Few’s first dance: How the 2000 Zags overcame numerous hurdles to avoid becoming one-hit wonders | West Coast Conclusion

Gonzaga’s legendary run to the 1999 Elite Eight built the foundation for one of the most inconceivable stories in college basketball history.

The Zags, who had one NCAA Tournament appearance prior to 1999, haven’t missed one since, elevating the small, Jesuit institution into the national limelight.

The ’99 squad’s iconic March left the ensuing team with a tough act to follow. The 2000 Zags, led by first-time head coach Mark Few, were charged with returning to the Big Dance, fully aware they weren’t sneaking up on anybody on their schedule.

How does one avoid becoming a one-hit wonder, like so many upstarts that crash the NCAA Tournament one year only to fade into the background the next? By dunking on an eventual No. 1 draft pick. By beating 11th-ranked UCLA at Pauley Pavilion with famed coach John Wooden in attendance. By stunning the Big East Tournament champions.

By avenging a regular-season loss to Pepperdine for the West Coast Conference Tournament title, knowing a loss meant no March Madness.

This is a look back at the 2000 Zags, who forged their own identity while maintaining a chip – more accurately a boulder – on their shoulders that fueled the ’99 team.

“My first thought of that season is we definitely didn’t want to be a one-hit wonder,” said point guard Matt Santangelo, who averaged 13.2 points and 6.4 assists. “But we were also really thin, maybe played seven guys and then we lost (WCC Defensive Player of the Year) Mike Nilson (to an Achilles injury) in the conference tournament.

“Assistant coach Leon Rice has said this: Us beating Pepperdine in the championship game doesn’t get maybe the recognition or acknowledgment for the importance in the run. If we lost, we weren’t going to the tournament.”

The Few factor

Gonzaga had concerns entering the season, but Few’s promotion to head coach wasn’t one of them. He had been on staff for a decade before replacing Dan Monson, who left for the Minnesota job.

“After losing Monson, there was that blow, but then, ‘Okay, what’s next?’ And again, you leaned on your teammates. We had a strong team and we knew it,” said guard Richie Frahm, GU’s leading scorer at 16.9 points. “The culture wasn’t going to change much with coach Few and (assistant) Billy (Grier) on the staff.

“We had that bond with coach Few. He was kind of one of us, like a big brother.”

Few guided Gonzaga to a 26-9 record, 11-3 in conference. The Zags dropped three of four late in the regular season, falling into second place behind Pepperdine.

“Mark had been the lead on my recruiting,” forward Casey Calvary said. “He came to Bellarmine (Prep in Tacoma) right after he and (wife) Marcy had been in a car accident and he was pretty banged up. We had lunch in the cafeteria.

“He was a competitor and he wanted the guys on the floor that wanted to win. It was just perfect for me.”

Navigating a tough nonconference slate

Gonzaga, with seniors Santangelo, Nilson, Frahm, Ryan Floyd and Axel Dench, and juniors Calvary and Mark Spink returning from the ’99 team, cracked the AP preseason rankings at No. 24. The Zags climbed to No. 22 after opening with double-digit wins over Montana, Eastern Washington, Washington State and Boise State.

The schedule turned considerably tougher with No. 1 Cincinnati, No. 19 Temple and UCLA in a row, followed soon thereafter by four more power-conference foes.

GU lost to Cincinnati 75-68 in Cleveland and fell to Temple 64-48 in Chicago before breaking through against UCLA, 59-43.

In one memorable sequence against Cincinnati, Calvary hammered home a dunk on eventual No. 1 draft pick Kenyon Martin, absorbing a cut near his left eye from a Martin elbow that required five stitches.

Cincinnati was “our chance to showcase ourselves on a national stage,” said Calvary, who averaged 13.4 points and a team-leading 6.4 rebounds. The Zags came up short but Calvary maintained a positive outlook because they pushed the top-ranked team without their A game.

Floyd buried five 3-pointers and scored 17 points to lead GU past UCLA, which had five future NBA players to GU’s one (Frahm).

“The Ryan Floyd game,” Calvary said. “He didn’t get a ton of opportunities throughout his career, but every time he got a good chance, he stepped up. We played so hard. They had no answers.”

There were more growing pains with a pair of close losses at a Hawaii tournament to Oregon and Colorado, the latter receiving 12 points from Richard Fox, who later transferred to Gonzaga.

Those setbacks dropped GU, already out of the top 25, to 8-5.

“Our record was more indicative of the schedule than our level of play.” Santangelo said.

Riding conference roller coaster

The Zags rebounded with 11 consecutive wins, including nine straight to open conference play. But the title slipped away with losses at Pepperdine, home versus San Diego and at Santa Clara – three teams GU defeated the first time around.

“That was probably the toughest year,” Calvary said. “Everybody was so excited to play us, we had a Top 25 designation, everyone knew their highlights would be on ESPN. We had to learn how to adjust with that target on our backs. Everything we’d used as partial fuel the year before had to change for us. We had to find our identity.”

“Looking back, teams in that era had to lose,” Frahm noted. “You had to find out what you weren’t good at and get better through the year.”

WCC Tournament revenge

The Zags were certain they would be on the wrong side of the bubble if they didn’t capture the WCC Tournament title at Santa Clara’s Toso Pavilion.

“Even back then, we always knew the conference was a one-bid league,” Santangelo said.

After all, the Zags had been down this path before. The 1998 Zags upset No. 5 Clemson in Anchorage and won the WCC regular-season title before falling to San Francisco in the championship game.

“We had so much scar tissue from ’98,” Calvary said of his freshman year. “We sat there in Monson’s basement watching the selection show and they skipped right over us. We had to go to Laramie, Wyoming (in the NIT).”

“The committee wasn’t going to do us any favors,” Frahm said. “Everybody put their hat on, ‘They’re a one-shot wonder, Cinderella.’ My thought was, ‘Cinderella my ass. We’re coming back.’ ”

So they did. The Zags routed Saint Mary’s and then handled San Diego 80-70 behind the combined 53 points, 14 rebounds and 14 assists from Frahm, Santangelo and Calvary.

Tournament MVP Calvary poured in 28 points in a tense, 69-65 overtime win against the Waves. Frahm scored seven of his 12 in the extra session.

The streak was born. GU was dancing for the second straight year.

Another magical March

Tenth-seeded Gonzaga took down Denny Crum-led Louisville 77-66 in the first round behind Frahm’s 31 points. Frahm hustled to swat Quintin Bailey’s breakaway dunk attempt and then hit one of his four 3-pointers at the other end to give GU a 52-48 lead.

Crum was tagged with a technical for complaining Frahm should have been called for a foul and the Zags’ lead quickly swelled to 60-52.

“We had 24 turnovers. You look at the stat sheet and you don’t win that game, but for whatever reason we knew we were going to win,” Frahm said. “They couldn’t handle our defense and they kept giving us opportunities. They kind of forgot about me as the game went on and our team was one that would get it to the right guy.”

Next up: Second-seeded St. John’s, ranked ninth and one of the hottest teams in the nation. Santangelo dominated with 26 points, six 3-pointers and five assists and Spink had a highlight-reel dunk on Bootsy Thornton – “harder than anyone I’ve seen get dunked on in my life,” Calvary said – in Gonzaga’s 82-76 win.

“That was Matt’s game,” Frahm said. “He knew some of those guys from USA Basketball (St. John’s standout Erick Barkley and Santangelo were teammates on the American team that won gold at the 1999 World University Games in Spain). His aggressiveness came out right away.”

Santangelo’s performance was similar to his 22 points, six rebounds and six assists in an 82-74 win over second-seeded Stanford in the 1999 NCAA Tournament.

“I was joking with Matt last year,” Frahm said. “How many times has Gonzaga beaten a two-seed in the tournament? Two of those three wins are when Matt played good so his nickname is the two-seed killer.”

Sixth-seeded Purdue ended GU’s season 75-66. Calvary scored 20 points and Dench capped a strong three-game tournament with 14 points after tallying 31 in GU’s two wins.

Few’s evolution as head coach

The Zags have never missed the NCAA Tournament in Few’s 27 seasons. Few’s teams are 44-25 in March Madness.

“I would say that his bag is much deeper now,” Calvary said. “Whatever he comes up against, he has some sort of solution or idea to throw at it.”

The 2017 team reached the national championship game with a top-rated defense while the 2021 outfit featured a record-setting offense.

“He’s always had that chip on his shoulder, which I appreciated,” Frahm said. “He’s evolved with his techniques and dialogue with how he handles players. He’s been around good people, (Dan) Fitzgerald, Monson, at USA Basketball. He has that swagger.”

“From 2000 to say 2015, every year was a first,” Santangelo said. “The (Dan) Dickau experience, ‘Ammo’ (Adam Morrison), how to prepare and coach (Kelly) Olynyk and a No. 1 team. All those steps were necessary along the path for coach Few to become coach Few.

“With all that experience, it helps you enjoy it a little bit more with so many different types of players and teams. Every year was this huge superlative that built and built and built over 25 seasons or more. Twenty-six years later for me, it’s just amazing to be part of it.”