Zags Around the Web and Other WCC Musings...

Whether you agree with it or not, this year's Gonzaga team is getting tons of love from the press.  After two blowouts in which the Zags showed little to no weakness, this praise looks to be deserved.  Just think about this.  In the first game against MSU-B, Michael Hall scored the last 14 points of the first half against the Bulldogs.  In the first half last night, Idaho could only muster up 11 points.  Beautiful.

--  If you missed last night's Arizona-UAB game, it was probably a good thing but ESPN analyst and hairstyle enthusiast Steven Lavin ranked the Zags as the second best team in the West.  Obviously he has UCLA as the best team out West.  Gonzaga was followed by USC, Arizona State, and fellow WCC team St. Mary's.  It's hard to disagree with the ranking because of how good UCLA has been in the past few years but if you watched them against Miami of Ohio, it's clear to see that they are vulnerable.  As far as the Gonzaga-Arizona match up goes...let's just hope Kyle Fogg and Jamelle Horne are on the floor as much as possible for the 'Cats.

-- In some surprising news to me, former Gonzaga prospect Jeff Reid has signed a letter of intent with St. Louis University.  The Zags were extremely off and on with Reid.  They loved him early on and then seemed to move away but then Reid showed up at Gonzaga's Elite Camp.  I liked Reid and thought he would end up at Kansas State.  Best of luck to Jeff.  

-- The next opponent for the Gonzaga Bulldogs is the Cowboys of Oklahoma State.  The 'Pokes are 2-0 on the young season.   They beat Texas-San Antonio by 19 in their first game and beat North Texas by 12 points two nights ago.  Oklahoma State has two more games before they match up with the Zags.  They will play Tulsa on Thursday and Grambling State on the 23rd of November

Looking at how the rest of the WCC fared in recent action.

• Santa Clara's John Bryant had 23 second half points but it wasn't enough in SCU's four point loss to Florida Atlantic, 65-61
• A very good BYU team routed the Pepperdine Waves, 82-53
• A well contested in-state rivalry ended in a Portland State victory over the Portland Pilots.  The question now is how much will the Vikings beat UW by when the face off in December.
• San Diego welcomed back Gyno Pomare in their very impressive victory over Nevada, 65-51.  The Torero's shut down super freshman Luke Babbitt, who only had three points.
• A very inconsistent San Francisco team kept their most recent match up with Cal very close.  Cal won by 10 but, in good news for the Dons, Manny Quezada and Dior Lowhorn had excellent games with 27 and 20 points, respectively.
• St. Mary's looked excellent at home in their 14 point victory over Fresno State, 99-85.  Patty Mills had 27 points and Omar Samhan pulled down 13 rebounds...but this video is probably the thing everyone will remember from that game.

WCC Review

With the convincing 83-52 victory over Montana St. Billings, Gonzaga began what should be an incredible year for the Zags. However, GU was not the only WCC team to being their season this weekend. Here is a recap of the performance from the rest of the WCC.

- The best victory of the weekend easily belongs to the Portland Pilots. The Pilots kicked off their season with an impressive 80-74 win over the Washington Huskies. Portland was led by Robin Smeulders, who scored 20 points on the night. However, the most impressive aspect of the Portland win, was the balance and depth they displayed. I had thought that it would probably be another season before Eric Reveno was able to turn around the program, but it appears that Portland is certainly heading in the right direction.

- USF earned another impressive victory for the WCC, as they travelled to Hawaii and earned a 75-70 victory over the Rainbows. The Dons were led by Blake Wallace who scored 21 points and Dior Lowhorn who scored 16. USF is currently playing Texas St. in the finale of the Verizon Wireless Tip-off Classic, and hopefully the Dons can stay unbeaten.

- St. Mary's, Santa Clara, and Pepperdine all coasted to victories in their debuts. The Gaels dominated Seattle Pacific from start-to-finish in their 86-55 win. Patty Mills led the Gaels with 15 points and 8 assists. Santa Clara had little trouble in their 68-40 victory over CSU East Bay. John Bryant went for a double-double, as he scored 19 points and grabbed 11 rebounds. Tom Asbury was able to secure a victory in his return to the Pepperdine bench. The Waves needed all 25 points from Mychel Thompson, as they struggled to a 91-82 victory over Cal State Monterey Bay (TKR Note: As I was writing this, Pepperdine lost 66-65 against Arkansas Little-Rock).

- One of the most impressive performances of the weekend came in defeat, as USD fell to UNLV 65-60. The Toreros traveled to Las Vegas without the services of Gyno Pomare, Clinton Houston, and Trumaine Johnson, as all three were suspended for a violation of team rules. However, USD was able to compete with a UNLV team that began the season just outside the top 25. USD got terrific performances from both Rob Jones and Brandon Johnson, as they scored 19 and 14 points respectively.

- Sadly, I must now recap the weekend for the LMU Lions. There is no question how bright the future is at LMU under Bill Bayno, but there is no denying that this season will be a struggle. The Lions have started the season with an 0-3 record, that includes losses to Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Iowa St., and UC Davis. Vernon Teel has been the top performer for the Lions, as he has scored in double-digits in all three games. It does not get any easier for LMU, as they host Notre Dame this Friday.

Monday Night's Zags Around the Web

The basketball season officially began tonight with the Duke Blue Devils dismantling Presbyterian. What does this mean to the basketball fan? Basically that the first few weeks of college basketball are excruciatingly slow. Most high major schools like Gonzaga schedule some "ego-boosters" to get them ready for the non-conference schedule. The good part of this all means that the predictions and prognostications are all out the window soon and all that is left is some college basketball.

For now, we'll just humor you with some inklings from the college basketball world...

-- The digging for information on the Texas-Gonzaga scrimmage in Colorado continues. We are relatively sure about a few things and one of those is that the Zags came away victorious. We should have more information for you guys tomorrow from a first hand source but until then we will continue to wonder.

-- Some very happy news is on the way and that is the Early Signing Period for 2009 recruits. The signing period begins on November 12th and Sam Dower and Mangisto Arop are slated to be the first signatures received for Mark Few. There have been rumors about some mystery recruits floating around. TKR will keep you updated if these rumors turn into fact.

-- One rumor we are very happy to see is the status of Bol Kong. Kong has been battling a very difficult battle after committing to Gonzaga. Due to some Visa issues, Kong, a Sudanese native, has been unable to get into the country. The perfect scenario was to have him here at the start of the year but that has obviously been delayed. Kong is priority number one for the staff and they have been working very hard on his situation and it appears that the outcome may be positive and he may be a Bulldog very soon. Kong is rumored to be one of the most talented players to come along in quite some time. Many scouts have hinted that if Kong joined the Zags today, he would be one of the most talented players on the team from jump street.

-- The Internet is kind of a strange place and proof of that is this preseason rankings by Addicott Web. I'm not really sure what it's all about but they have the Zags at 11th to start the year...I hope he likes our new school website.

-- Yard Barker, a sports site, has broken down the West Coast Conference. No surprise that they have Gonzaga as the top-ranked team in the WCC but they peg USD as the second best team in the conference. Saint Mary's is barely on the outside of the top 25 so I was surprised that they had USD there but there can definitely be a debate for either team being there. Even more surprising is that they have Gonzaga as the only team from the WCC making the NCAA Tournament. Methinks that this site does not know too much about the Saint Mary's Gaels because I think the WCC will definitely be a two bid conference this year, if not three.

-- In one of my favorite preseason breakdowns, the Sporting News broke down the NCAA in a bunch of categories of superlatives. Gonzaga was a top-5 team in two of his categories including the fourth best offense in the nation and the second team with the most potential to improve upon. I think that both of these rankings are spot on. Led by Austin Daye, Gonzaga has tons of potential and if they maximize it, the results should be excellent. In his breakdown of best offenses, the authors writes that for the Zags to be as good as projected, Josh Heytvelt has to excel and once again he is correct. Heytvelt is the lynch pin of this offense and he must be dominant if Gonzaga is going to be a final four team.

-- I was able to dig up this video in case you were unable to make it out to Kraziness in the Kennel...ugh...can we please start playing some basketball?

Gonzaga Tops in WCC Preseason Poll

Gonzaga has been the face of the West Coast Conference since the days of Calvary, Santangelo, and Dickau. During the subsequent years, the WCC has been looked at as an inferior conference. This is no longer the case. Recently, programs like Saint Mary's and San Diego have cemented their respective places in the national picture. Think about it, the two most recent basketball related stories in the WCC have not come from Spokane, Washington. San Diego had an excellent showing in last year's NCAA tournament, defeating UConn in one of the most exciting games of the tournament. This summer, Patty Mills blew up at the Olympic games in China. Both these stories have brought some welcome notoriety to the conference.

Today in Las Vegas was the WCC's media day and the day in which they voted on preseason rankings and All-Conference players. Everyone expected the preseason poll to be tight and that proved to be true as the Zags narrowly escaped with the #1 spot.

2008-09 WCC Men's Basketball Preseason Coaches Poll
1. Gonzaga - 46 (5)
2. Saint Mary's - 44 (2)
3. San Diego - 39 (1)
4. Santa Clara - 30
5. San Francisco - 23
6. Portland - 19
7. Loyola Marymount - 12
8. Pepperdine - 11
(First place votes)

This poll should bring smiles to the faces of everyone who has had to hear about how bad the public thinks the WCC is. Gonzaga is one of the national favorites to make a title run. If the Zags were expected to make a deep title run five years ago, they would be the dominating favorite to win the WCC but that is not how the West Coast Conference works anymore. Gonzaga aims to win every conference game in plays in. The strength of their non-conference schedule shows that they expect this, otherwise they would do the same thing so many other big time programs do and schedule a bunch of non-conference "cupcakes". Now, Mark Few and the staff is coupling a difficult non-conference schedule with a excruciating conference schedule. Make no mistake, this will be the toughest roads the Zags have had to travel in quite some time.

Another thing that can be gathered from this poll is the overall depth that the WCC is starting to have. I believe that next year this preseason poll could look a whole lot different. Loyola Marymount, who is slated at 7th in the preseason poll, should be in the top 3 next year with the kind of talent they are bringing in. Santa Clara and San Francisco have historically always given Gonzaga fits. The amount of "easy wins" on Gonzaga's schedule is greatly diminishing each and every year. The conference sent 3 teams to the tournament last season and I don't think it was a fluke. There will definitely be two teams in the tournament in my opinion and you never know what will happen in the West Coast Conference Tournament.

The coaches also voted on the All-Conference squads in Vegas. Here's how they voted.

2008-09 WCC Men's Preseason All-Conference Team
Matt Bouldin, GON
John Bryant, SCU
Austin Daye, GON
Brandon Johnson, USD
Dior Lowhorn, USF
Patrick Mills, SMC
Jeremy Pargo, GON
Gyno Pomare, USD
Omar Samhan, SMC
Diamon Simpson, SMC

It's hard to argue with that list of players. I definitely know that there are two players in Spokane that have the talent to crack that list. Steven Gray and Micah Downs, if they perform up to their talent level and expectations, should make a strong push for some sort of postseason recognition. Each of those players has way too much talent to not receive accolades. Gray was sidelined early with that wrist injury and Micah has also be often injured during his time at Gonzaga but now they are both 100% healthy and should be ready to contribute early and often. I'm not sure who you could take off that list though. Players like Dior Lowhorn and Diamon Simpson could challenge for WCC Player of the Year. You have to think the favorites in the clubhouse right now are Jeremy Pargo and Patty Mills. Don't forget about Brandon Johnson either, he is one of the most exciting basketball players on the west coast.

It's all good for the WCC. Last year was a real statement year for the conference and this season will definitely prove that it was no fluke. What I keep thinking about is whether or not Gonzaga will be tops next season...but I guess we'll take it one year a time.

Monday Zag Tracks...

KRAZINESS IN THE KENNEL IS 11 DAYS AWAY!

In other news...

--As we reported earlier, Devonte Elliott was not on campus this weekend. We haven't received a definite word as to why but most speculation points to the fact that he has not posted a test score in the SAT or ACT; something which is required before taking official visits. We expect Devonte to be on campus at some point as Gonzaga is one of the leaders in this recruitment. It would have been nice to get the California kid here before the extreme cold and snow hits in Spokane!

--Rankings, rankings, rankings! In the next few weeks we should be drown in college basketball preseason rankings. USA Today will be releasing their college basketball preview soon and they have put out a little information already. The college basketball writers have named Gonzaga one of their "Elite Teams to Beat" this season. Joining the Zags is Memphis, Michigan State, North Carolina, Notre Dame, Pittsburgh, Purdue, and UCLA.

--Kennel Club shirts will be white this season. The past two seasons have had the students clad in red shirts and the change is a welcome one. We are very excited about the choice as it should stand out very well on TV. If your disappointed with the color this season, don't be...it seems to work well for Penn State.

--Lauren Ames posted a shutout for the lady Zags soccer team on Sunday afternoon against Weber State. The two teams battled to a scoreless draw. With the tie, the women's non-coference schedule has concluded and they will begin play in the difficult WCC. The draw moves Gonzaga to 5-6-2 on the year.

--Looking around at the WCC, Terrell Vinson shocked the recruiting world when he spurned Georgetown and Maryland to head west and play for Bill Bayno and Loyola Marymount. Vinson, the 81st best player in the nation per Rivals, is one of the best players to ever commit to a WCC school. It is also a tremendous get for the Lions because he attends high school across the country in Maryland. Congrats to LMU and Coach Bayno. The WCC is a fast rising conference and it looks like LMU will be right in the thick of things in years to come. For more on how the WCC recruited in 2008, check out our breakdown back in May.

--Looking at future Gonzaga opponents, we reported earlier that Nate Miles of Connecticut had been arrested for violation of a restraining order. The arrest has led to Miles' expulsion from the university. This should affect UConn this season as Miles was expected to contribute as a freshman. The Zags will take on the Huskies December 20th at Key Arena in Seattle. FYI...click here for a rundown of Connecticut basketball players who have been in trouble in the past. Very head scratching indeed.

WCC returning to old format

Many fans of GU and the WCC conference have become accustomed to a Saturday/Monday viewing schedule, with a WCC game usually being aired as part of ESPN's Big Monday schedule. However, many coaches and athletic directors have been upset with the schedule, as it has forced the athletes to miss more classes, as well has eliminating Sunday as the traditional day off. It seems as though their frustrations have been heard, as the WCC will likely be returning to the Thursday/Saturday game format.

This likely means that WCC games will be the second or third game on the ESPN networks most nights, with the latest tip time being 8 PM. This will replace the dreaded 9 PM start time, that many fans did not support. The big issue with the move is the impact it may have on the refs. The Pac-10 also uses the Thursday/Saturday schedule, and would likely get many of the better referees that work on the west coast. This must worry many fans of GU, as I don't think anyone was overly impressed by the performance of the WCC refs throughout the season.

Around the WCC: 2008 Recruiting

The WCC recruiting classes for 2008 are continuing to be filled to this day. The WCC was able get their hands on a few big-time transfers and the basement dwellers of the conference are attempting total upheavals of their programs. Gonzaga secured it's three recruits early on with Meech Goodson, Andy Poling, and Grant Gibbs. Mark Few also added Bol Kong but he will have to sit out this coming season for eligibility issues. Looking around the WCC, each team became stronger or loaded up on bodies. Here is a "quick" and by quick meaning very long breakdown of WCC recruiting classes for 2008.

San Diego- We will start at the top of the conference with the WCC tournament champion Toreros. After last years amazing tournament run, USD adds depth by signing a guard and two forwards. Patrick McCollum, a 3-star point guard from San Diego looks to be the big get for USD. McCollum was hearing from the elite of the Pac-10 as well as some interest from Gonzaga. He pulled the trigger on USD and will stay close to home for his college tenure. The Toreros also add Luciano DeSouza, a junior college small forward from Texas as well as Roberto Mafra. Mafra is a big body from the same high school as J.P. Batista in Brazil. He scored a team high 16 points last year and added 6 boards. These recruits will learn from stars Brandon Johnson and Gyno Pomare as they enter their senior seasons at USD.


St. Mary's (CA)- Staying at the top of the WCC, heated Gonzaga rival SMC is also reloading its talent pool. They lose two role players in Tron Smith and Todd Golden. Golden killed the Zags with his three point range and Tron was an excellent defender. SMC brings in Tim Williams and Colin Chiverton. Chiverton is a 6'5'' small forward who was named player of the year in the West Catholic Athletic League. Both him and Williams are instant impact players. Williams is a power forward also out of California. Williams had offers from Miami, UNLV, and Utah as well. They also add another Australian transplant in Clint Steindl who is a pure shooting guard. Also making impacts for the Gaels this coming season will be redshirt juniors Wayne Hunter and Ben Allen, who is a transfer from Indiana.


Loyola Marymount- Here's where it all gets interesting. The Lions nabbed two huge transfers in Larry Davis from Seton Hall and Drew Viney from Oregon. Both were four stars out of high school and contributed at their previous schools. Davis is a 6'3'' SG and Viney is a 6'7'' SF. They also recently picked up Vernon Teel, a junior college transplant who was hearing interest from Kentucky and the Oklahoma schools. Teel has had an interesting past, being that he was a top prospect in 2004, he has had a very long journey. They also added Fremont, CA prospect LaRon Armstead. Armstead, a guard, averaged nearly 20 points per game in his senior season. After a tumultuous past season and off-season, the Lions are still left with a number of open scholarships. As of right now they are just looking to field a team, and it appears that they are well on their way to putting together a very good one.

Santa Clara- In another "program uphaul" attempt, the Broncos of Santa Clara have added five new players to their program under Kerry Keating. They recently signed Perry Petty, a junior college transplant to apparently round out their recruiting class. A class which includes James Rahon, Marc Trasolini, Troy Alexander and Kevin Foster. James Rahon is the star of this class. Rahon is a deadly shooter and one of the best on the west coast according to many scouts. The combo guard from Torrey Pines High in California was receiving interest from many lower division one level schools including USD and San Diego State. He was also hearing interest from Michigan, ASU, and USC. Their big loss this off-season is Brody Angley but they return a much improved John Bryant and will be poised to compete for the WCC.

San Francisco- New coach Rex Walters will take over for Eddie Sutton and was looking to complement star forward Dior Lowhorn for the Dons. Walters has envigorated the Dons and has brought in four newcomers looking to make an impact. Angelo Caloiaro, Dontae Bryant, Kwame Vaughn, and Chris O'Brien compose the 2008 recruiting class for the Dons. Caloiaro and O'Brien are fowards who scored 17 and 20 points per game for their respective high schools teams their season seasons. O'Brien intended to enroll at Princeton last year but wasn't admitted and was forced to sit out last year. Dontae Bryant is a juco commit from Arizona who can fill up every column of the stat sheet. Kwame Vaughn is a supreme talent. The 6'3'' inch guard from Oakland averaged 24 points per game and 3 assists. He was an original commit to LMU but did not see eye-to-eye with new coach Bayno and was released. He nearly committed to Oregon State but pulled the trigger with the Dons instead.

Pepperdine- The Waves have made a huge splash in recruting (apologies for the pun) and have signed a half dozen players for 2008. Recent additions Jonathan Dupre' and Taylor Darby join Keion Bell, Lorne Jackson, Corbin Moore, and Dane Suttle Jr. Dupre is a junior college commit who averaged 5.5 points per game last season. Corbin Moore is a 6'10'' center out of California. He is one of the best center prospects in the West and plays very well with his face to the basket. Lorne Jackson, Dane Suttle, and Keion Bell are impressive guards hailing from California. Each was given a three star ranking by Rivals and were hearing from many mid-major schools as well as a handful of high-major programs. After losing 2007 star recruits Tyrone Shelley and Malcom Thomas to transfer, the Waves needed to add significant numbers and coach Tom Asbury was able to do so.

Portland- The final recruiting destination in the WCC is the Pilots of Portland. Ever since the departure of Pooh Jeter, Portland has been dreadful. The Pilots have added two players to their roster this recruiting season in T.J. Campbell and Nemanja Mitrovic. Campbell was a third-team All American guard out of Glendale Community College. The 5'9'' guard joins the Pilots with two more years of eligibility. His standout sophomore year in Glendale was highlighted by his 16 points per game as well as 5 assists. Mitrovic is a big guard at 6'5'' from Toronto. He has bloodlines in basketball as his father was a standout for the Yugoslavian National Team. Coach Reveno only graduated one player this off-season and returns four starters.



The prognosis of the WCC is extremely positive. Gonzaga is already a very well established power nationally and the showings of SMC and USD are also very impressive and appear that they will continue in the near future. As long as Portland, USF, and Pepperdine can build on their coaching and current recruiting trends, the WCC should become a very strong conference top to bottom.

Heid named WCC player of the week

GU outfielder, Mark Heid, was named the WCC player of the week for the second time in as many weeks. Heid went 10-17 in 7 games this past week and drove in 4 runs, while scoring 7. Heid has been on an absolute tear in conference play this year, as he is hitting for a .483 average through conference play so far.

Heid is one of 5 Bulldogs to have won the WCC player of the week this season, and the first to win it on multiple occasions. Earlier this season, Marcus McKimmy was named the WCC player of the month. He won this award for his outstanding performance in the month of March.

Men and Women's crew successful at WIRA's

Both the Men and Women's crew teams put together strong performances in last weekend's WIRA championships.

The men were able to take home the silver medal in both the Varsity 8+ and the Novice 8+. The Junior Varsity 8+ was also able to bring home a bronze medal. By being the highest placed team in the Varsity 8+ competition, the Zags were also awarded the WCC championship, with San Diego finishing second. The Zags were also honord with 4 bulldogs being named the all WIRA teams. Joe Dudley, Scott McCoy and Warren North were selected to the 1st team, while Sean Haase was selected to the 2nd team. And for the second time in 4 years, head coach Dan Gehn was named WIRA coach of the year.

The women's team continued their remarkable season as they won the gold medal in both the Varsity 8+ and the Second Varsity 8+. They also took home the silver medal in both the Varsity 4+ and the Novice 8+. In an exciting finish in the Varisty 8+, the Zags squeaked out the victory over Western Washington University by less than a second. The women's remarkable performance was illustrated in the selection of 5 bulldogs to the All WIRA Teams. Hanna McClintock, Kelly Steinhaus, and Kelsey Koenig all made the 1st team, while Whitney Patrick and Emily Wilson were named to the 2nd team.

Congratulations to both teams on a very successful weekend, and a special congratulations to Dan Gehn on his selection as coach of the year.

Gonzaga Sweeps Two Game Series against Oregon State

The Gonzaga University baseball team completed an improbable sweep of two-time champ Oregon State at Patterson Baseball Complex with a 4-2 victory today. Slowed by a pair of early errors, the Bulldogs found themselves down a run in the early going. However, the Bulldogs came back strong in the bottom of the fourth when Ryan Wiegand singled in Evan Wells. Jason Chatwood scored later in the inning as well. Gonzaga added two runs in the seventh inning to secure the win and sent the Beavers back to Corvallis with back-to-back losses.

With the victory, the Gonzaga Bulldogs move to 27-18 on the year. They are in the final stretch of their season and will begin a three game home series on May 2nd at 6:30 PM. Come out and support the Bulldogs as they look to bring this momentum into the WCC tournament and hopefully garner an NCAA tournament bid.