Exhibition Preview: Gonzaga vs Thompson Rivers University

Thompson Rivers University Roster

Finally, at long last it’s here...well sort of. The much anticipated 2014/15 Gonzaga Men’s Basketball season gets underway on Saturday night at 6 p.m. in the comfy confines of the Kennel. It’s just an exhibition, but certainly the Zag players will enjoy mauling someone besides themselves for a change.

The Thompson Rivers University WolfPack (3-2 preseason) hailing out of Kamloops B.C. Canada, will undoubtedly have their hands full when they roll into Spokane and face a team that is ranked preseason Top 10 by several experts. The ‘Pack however, have a ton of experience, with several 5^th year seniors on-board including; 6'4 guard Brent Rouault, 6.8 F Tallon Milne with a fgp of .597, and Brett Parker. Another standout leader is senior 6’10 F Josh Wolfram 12.8 ppg 7.6 rpg. Rouault is their most dangerous deep threat. He can torch the nets, hitting 42% last season.

They have experience and they also have a very good coach, Scott Clark, who came over to the Wolfpack from Simon Frazer, where he led the Clan to 10 straight playoff appearances. He also led Thompson Rivers to its very first Canadian West playoff appearance last season. One thing they do lack, and it’s a pretty “big” problem if you are going to be facing Gonzaga, is size in the paint.

In speaking with Coach Clark earlier today it became apparent that he was less than thrilled about the prospect of containing Przemek Karnowski. When I asked him who he had that he could match up with Gonzaga’s Karnowski, he dead panned “No-one.” He then went on to say it would probably be 6'8 senior Tallon Milne. His answer might become fairly common among opponents this season as 7’2 Przemek is indeed going to be a problem for a lot of teams. 

I was also curious as to how this game came about. Coach Clark said there were two connections to Gonzaga. The first reason was that the Athletic Director of Thompson Rivers is Kenneth Olynyk. If that name sounds familiar, it should. He is Former Zag Star Kelly Olynyk’s Dad. The second connection is that Josh Wolfram, one of the Wolfpack’s standout players, is the brother of Emma Wolfram, who plays on the Gonzaga ladies basketball Team.

In this exhibition there are a lot of things that fans want to see. Some of which might be whether Kentucky transfer Kyle Wiltjer is as comfortable banging in the paint as he should be after working on his strength during a redshirt year; how Coach Few uses highly touted freshman Josh Perkins, and any evidence as to who might possibly redshirt. Will it be Edwards and/or perhaps Alberts? Also, it will be interesting to see who will start at the 3 spot. In most likelihood it will be either junior Kyle Dranginis, or USC transfer Byron Wesley.

This is obviously not a marquee match-up, so we should also see a chance for Marc Few to clear the bench and allow those at the deepest end of it a chance to play in front of the home fans.

Lastly, it is a chance for Zag fans and players to have some fun, get their swerve on, and see the Zags in game action against an actual opponent for the first time this year.

Go Zags!!~