Gonzaga Basketball

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.

Power forward Fanbo Zeng is reportedly decommitting from Gonzaga in favor of joining the NBA G League Ignite, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium.

Zeng is listed as a 4-star recruit by 247Sports, and he ranks as the No. 71 overall prospect, No. 16 power forward and No. 12 player from the state of Florida in the 2021 class.

The 6'9", 190-pounder was born in China, but he moved to the United States in 2017 and played high school basketball at Windermere Preparatory School in Windermere, Florida.

Charania reported that Zeng's decision to go to the G League has a great deal to do with the departure of Tommy Lloyd.

Lloyd, who had been part of Gonzaga's coaching staff since 2001-02, left his post as an assistant this month to become the head coach at Arizona. Lloyd reportedly led the way in the Bulldogs' recruitment of Zeng.

The Ignite enjoyed a successful first season in the G League in 2020-21, finishing 8-7 and reaching the playoffs behind the play of NBA draft prospects Jalen Green, Jonathan Kuminga, Daishen Nix and Isaiah Todd.

While the Ignite lost to top-seeded Raptors 905 in the first round, their players gained some valuable experience ahead of the 2021 NBA draft.

Zeng will look to do the same next season in anticipation of the 2022 draft.

With the Ignite, Zeng will join Michael Foster, whose commitment was announced Friday. He had offers from Baylor, Florida, Florida State, Kansas, Michigan and Ohio State.

Foster is a 5-star prospect and the No. 14 overall player in the class of 2021, per 247Sports.

With Zeng and Foster leading the way, the Ignite will have a strong chance to be among the top teams.

Meanwhile, Gonzaga is losing a player who could have been a key part of the equation next season as it looks to bounce back from falling to Baylor in the 2021 NCAA tournament championship game.

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.

The Arizona Wildcats are reportedly considering Gonzaga assistant coach Tommy Lloyd to replace Sean Miller at the head of the Pac-12 program, according to Jim Meehan of The Spokesman-Review. 

Arizona fired Miller on Wednesday after 12 years in Tuscon during which he compiled a 302-109 record but failed to advance past the Elite Eight.

Lloyd is currently the head coach-in-waiting at Gonzaga, where he's worked on Few's staff since 2000.

Meehan noted Lloyd serves as a massive recruiting tool for Few, helping land notable international players like Rui Hachimura, Killian Tillie, Domantas Sabonis, Kevin Pangos, Kelly Olynyk and Ronny Turiaf. Leading recruiting efforts at a West Coast program is certainly a strong qualifier in general. 

Gonzaga athletic director Mike Roth told Meehan that Lloyd had received interest from three other programs this year alone before the latest Arizona rumors. That comes as no surprise to Roth, who believes the coach is destined to run his own team one day.

Said Roth:

We’re committed to Tommy here and he knows that. We’ve made that public. If Gonzaga is committed to Tommy, where our program is and where it’s been built and Tommy has been such an important part of this, why wouldn’t any other school have him on their list, even high on their list.

“We’ll continue to do our best to let him know this is where we want him to be a head coach someday when the time comes and we want him between now and then to help us be one of, if not the best, basketball programs in the country.”

Arizona is the latest high-profile program to feature a head coaching vacancy this offseason after Roy Williams retired at North Carolina, Shaka Smart left Texas for Marquette and Chris Beard left Texas Tech for the Longhorns. 

Jeff Goodman of Stadium reported Damon Stoudamire, Miles Simon and Josh Pastner remain in consideration for the Wildcats job.

Jalen Suggs helped lead the Gonzaga Bulldogs to an undefeated regular season and an appearance in the national title game of the 2021 NCAA men's tournament, and he may have played his way into No. 1 overall pick status while doing so.

Jordan Schultz of ESPN spoke to an NBA general manager who said he would at least consider taking Suggs with the top pick.

"It's because Suggs possesses a rare combination of special tools: Elite playmaking, lockdown defending and an overall competitiveness that helps transform an entire team’s DNA," Schultz wrote.

It's hard to argue with what Suggs did in his first and perhaps only year at Gonzaga.

The consensus All-American, WCC Rookie of the Year and WCC tournament MVP averaged 14.4 points, 5.3 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 1.9 steals while shooting 50.3 percent from the field and 33.7 percent from three-point range.

His ability to defend the opponent's best playmaker while either scoring or facilitating on the other end stands out, and he certainly proved he can perform in pressure-packed moments when leading the Bulldogs in the Big Dance and drilling a buzzer-beater in overtime to win a Final Four game over UCLA.

Bleacher Report's Jonathan Wasserman ranked Suggs as the No. 2 overall player on his latest big board, behind only Oklahoma State's Cade Cunningham.

"Suggs was the talk of March Madness after his clutch play and buzzer-beater against UCLA, which highlighted the 'it factor' we've talked about all season," Wasserman wrote. "He impacts winning and possesses the type of maturity, leadership and professionalism NBA teams want in a lead guard."

Cunningham has been the presumed No. 1 overall pick throughout the season and surely did nothing to dissuade that line of thinking as the Big 12 Player of the Year and a consensus All-American.

Yet it seems as if Suggs did enough to at least drive one general manager to consider taking him with the top pick instead.

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. 

Jalen Suggs knocked down one of the biggest shots in Final Four history on Saturday, banking in a half-court shot as time expired in overtime to lift No. 1 Gonzaga over No. 11 UCLA, 93-90, and keep the Bulldogs'  perfect season intact.  

Now 31-0, the Zags will face No. 1 Baylor for the national championship on Monday night—pitting the top two teams all season against each other at last. 

It's all thanks to Suggs, who picked up the ball with 3.3 seconds remaining after UCLA knotted things at 90, took three dribbles and let his shot fly into the history books. 

Gonzaga entered the Final Four as 14-point favorites, but couldn't find any separation from UCLA all night as Johnny Juzang, Tyger Campbell and Jamie Jaquez Jr. combined for 65 points and kept the game within three possessions all night. The Zags countered with 25 points from Drew Timme, 22 from Joel Ayayi and 16 from Suggs.

A likely lottery pick when the NBA draft rolls around this summer, Suggs shot is reminiscent of some of the most epic March Madness moments. This one goes up there with Christian Laettner over Kentucky, Mario Chalmers against Memphis, Kris Jenkins for the title against North Carolina and Lorenzo Charles over Houston. 

Suggs was in shock afterwards, telling the CBS broadcast he'd been missing his half-court heaves in practice lately, but Gonzaga head coach Mark Few gave him more credit than that, telling CBS that Suggs has always been the go-to guy whenever the team practices late-game situations like that.

On Saturday it paid off. It paid off for Few, for Suggs and for a Gonzaga program on the cusp of becoming the first undefeated national champions since the 1975-76 Indiana Hoosiers went 32-0 en route to the title. 

The Bulldogs get their shot to join the Hoosiers on Monday night at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis thanks to Suggs.