The Dominant Basketball Program In A Conference Is Leaving. So Why Aren't Their Opponents Celebrating?

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The men’s hoops squad astatine Gonzaga was doomed — aliases truthful nan coach of nan small, Jesuit assemblage would lament.

Dan Monson chuckles now astatine nan memory. In nan early 1990s he was a young Gonzaga adjunct who would perceive arsenic his boss, Dan Fitzgerald, nan Bulldogs’ coach who died successful 2010, would laic retired to Monson and Mark Few, different assistant, each nan reasons why occurrence successful Spokane, Washington, seemed Sisyphean.

Convincing recruits to play astatine nan school’s distant campus? Brutally difficult successful a convention wherever Gonzaga’s rivals played successful cities for illustration San Diego, San Francisco, Portland and Los Angeles. The weather? Icy. Gonzaga’s tradition? Outside of alumnus John Stockton, almost non-existent.

“And he was correct astatine nan time,” Monson recalled recently. “He’d show Mark and I each nan clip that Gonzaga is nan worst occupation successful nan West Coast Conference.”

Such a conception seems absurd now.

This week, Gonzaga played successful its 27th consecutive NCAA Tournament, an progressive streak only eclipsed by Kansas and Michigan State, and won its 17th consecutive opening-round game. The Bulldogs person played for 2 nationalist championships and gone 56-6 successful nan West Coast Conference tourney successful 27 years since Few was tapped to go nan caput coach aft Monson departed for a occupation successful a bigger conference.

As Gonzaga has authored possibly nan astir ascendant tally complete a convention successful nan history of assemblage basketball, Monson has received countless telephone calls from coaches and administrators each asking for proposal that erstwhile mightiness person seemed unthinkable: How tin we beryllium nan adjacent Gonzaga?

“It’s conscionable specified a unique, unbelievable communicative successful sports, fto unsocial basketball,” said Bill Grier, a Colorado adjunct who started his profession connected Gonzaga’s unit and later coached WCC rival San Diego. “(You) person a small programme that had ne'er moreover been to nan (NCAA) tourney til 1995 and past now look astatine what’s been accomplished done Final Fours and title games.”

It is “a travel dissimilar immoderate assemblage programme successful nan country,” West Coast Conference commissioner Stu Jackson told NBC News.

As nan Zags became a nationalist marque synonymous pinch March, nan remainder of their WCC opponents did not. In a convention that often earned conscionable 1 NCAA tourney berth per season, Loyola Marymount (1990), Portland (1996), Pepperdine (2002) and San Diego (2008) person gone a procreation aliases much since their past quality successful March Madness. Santa Clara’s tourney berth this twelvemonth was its first since 1996.

Life successful nan WCC meant knowing “one of those (NCAA Tournament) bids are going to spell to Gonzaga. They’re going to spell because they’re conscionable a powerhouse,” said Gyno Pomare, a erstwhile San Diego large man from 2005-09. “But nan only different measurement to get location is winning nan tournament.”

Led by Pomare and coached by Grier, San Diego won nan convention tourney successful 2008. San Francisco did successful 1998, arsenic well. But they’re nan outliers. Since 1998, Gonzaga won nan convention tourney title, and nan automatic berth to nan NCAA Tournament that came pinch it, 22 times, and Saint Mary’s 4 times. Gonzaga’s tourney title earlier this period was its 12th successful nan past 14 years.

“You had immoderate fantabulous coaches successful that league, you know,” said Phil Matthews, San Francisco’s coach successful 1998. “And it was a conflict for 2nd place.”

“We haven’t missed an NCAA Tournament and we won games successful nan NCAA Tournament truthful that’s I deliberation acold and distant nan bequest that I’m astir proud of,” Few said aft nan latest conference-title triumph this month.

But this summer, nan agelong protector it formed complete nan remainder of nan WCC will recede arsenic Gonzaga leaves for nan reconstituted Pac-12 Conference. If you were expecting nan exit of a hoops behemoth to beryllium shouted passim nan remainder of a convention agelong starved for NCAA Tournament exposure, though, deliberation again. Gonzaga’s translator into a perennial top-10 squad brought relevance and gross to nan remainder of nan convention that won’t easily, aliases quickly, beryllium replaced.

“Being a competitor, no, I’m not happy they’re leaving,” said Pomare, who said playing Gonzaga doubly each play provided 2 high-profile opportunities to impressment nan NCAA Tournament action committee.

Jackson, nan WCC Commissioner, acknowledged that nan small schoolhouse had go nan WCC’s “biggest brand” successful basketball.

“Every personnel successful nan conference, some financially and from a marque standpoint successful our convention arsenic a whole, has benefited,” he said. “And you know, we are sad to spot them go. But we understand, and from a West Coast Conference perspective, we wish them thing but nan best.

“But that said, now comes opportunity. And I person gotten a sense, not conscionable now, but complete nan past mates years, a consciousness that schools are trying to position themselves to return advantage of that opportunity.”

Part of nan reticence to cheer Gonzaga’s departure is that while its occurrence was bad news for galore convention opponents connected nan court, it was besides large business.

Teams that triumph games successful nan NCAA Tournament gain a “unit,” a portion of tourney revenue, that goes to their convention and is later distributed among its members. Gonzaga’s 47 wins successful March Madness created a dependable windfall. An analysis by nan Associated Press successful 2018 estimated Gonzaga had generated much than $51 cardinal to nan WCC since 1999. As different conference, nan Mountain West, courting Gonzaga successful 2018, nan WCC changed its revenue-sharing rules to springiness schools that won aggregate games successful a fixed tourney a larger portion of nan pastry — a alteration that applied to immoderate member, but applied successful believe almost ever to Gonzaga.

Since 2024, erstwhile Gonzaga announced its volition to time off for nan Pac-12, half of each “unit” earned successful nan NCAA Tournament goes to nan schoolhouse that earned it, Jackson said; nan different half goes to nan conference, which distributes it among different members.

Monson believed Gonzaga’s departure “had to mean disaster for nan management of these different schools, because nan magnitude of money and nickname that Gonzaga brought that convention is uncharted, unmatched,” he said. “But for coaches, they had to beryllium ecstatic — because nan opportunity to spell to nan tourney was conscionable ne'er there.”

Little astir this would person been predicted successful 1999, erstwhile Monson near Gonzaga to coach astatine Minnesota connected nan heels of starring nan Bulldogs to a stunning tally to nan NCAA Tournament’s Elite Eight. His logic for leaving, he said, was knowing that teams atop nan competitory WCC seldom stayed location for long.

As Few took complete successful Spokane, though, nan schoolhouse didn’t want its infinitesimal to gaffe away. It poured money into a caller arena, scheduled games against blueblood opponents connected neutral courts successful beforehand of nationalist tv audiences, and utilized that vulnerability to enlistee astir nan globe. Few ne'er left, creating an unmatched continuity.

“They realized earlier immoderate different programme that, ‘We’re going to put money and resources into basketball,’” said Matthews, nan erstwhile San Francisco coach who saw it first-hand erstwhile his boy played connected Gonzaga’s 2017 Final Four team.

Jackson, nan WCC Commissioner, has worked arsenic a caput coach successful assemblage and nan NBA, and later arsenic a high-ranking NBA executive. This play marked only nan 4th clip nan WCC had sent 3 teams to nan NCAA Tournament. Still, he believes investments astir nan convention into hoops could support it a multi-bid convention contempt nan exit of Gonzaga, whose nationalist beingness helped opponents’ spot of schedule.

Pepperdine is building an on-campus arena, San Francisco and San Diego person each built a caller believe installation and Loyola Marymount has renovated its longtime arena.

“There’s immoderate bully signs pinch having caller members coupled pinch nan accrued level of finance committedness amongst our existing members,” he said. “So, I deliberation we’re going to beryllium OK.”