Broncos possibly cement an at-large NCAA berth.
Win tonight, and Santa Clara seems destined to end its 30-year drought.
The Broncos have lost to St. Louis by one in a neutral-site matchup. At New Mexico. At the Zags. Have won 13 of their last 14 games. Are 41st in the NCAA’s NET rankings. Ken Pomeroy has them 38th. A decent-to-good resume.
Sure, they have one awful loss – a Christmas-time tournament disaster against Loyola-Chicago, currently 311th in the NET – but a win tonight against the Zags, sixth in the NET and 10th in KenPom would help mitigate that come Selection Sunday.
Or, go with me here, a win tonight also makes the Broncos the favorite to win the WCC’s regular season title and the No. 1 seed in Las Vegas.
Yes, Santa Clara. Not Gonzaga. Not Saint Mary’s. Both of which would be a game back in the loss column with a defeat to the Broncos on their card. They would hold the inside track to the conference’s automatic berth. In the NCAA tourney of course.
And move them one step closer to Nash’s legacy.
•••
WSU: Kirby Moore is his honeymoon phase with the Washington State faithful, a phase that will last until sometime in the fall. The latest event that cemented that came Thursday in Spokane. Moore visited with Cougar fans at the Swinging Door tavern on Francis. Elena Perry was there and has this story. One quote stood out to me, just because it was so odd. One fan told Perry he hoped Moore “builds a program like we haven’t seen in the last 15, 20 years.” Has the Mike Leach era been forgotten so quickly? Wasn’t it less than that Leach and Gardner Minshew led WSU to an 11-2 record, a 10th-place finish in the Associated Press poll and the Promised Land of an ESPN GameDay visit? Yes, it was. It was 2018. Infatuation with the new guy can play heck with the memory. … It wasn’t all that long ago the basketball team was winning consistently as well. One of the players at the heart of it, Jaylen Wells, had a good day yesterday in Los Angeles. … Speaking of good days, the baseball team had one Friday. In Alabama. It opened the 2026 season with an 8-4 upset of the Tide. … Former WSU and Idaho assistant coach Craig Bray, whose son Trent is on Moore’s staff, died Tuesday in Montana. The elder Bray was 74 years old. … Cougar grad Morgan Weaver is poised to have a comeback season with the Portland Thorns. … Elsewhere in the (current, old and future) Pac-12 and the nation, Jon Wilner’s weekly mailbag is in the Mercury News today. … John Canzano has some thoughts on Scott Barnes’ future in Corvallis. … Trust is a key part of any basketball success. … The Oregon men may have their best chance for a Big Ten win today. … That is not the case for Colorado in the Big 12 as the Buffs are at BYU. … Everything in college sports is for sale. It took just $27.7 million to purchase the McKale Center’s naming rights at Arizona. … Boise State has melted down at times this season. The Broncos’ meltdown last night at home against UNLV might be the worst one. … San Diego State will be a bit healthier against Nevada today. … Colorado State and Wyoming play the second Border War game of the season. … Utah State is playing Memphis in what the Aggies probably thought would be a last-season, resume-building nonconference game. The Tigers are not that good though. … The Colorado women host BYU.
• In football news, Wilner passes along Brandon Huffman’s recruiting notebook in the Mercury News as well. … Schools such as Washington are sending multiple players to the NFL’s draft combine. … There is a second part to the interview with Oregon State coach JaMarcus Shephard. … The USC defensive staff’s rebuild is finished.
Gonzaga: Tonight’s game is one of those in which the Bulldogs have everything to lose and little to gain. Nationally at least. The Broncos’ stature, and the history we delved into above, is such that if they handle the 12th-ranked Zags tonight, GU will be dinged way too much. And if the Bulldogs win? It’s just Santa Clara. Such is the legacy of college hoops on the West Coast. Theo Lawson stays away from such griping – good for him – in his game preview and key matchup. … The Zags had their eye on a key transfer for next season, a former high school teammate of Huff’s. But Caden Pierce picked Purdue. Theo has that story as well. … We can pass along this game preview from the Mercury News as well.
EWU and Idaho: Around the Big Sky, both the Montana State and Montana men need to win tonight in their Brawl. But both cannot. … Sacramento State’s star has seen pretty much everything in his career. … Northern Colorado is playing well recently. … Idaho State is not. … Same for Northern Arizona. … The Idaho State women are though. … In football news, Northern Colorado would like to add lights to its practice facility. … Weber State deals with the changes in college sports by just continuing to recruit.
Whitworth: The Pirate men had a 17-point lead in the second half at home last night. But they squandered it and had to block a last-second Lewis & Clark 3-point attempt to win 72-69.
Preps: Dave Nichols was at West Valley last night to see if the Clarkston girls could earn the GSL’s top 2A berth in the District 6 playoffs. They could, topping the host Eagles 67-43. … There is also a roundup of basketball playoff action to pass along as well.
Chiefs: Dave also has this story as Spokane rallied from a three-goal deficit to top host Portland 5-4. … There is also a story in the Oregonian.
Seahawks: The Hawks have some holes to fill on their coaching staff, with the offensive coordinator spot the most glaring. Could Mike Macdonald go outside to fill it again? … Tyler Lockett was one of the most popular Hawk players ever. But his timing in Seattle was not the best. … The 49ers and Rams may open the NFL season on a Wednesday in Australia in September. Which means the Hawks may not continue the tradition of the defending champion playing the opener. … The defense does have a regret.
Mariners: Former Seattle starter, and Gonzaga alum, Marco Gonzales is back in Peoria, though with the Padres. … Bryan Woo may just be the M’s ace this season. … The M’s have questions to answer at spring training. One of them has to do with their top prospect.
Kraken: Seattle’s goalie isn’t in the Olympics, despite two countries asking about his availability.
Olympics: The Games have been dominated, in some regard, by talk of the “Quad God,” U.S. men’s champion Ilia Malinin. The most athletic figure skater of all time seemed poised to be the gold medal winner and the star of the morning talk show circuit next week. Until he finished eighth after a terrible free skate. … There are other U.S. stars, sure. And more, it seems, every day.
•••
• Some of us of a certain age used to love to sing along with Bruce Springsteen when he would belt out “Glory Days.” And some of us of a certain age now, when getting together with friends, are living it. Other than the drinking part. Art informs life sometimes. Until later …