WCC Basketball

Video was released of Gonzaga Bulldogs head men's basketball coach Mark Few's traffic stop in Idaho on Sept. 6 after he was seen driving erratically and speeding.

Nicholas K. Geranios of the Associated Press previously reported Few pleaded guilty to misdemeanor driving under the influence on Oct. 20. On Tuesday, TMZ Sports shared the video that shows the coach refusing to take a field sobriety test, as well as putting his hands in his pockets and using his cell phone despite police officers telling him to stop.

Few said the field sobriety tests were "totally subjective" and pointed to previous injuries that prevented him from performing them.

He also said he swerved when driving because he was attempting to control his dogs in the car. Police eventually put Few in handcuffs and into the back of the squad car. 

Few's Breathalyzer tests produced blood alcohol contents of .119 and a .120; the legal limit is .08.

Geranios reported Few was fined $1,000 and was ordered to perform 24 hours of community service. His driver's license is suspended until Nov. 5, and he must use an ignition interlock device to drive for the next year.

Few apologized in a statement he released on Sept. 7:

He is suspended for the No. 1 Bulldogs' season opener against Dixie State on Nov. 9, as well as for exhibition games against Eastern Oregon and Lewis-Clark State. He is expected to return for the Nov. 13 showdown against Texas.          

Court documents revealed Gonzaga Bulldogs men's basketball coach Mark Few said he was "pleading guilty because I am guilty" during a Friday hearing regarding his misdemeanor driving under the influence charge in Idaho.

Nicholas K. Geranios of the Associated Press reported Few was sentenced to serve 24 hours of community service and fined $1,000. His driver's license is also suspended until Nov. 5, and he will need to use an ignition interlock device to drive for a year after that.

Few paid the fine instead of spending four days in jail.

As Geranios noted, the head coach was pulled over in Idaho on Sept. 6 after someone reported he was driving erratically while speeding.

According to the Coeur d'Alene Press, Few "exhibited several signs of intoxication" and "refused to complete field sobriety tests but provided breath samples."

His breath samples registered blood-alcohol concentrations of .119 and .120. The legal limit is .08.

"I have had a month to reflect on the regretful decisions I made on Sept. 6," Few said at the time. "I again offer my sincere apology and I remain committed to learning from this mistake."

He also released a statement on Sept. 7:              

Few is suspended for Gonzaga's exhibition games against Eastern Oregon on Oct. 31 and Lewis-Clark State on Nov. 5. He is also suspended for the season opener against Dixie State on Nov. 9 but is scheduled to return for the Nov. 13 matchup with Texas.

Gonzaga is ranked No. 1 in the country in the preseason Associated Press Top 25.            

Gonzaga has suspended head men's basketball coach Mark Few following his DUI arrest in September.

As first reported by Dana O'Neil of The Athletic, Few will be suspended for Saturday's Kraziness in the Kennel event, two exhibition games and the regular-season opener against Dixie State on Nov. 9.

Few will then return to the sidelines for the Bulldogs' second game of the season Nov. 13 when they host the Texas Longhorns.

Few released the following statement regarding his suspension:

Gonzaga athletic director Chris Sandiford released a statement on the suspension as well, per NCAA.com's Andy Katz: 

Per O'Neil, Few was arrested near Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, over Labor Day weekend after being pulled over for speeding and erratic driving. Few refused a field sobriety test, but he was later found to have had a blood-alcohol level of .119, which was above the legal limit of .08.

Few, 58, is preparing to enter his 23rd season as head coach of Gonzaga, and he has enjoyed a remarkable amount of success thus far.

In 755 regular-season games, Few has posted a 630-125 record, which is good for a winning percentage of .834.

The Zags have reached the NCAA tournament in each of the 21 seasons it has been held under Few, and they have won the West Coast Conference regular-season title 20 times and the WCC tournament 17 times.

Few, who is a two-time Naismith Coach of the Year and one-time AP Coach of the Year, has taken Gonzaga to the Final Four twice as well.

Last season, Gonzaga was a perfect 31-0 entering the National Championship Game against Baylor, but the Bulldogs fell to the Bears 86-70.

Gonzaga remains in search of an elusive national title, and it seems like it is only a matter of time before it happens, as Few consistently has the Zags in contention. 

Some adjustments will be required during the 2021-22 season, though, as key contributors from last year's team in Corey Kispert, Jalen Suggs and Joel Ajayi are no longer on the roster.

Gonzaga men's basketball coach Mark Few was cited on suspicion of driving under the influence in Idaho, according to Greg Mason and Nico Portuondo of the Spokesman-Review.

Mason and Portuondo reported police pulled Few over Monday night based on a report he was "driving erratically and speeding." His blood-alcohol level was measured at .119 and .120, above the legal limit of .08.

Gonzaga athletic director Chris Standiford issued a statement: "While the facts of the situation are still being evaluated, we understand its severity and the legal process that will follow. As a Gonzaga employee, we respect Coach Few's right to privacy and will refrain from further comment at this time."

Few released a statement later Tuesday evening:

Per the Coeur d'Alene Press, the police report said Few "exhibited several signs of intoxication" at the scene after he was pulled over. He refused to complete field sobriety tests but did undergo breath testing.

Few is entering his 23rd season as the Bulldogs' head coach. The team is 630-125 during that time and has grown into a perennial Final Four contender. The Zags were the national runners-up in 2017 and 2021.

Gonzaga is scheduled to tip off the 2021-22 season Nov. 13 at home against Texas.

University of the Pacific head men's basketball coach Damon Stoudamire is reportedly leaving the program to become an assistant under new Boston Celtics head coach Ime Udoka.

Stadium's Jeff Goodman reported the news Wednesday. 

Stoudamire, 47, and Udoka, 43, were both born and raised in Portland, Oregon. They were briefly NBA teammates as members of the San Antonio Spurs during the 2007-08 season.

After standout high school and collegiate careers, Stoudamire was selected by the Toronto Raptors with the seventh overall pick in the 1995 draft. He won NBA Rookie of the Year honors to jump-start a 13-year playing career that also included stops with his hometown Trail Blazers and Memphis Grizzlies.

The University of Arizona product received his first coaching opportunity as an assistant with the Grizzlies in 2009. He also spent two stints at the University of Memphis and one at his alma mater as an assistant before being hired by Pacific as a head coach for the first time in 2016.

Stoudamire guided the Tigers, a member of the West Coast Conference, to a 71-77 record in five seasons at the helm. They posted a 32-19 mark over the past two years.

The 2020 WCC Coach of the Year told John Gonzalez of The Ringer in 2018 that the experience coaching at the collegiate level provided him with a lot of important lessons:

"I knew it was going to be a lot of work — how much work I didn't know until I actually got here. College is different. It's a lot different than the pros. There's a lot of administrative work. It's a lot of getting out in the community and helping raise money. In college, I'm the owner, I'm the CEO, I'm all of that. I've got to do things as I see fit. Everything comes through me. It's made me be more accountable in a lot of areas that maybe I wasn't accustomed to."

Now he'll return to the NBA to work alongside Udoka, who's in the process of overhauling the coaching staff with former head coach Brad Stevens moving into an executive role with the C's.

Jay Larranaga, Jamie Young and Jerome Allen have left the Boston staff, while former San Antonio Spurs assistant Will Hardy has joined Udoka's group, per Adam Himmelsbach of the Boston Globe.

Udoka, a former NBA forward, is a first-time head coach after nine years as an assistant with the Spurs, Philadelphia 76ers and Brooklyn Nets.

Gonzaga ran into a brick wall in its national championship game loss to Baylor earlier this month. Bulldogs coach Mark Few said Monday he wished someone had warned him about Baylor's physicality. 

"That was the most physical game we've played in the last five years," Few told Dana O'Neil of The Athletic.  "I wish somebody had told me on Sunday morning that's what we were in for. My guys would have responded. I wasn't ready to go there."

Of course, Few knew Baylor was a physical team coming into the game. Experiencing it in person was another thing entirely. 

Baylor bullied Gonzaga on its way to a dominant 86-70 victory to capture the program's first national championship. The Bears ripped down 38 rebounds to Gonzaga's 22 and forced 14 turnovers as their length and athleticism overwhelmed Few's team.

He told The Athletic: 

"At first, I mean, you're 31-1 and you feel like, I don't know? 1-31? Kinda. And then you slap yourself and say, 'C'mon, man.' In 40 minutes you can't go from people saying you were the greatest team ever to whatever they're saying now. I never bought into the greatest ever, and I'm not going to buy into the Oh, my God, what happened? We're all good. The program reigns supreme."

Few didn't waste much time readying his program for the future. 247Sports' No. 1 overall high school prospect Chet Holmgren announced his commitment to Gonzaga on Monday, giving the Bulldogs their highest-rated prospect in program history.

With tournament star Drew Timme expected back for his junior season, there's a good chance Gonzaga will find itself playing for a national title again in 2022. 

One of the top recruits in the class of 2021 has made his college decision. 

Seven-foot center Chet Holmgren will attend Gonzaga after announcing his commitment Monday on SportsCenter:

247Sports ranked the 18-year-old as a 5-star prospect and the No. 1 overall recruit in the country. Holmgren recently finished his high school career at Minnehaha Academy in his native Minneapolis, where he posted 20.8 points on 80 percent shooting, 12.6 rebounds, 4.7 blocks and 4.5 assists en route to leading his 20-1 team to a state championship. He was also named a McDonald's All-American.

Holmgren narrowed his list of finalists to seven before the announcement, per ESPN's Paul Biancardi. The group consisted of Minnesota, Michigan, Georgetown, North Carolina, Ohio State, Gonzaga and Memphis.

He also entertained offers from Purdue and Texas as well as blue bloods like Kansas.

According to Josh Gershon, the national recruiting analyst at 247Sports, Holmgren is projected to be a top NBA pick should he turn pro and is a standout prospect:

"Extremely unique player who is unlike almost any American prospect in recent years. Good size, long arms and plus athleticism but very narrow frame. Extremely physically immature and may take a while to put on strength due to narrow shoulders/base. Despite lack of strength, very tough kid with impressive mental makeup. Has range to perimeter with jumper, good body control and high feel. Outstanding rim protector and rebounder. Level 10 motor."

Expect him to make an immediate impact on campus.

After Holmgren's former teammate Jalen Suggs led Gonzaga to the national title game as a freshman last year, the newest addition could be a similar difference-maker in 2021-22.

Jalen Suggs grew up wanting to have his Kobe Bryant and Dwyane Wade moment, leaping to the top of the scorer's table after coming through in the clutch.

He got his moment Saturday night in the Final Four.

"I've always wanted to run up on the table like Kobe and D-Wade and go like that, and that's the first thing I did," Suggs told reporters after knocking down a buzzer-beating three to give Gonzaga a 93-90 overtime win over UCLA. "Man, that is something that you practice on your mini-hoop as a kid or in the gym just messing around. And to be able to do that, it's crazy."

Suggs' on-the-run, pull-up three as time expired will go down as one of the greatest shots in men's NCAA tournament history, to cap off one of the best games in men's NCAA tournament history. Gonzaga and UCLA put on a shot-making clinic, trading back-and-forth blows in a game that seemed like it would never end.

UCLA's Johnny Juzang hit a shot with 3.3 seconds remaining to knot the game at 90 and seemingly set up a second overtime period, but Suggs caught the inbounds pass on the run and dashed up the court before pulling up just inside half court to knock down a bank-shot buzzer-beater.

Suggs immediately kept on running as the shot went through the net and leaped onto the scorer's table as a group of teammates came to mob him. The likely top-five pick had taken a backseat to Drew Timme and Joel Ayayi until that final shot, with both Bulldogs stars finishing with 20-plus points, whereas Suggs had only 13 before his game-winner.

That said, his 14th, 15th and 16th points will go down as the greatest in Gonzaga history.

Next up for the freshman guard and Gonzaga is No. 1 seed Baylor in the title game Monday at 9:20 p.m. ET on CBS.

Gonzaga men's basketball head coach Mark Few said that Bulldogs point guard Jalen Suggs has a "magical aura" after the freshman drilled the game-winning three-pointer from just beyond half court to give the Bulldogs a 93-90 win over UCLA in the Final Four on Saturday.

"He's got that magical aura," Few told reporters. "He makes them in practice. ... I was staring right at it and I was like, 'That’s in.' And it was."

Suggs provided his own comments on the moment postgame:

Suggs had authored another magical moment earlier in the game when he got up to block a Cody Riley shot before dishing a half-court pass between four other UCLA defenders to find Drew Timme for a dunk and a 79-77 lead late in regulation:

More work needed to be done, but Suggs put Gonzaga into the finals with one of the greatest shots in NCAA tournament history.

Suggs, who finished with 16 points, six assists and five rebounds, will look to make Gonzaga the first undefeated men's Division I team since 1976 when the Bulldogs take on Baylor for the national title Monday.

Jalen Suggs was at a near loss for words on Saturday as he tried to explain how it feels to hit one of the biggest shots in NCAA tournament history.  

With 3.3 seconds left, and tied with UCLA in overtime at 90, Suggs took three dribbles down the floor, set his feet and sent the No. 1 Gonzaga Bulldogs to the national championship game with a banked-in three-pointer that's now unquestionably the defining moment of the 2021 tournament.

"This was great," Suggs said. "Extremely special. I can't put this into words, you know? Turning dreams into reality."

Suggs said he'd been missing his half-court heaves lately but had no trouble getting one to fall with the game on the line. 

On Monday night he'll get a chance to do something even more meaningful as the 31-0 Zags attempt to become the first undefeated national champions since the 1975-76 Indiana Hoosiers went 32-0 en route to the title. 

The Bulldogs will face No. 1 Baylor—arguably the second-best team in college basketball this season—in a long awaited showdown between the two programs. 

Suggs finished the night with 16 points, six assists and five rebounds. He made only one of four three-point attempts on the night before his last-second shot banked in. Odds are he'll be a bit more confident from deep by Monday night. 

If nothing else, the freshman from Minnesota has forever etched his name into NCAA tournament lore with a shot that calls to mind Mario Chalmers, Christian Laettner, Lorenzo Charles and Kris Jenkins before him. For a 2021 tournament that didn't feature any buzzer-beaters before the Final Four, there was no shortage of madness as the Bulldogs sent No. 11 UCLA home in unforgettable fashion.