A Grip on Sports: Gonzaga coach Mark Few was at his best this WCC season, navigating the rapids with a boat losing ballast

A GRIP ON SPORTS • Do you believe in miracles? It may just be time to start answering yes to that question, at least how it relates to Gonzaga men’s basketball right now. It seems as if the West Coast Conference coaches certainly do. Guess that tracks, considering it is (mostly) a collection of Catholic schools.

•••••••

• This is Gonzaga’s final WCC run. After nearly 50 years, the last half of which the men (and women) have dominated. Year in, year out, Mark Few’s teams win the conference title. Sometimes going undefeated. Sometimes losing a weird game or two – as was the case this season.

Even with the blemish that is the Feb. 4 loss at ninth-place Portland, Few’s team won a share of the WCC title (with Saint Mary’s) and earned the top seed for the postseason tournament. After that, it will play in the NCAA’s tournament for the 27th consecutive year.

But none of that is miraculous. Nope. It’s the residue of everything Few and Gonzaga have invested in the program. Time. Money. Heart. Most importantly, attracting and developing the right players.

Which brings us to the miracle that was this conference season. The WCC has been deeper the past two years, what with the addition of former Pac-12 programs Washington State and Oregon State. The continuing elevation of Santa Clara’s program helped too, though it was partially offset by San Francisco’s drop off.

No matter. The Zags, after a one-loss nonconference run, entered as the prohibitive favorites. Though no one could have predicted what was about to happen up front.

Graham Ike was Graham Ike, except for the three games he missed due to injury. Braden Huff was Braden Huff, until he was no longer available after injuring his knee in early January. Jalen Warley was, well, quite possibly the best defensive player in the country, until he was slowed and then had to sit due to a leg injury. And yet, Gonzaga won. And won. And won. Not losing until after Huff’s injury, despite Warley playing basically on one leg for a few weeks.

How did it happen? Saint Mary’s coach Randy Bennett, no stranger to WCC success, pointed toward Few last week, saying publicly he felt what the Hall of Fame-nominee did this season was special. But, apparently, not special enough. Not for the conference’s coaches.

They decide the WCC’s awards. The first and second teams. Honorable mention. Freshmen. The player of the year, defensive player, newcomer, sixth man, freshman. And coach.

Gonzaga dominated the players’ awards, right? No. Ike was named the Player of the Year. Davis Fogle, who moved into the Bulldogs’ rotation early in the conference season, and Mario Saint-Supery, who has been in-and-out of the starting lineup (mostly in), made the all-freshman team.

That’s it.

Co-champ Saint Mary’s had three first-team selections and one freshman. Santa Clara, which finished third, going 1-3 against the top two, had the Freshman of the Year and Sixth Man of the Year, Allen Graves, who was also among the Broncos’ three first-team selections.

The rest of the all-conference honors were spread out, thinly, among the remaining nine schools.

How the heck did Gonzaga, with one player among the 15 first- and second-team honorees, finish 16-2 in the conference? There are two possible explanations. Few did an incredible job. Or it was a miracle.

The coaches went with option two. Santa Clara’s Herb Sendek was their choice for Coach of the Year. OK then.

Over the past 25 years, Few has won 14 of the awards, though none since 2021. It’s possible to make a case not all were deserved. Maybe this season is just a simple way to illustrate how things even out. That’s fine.

But I’m cynical. It’s a prerequisite for the job. After spending decades dealing with people trying to manipulate you, saying one thing on the record but so much more off it, it’s easy to get that way.

The whole process seems more like a goodbye “gift” for Few and Gonzaga.

They’re leaving. Taking their national reputation and stature and heading to the rebuilt Pac-12. After residing in the WCC for parts of six decades, next season they will be in a new neighborhood.

Santa Clara will still be around. So will everyone else except the two-year renters, WSU and OSU.

Ike was so much better than everyone else, denying him the Player of the Year award was darn near impossible. But Few, Warley, who had a strong case for the defensive player award, Tyon Grant-Foster, whose extra year of eligibility took a court ruling to earn, and everyone else connected to the Zags could be denied. And were.

In Few’s case, it seems extra petty. He’s spent 26 years kicking the behind of every coach in the league. He did it again this season. Yes, the roster was deep, but there were holes, especially offensively. He found ways to overcome them, as well as one major injury and another pretty-major one. And won 16 games. No one won more.

It wasn’t enough. Not for the doubting Thomases of the WCC.

•••

WSU: The Cougars finished in the middle of the WCC men’s pack. But they had two players earn honors, most notably freshman Ace Glass, who was named to the all-freshman team as well as the conference-wide second team. Junior forward ND Okafor earned honorable mention honors. Greg Woods has this story. … The most-unexpected story with a Pullman connection today? This one from The Athletic on New Zealand import Nathaniel Salmon, a 22-year-old freshman tight end who has never played football before. He’s 6-foot-6 and 276 pounds so there is that. … Elsewhere in the (current, old and future) Pac-12 and the nation, Jon Wilner has his Big 12 men’s rankings in the Mercury News. … Wilner also has a look at Cal’s finances. The revenue side of things? Not good. … Arizona State, in what possibly could be Bobby Hurley’s last home game as its coach, upset No. 14 Kansas 70-60 on Tuesday night. KU coach Bill Self offered  Hurley the most-appropriate tribute he could. He was assessed two technical fouls and was ejected. … Oregon’s regular season is ending just as it started. The Ducks were blown out by No. 11 Illinois. … UCLA posted its best win of the season, running ninth-ranked Nebraska out of Pauley Pavilion. … USC’s decision to say goodbye to guard Chad Baker-Mazara impacts the entire roster. … Colorado started fast and then had to struggle to hold off Utah on the road. … Utah State could have clinched the Mountain West title. Instead, Jerrod Calhoun’s Aggies lost at UNLV. … San Diego State could not take advantage, losing handily at Boise State on the Broncos’ Senior Night. … Colorado State has a tough one at New Mexico tonight before the MWC tourney. … Jeff Metcalfe has his West Coast women’s rankings in the Mercury News. … Oregon will open Big Ten tournament play against Purdue. … For Cal and Stanford to make the NCAA Tournament, they will have to play well in the ACC tourney.

• In football news, John Canzano focuses today on those schools not in the Power 4 and wonders who will speak for them. … Washington, which just hired a former NFL assistant, holds its junior day this weekend. … USC began spring practice Tuesday, once again carrying high expectations into the workouts. … Arizona’s roster is different as it begins spring ball.

Gonzaga: Theo Lawson covers Ike’s award and the rest of the WCC’s in this story. … The women’s awards were announced Tuesday as well, with Gonzaga’s Lauren Whittaker the conference’s Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year. Greg Lee has that info along with more on the rest of the Zags and Cougars honored. … It’s Wednesday, so Jim Meehan and Richard Fox have a Zags Basketball Insiders podcast. You can listen here if you want.

EWU and Idaho: Around the Big Sky, the Idaho State men and women did not enjoy their last regular season games. … The conference tournament opens soon for the women and men. … Can Portland State play better than it has recently and win the men’s title? … Whenever Sacramento State’s general manager shows up a game, it’s a huge deal. … In football news, Montana did not lose a single player after announcing its new coach.

Preps: Yep, it’s that time of the year in Spokane. The State B tournaments at the Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena. Time to head through the park and have a German sausage for breakfast. Wait, that’s what I used to do when I worked downtown. Now I just link stories. Dan Thompson did all the preview work, with stories on the 2B boys, the 2B girls, the 1B boys and the 1B girls.

Indians: Former Spokane standout Chase Dollander is about to become crucial to the Rockies’ starting staff this season.

Mariners: We linked this Times projection of the opening day roster yesterday. It is on the S-R site today. We link it again. … How is the ABS system working? Just fine. … J.P. Crawford knows what time it is in his career. … Bryan Woo was sharp once again.

Seahawks: Kenneth Walker will be a free agent. Will he leave Seattle? … Hey, Arizona Cardinal Kyler Murray is going to be available. Anyone need a backup quarterback?

Sounders: A defenseman hopes the USMNT will call.

•••       

• Ascribing petty actions to people is not something anyone wants to do. But in reality, it happens all the time. I know few who don’t indulge once in a while, including myself. It’s not logical to think a group of college basketball coaches can’t act that way occasionally. It’s human nature. Until later …