Great Alaskan Wipeout

Well folks,

The Great Alaska Shootout has come and gone, and with it has gone the assumption that Gonzaga may have a final four season under their belt come season end. A loss to Texas Tech and a near loss to Western Kentucky did nothing to excite me. Unfortunately we lost out on a nationally televised game as well. Had we made the championship and played against then #22 Butler, we would have ensured a rematch of last seasons preseason NIT championship loss to Butler as well as another tough game to include on our RPI resume. As it stands right now, not that the RPI is that big a deal this time of the year anyways, but Gonzaga sits at #50 in the RPI.
In Recruiting news, At this point i think its safe to say we have 3 Letters of Intent(LOI's) Signed for 2008 in Grant Gibbs(4 Stars), Demetri Goodson(3 Stars) and Andy Poling(3 Stars). We also are one of 5 teams on the inside track with Verdell Jones(3 Stars), who is considered one of Tubby Smiths Most coveted recruits for his upstart program at Minnesota. Hopefully Mark Few has a couple tricks up his sleeve to woo the 6-4 combo guard.
Austin Daye has garnered much attention after having a tremendous start to the season, he is currently considered the number 1 pick in the 2009 Draft, and if declared for the upcoming draft he is considered a fringe top 10 pick.
All in all, i think with the upcoming treacherous Schedule, and the return of Josh Heytvelt in Mid December, we will have a chance to pad our non conference RPI as well as drastically improve our offensive options on the court. Saint Mary's may also greatly help our season out, if they can reach the top 25 with wins over Oregon, Drake, and Southern Illinois, then we can use them later this season to improve our chances at getting a #2 or #3 seed in the NCAA tournament.
Until Next time, Lets Go Zags! Lets Go!