Sunday Musings...

Just a few Sunday morning shower thoughts...

--Gonzaga fans need to begin understanding the way in which Mark Few recruits. Few rarely sticks with the first wave of players that he has interest in. We've seen this in the past two recruiting stints; they mirror themselves quite well in fact. 2008 recruiting gave us names such as Jordan Theodore, Rotnei Clarke, and Brad Tinsley. The only one from the initial recruiting swing that Gonzaga stuck with was Andy Poling. Both Demetri Goodson and Grant Gibbs were on the Zags radar relatively late.

2009 is starting out the same way. We were infatuated with guys like Joe Burton, Anthony Marshall, Bak Bak, etc etc and now all those players have committed to other schools or have fallen off the face of the Earth. The only one that has hung on to last through the first wave is Sam Dower and he is a favorite to become a Zag for the next four years. Mind you, this is only Few's tendencies in the United States (I can't figure out the trend for Canada recruiting, but I like it!)

Recruiting in 2009 has been an interesting process but I still am not worried. I was thinking the other day about how much Brock Osweiler still being a commit would make this recruiting season so much simpler.

--One of my favorite parts about being a Gonzaga fan is how we are the gold standard for the mid-major institution. Browsing the web today I stumbled across the Southern Illinois message board and they have mentioned our excellent program as well (if you scroll down their is a good discussion involving us). Apparently SIU hopes and thinks they can overtake us and make a final four. Looking at the mid-major ranks, and yes we are still a mid-major, Gonzaga and Xavier are the only two schools that have really burst through the Cinderella bubble and established themselves as a legit school to be dealt with. Teams like SIU, George Mason, Creighton, Drake etc are still on the line of "fun stories". I'm not sure where to place Butler yet. You expect Xavier and Gonzaga to have high seeds come tourney time and to make it far in the tournament, otherwise it is a disappointment.

This is why it feels like all the mid-majors are chasing the ghost of Gonzaga basketball. Our cinderella story died with the explosion of Adam Morrison and we were taken to a completely major level.