Gonzaga Bulldogs Men's basketball, thanks in large part to recent success, has become the most successful athletic program for the Bulldogs of Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington. Despite playing in the "mid-major" West Coast Conference, the Gonzaga Bulldogs have come to be regarded as one of the nation's elite collegiate powers in the last decade. Gonzaga played in the Big Sky Conference until the 1979-80 season. Since 1992, Gonzaga has won more games than any other program in the three Pacific states,with 380 wins. Gonzaga is one of only nine schools to have reached each of the past nine NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournaments, and is the only school not from a major conference to do so. In 2004, Gonzaga earned its highest-ever national ranking, ending the season as the AP #3 in the final polls. At the conclusion of the 2006-07 season, current Coach Mark Few ranks fourth on the all-time NCAA D-I wins list for coaches in their eighth year with 211 wins, an average of 26 per season.
Gonzaga home games have been played at the McCarthey Athletic Center since 2004. The Bulldogs opened the arena with a 38-game win streak, the longest in the NCAA at the time. The streak was eventually snapped in February 2007 by the Santa Clara Broncos. When combined with 12 wins at home in the old Kennel (Charlotte Y. Martin Centre), the overall home win streak ended at 50 games.
Before the Mark Few era, Gonzaga was best known by many basketball fans as the college of NBA Hall of Famer John Stockton. Starting with the program's success in the late 90s a number of players have joined the list of notable alumni. That includes forwards/centers like J. P. Batista, the L.A. Lakers Adam Morrison, the Golden State Warriors Ronny Turiaf, Cory Violette, and Casey Calvary. However, Gonzaga basketball is perhaps best known for its guard play. Successful guards include Richie Frahm, Dan Dickau, Blake Stepp, Matt Santangelo, and Derek Raivio (the latter four have all earned at least All-American Honorable Mention Awards). Current Bulldogs players that may soon join the pantheon of Gonzaga greats include senior point guard Jeremy Pargo (2008 West Coast Conference player of the year), sophomore forwards Austin Daye and Steven Gray, junior guard Matt Bouldin, and senior forward Josh Heytvelt.
Coach Mark Few has presided over Gonzaga's rise to the elite level of collegiate basketball. In ten years as an assistant and the past 8 as head coach, Few has led Gonzaga to remarkable heights. At the start of the 2007-08 season, Few was tied with Roy Williams of the North Carolina Tar Heels with an .802 win percentage, highest among active coaches in D-I. Gonzaga's home and conference records are impressive under Few, as well. Since 1999, the Bulldogs' home record stands at 114-5 (.964), and GU is 113-12 (.904) in WCC play.
During Few's tenure as head coach, Gonzaga has won 7 consecutive regular-season conference titles (splitting the title with Pepperdine in 2002). In the WCC Tournament, Few's Gonzaga teams have won 7 of the last 9 championships, including four of the last five (The University of San Diego defeated Gonzaga in the title game in 2003 and 2008). A member of Few's team has won WCC Player of the Year each of the last 7 years. Few has coached winners of 7 AP All-American Honorable Mention awards, 2 AP or Wooden Second Team All-American awards, and 2 AP and Wooden First Team All-Americans (Dan Dickau, 2002; Adam Morrison, 2006)
Gonzaga basketball was thrown into the national spotlight in the 1998-99 season, when an unexpected run to the Elite Eight and victories over the bracket's #2, 6, and 7 seeds made the Bulldogs an unlikely story and "Cinderella" underdog, a characterization that would stick to the program for a few years to come.
Gonzaga has yet to appear in a Final Four, but they do not lack tournament experience or success. The Bulldogs have advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament in 7 of the last 9 years. The margin of defeat in Gonzaga's recent tournament losses is remarkably slim: in losses to #1 UConn, #1 Arizona, #2 UCLA, and #6 Texas Tech since 1999, the Bulldogs lost by an average of 2.5 points.
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