Gonzaga's Ryan Edwards & his Redshirt

Good informative article plus video w/ reporter Brenna Greene covering some of the background on Ryan Edwards decision to redshirt and what's happening with him currently.

http://www.krtv.com/news/athlete-of-the-week-ryan-edwards/

GONZAGA HOOPS TIP-OFF SHOW!! LIve Radio GONZAGA -vs- GEORGIA in NIT Tourney Tonight!

To our readers:

Exciting news!! You can now listen to LIVE Gonzaga pregame coverage via radio on the Gonzaga Hoops Tip-Off Show. Join us on KIXI 880AM for all big games & every Thursday night one hour before tip-off! 

Listen in tonight at 5:30 p.m. for pregame coverage of Gonzaga -vs- Georgia in the NIT Tournament!

The Gonzaga Hoops Tip-Off Show is hosted at the Ballard Loft in Seattle. Come on down to the party and see the game or listen live nation wide! There will be drink specials; you can win FREE Zag game tickets, and much more! 

Don't miss out...GO ZAGS!!~

Follow us on Twitter- @GUHoopsPregame  

                                          - @Zagaholic

                                                 

Sitting Down With Gonzaga's Senior Star Kevin Pangos - SWX Right Now-Sports for Spokane, CdA, Tri-Cities, WA

Sitting Down With Gonzaga's Senior Star Kevin Pangos - SWX Right Now-Sports for Spokane, CdA, Tri-Cities, WA

Preview: Gonzaga -vs- St.Thomas Aquinas

Next up for the 3-0 Gonzaga Bulldogs is the mighty St. Thomas Aquarium.

Ok, it’s not really “Aquarium”, I stole the line from a sports guy I heard on a local radio show. It’s actually the Division II St. Thomas Aquinas.

On Saturday for another NIT Season Tip-Off game, the Zags take on the D2 Spartans in the Kennel. They hail out of Sparkhill, New York, and are coached by an experienced Tobin Anderson. He is in his second year as head coach, taking his team to their first ever league Tournament Title game in his very first season at the helm. Before landing the Spartans job, he had two successful years as assistant Coach with D1 Sienna. They actually once posted an 11-4 home record and made it to the semi-finals in the MAAC Tourney with only a 6 man player rotation. Additionally, he had a record of 118-63 with D3 Hamilton College where they reached the league tourney 5 out of his 7 seasons, as well as winning 3 regular season titles.

Good coaching aside, so far they are a woeful 0-3 this season, losing 97-71 to St. Johns, 92-80 to St. Michael’s, and 75-68 to Pace. So, a D2 team that is win-less, having given up 90 plus points in two of their first three games, now gets to face an unbeaten and #11^th ranked Gonzaga team that scores in the 100s & 90s against some pretty good D1 teams? Folks, this could get ugly.

Is there any hope at all for these Spartans? Well, not really. They lost their leading scorer and rebounder, Omar Kellman from last season. But, they do bring back a core of returnees that include pg Marcus Henderson who ave. 13.4 ppg and had 104 assists, Rookie of the Year Chaz Watler who hit 13.3 ppg, and Aaron Craft, who tossed in a respectable 9.5 ppg.

This team also lacks size. Their above mentioned leading scorer, Marcus Henderson, is only 5’7 and weights in at 140 lbs. As a matter of fact, only two players on their entire team weight in over 200 lbs. One of which is their Freshman Center Sam Berlin, who is 243 lbs.

These Spartans allow opponents to hit .540 from the field, as well as .483 from deep, are out-rebounded by -12.5 pg, and turn the ball over 13.5 times pg. Is there anything they can do? Yes, they can hit free throws at 61% pg. Gonzaga only hits 57%.

On another positive note, let it be known that the Spartans play at home to an ave. of 174 attendees per game. You may ask what is so positive about that. Well, think of how much, ahem, fun it’s going to be for them to travel all the way from New York to Spokane while getting to play in front of 6 thousand screaming Zag fans.

I hope it’s a fun show, nobody gets hurt, and Few lets off the gas early, tinkers with various line-ups, and gets a lot of PT for our walk-ons. 

Other than that, it’s still basketball, and the game counts. I could think of a lot worse things to be doing on a Saturday night. 

For those of you who cannot attend, catch the game via radio on KIXI 880 AM. 

Enjoy the game and GO ZAGS!!~

Pregame- Gonzaga vs St. Joseph's

After that thoroughly enjoyable thrashing of a top 20 ranked SMU team less than 48 hours ago, Zag Nation will certainly be curious to see how these Zags fare vs what should be a winnable St. Josephs team. We find out at 8 p.m. tonight in the always boisterous and friendly Kennel.

St. Josephs played in the NCAA tournament last year, losing to eventual National Champion UConn. They are also the defending Atlantic 10 Champions. But, with graduation and injuries (senior Papa NDao), they are not projected to do as well this season.

This year’s edition is led by Sophomore F 6-6 200 lb DeAndre Bembry. He is long and athletic, leads the team in scoring at 10.5 ppg, second in rebounding 6.5 pg, and he can step out of the paint to drill threes, hitting .346 last season. Bembry was also named co-rookie of the Atlantic 10 last year as well as preseason First Team All Conference for this season.

Another player to keep an eye on is F 6-7 Junior Isaiah Miles. He is a rebounding machine who leads the team ave. 11.0 boards per game. One of St. Joseph’s team strengths happens to be rebounding as they come in ave. 41 per game.

Although the Hawks are a bit light on deadly shooting deep threat snipers, they are led by Chris Wilson who buried 48 threes last season shooting a respectable .353.

St. Joseph’s record is currently 1-1, losing at home to Fairleigh Dickinson 58-57, and winning on the road vs Drexel 52-49.

To sum it all up, the opponent does not have a stellar offense. This team is not extremely dangerous from deep either, and they have had problems scoring. What they do have is a pretty solid defense, rebound well, and do not give up a lot of points, ave. just 55 ppg. The Hawks also lack size, which is not a good thing when playing this Zag team, plus they are playing in the Kennel, where Gonzaga is practically unbeatable. They do have pretty good depth, but it is not the kind of depth that the Zags have. The Zags go 10 deep with basically no drop off.

With that said, I expect a double digit win and a chance for everyone to get some playing time. It should be a fun game and, among other things, it will allow us to get a feel if newcomers Wesley, Sabonis, and Wiltjer can be consistent with what so far has been very successful play.

Go Zags!!~

*Catch the game on the radio- KIXI 880 am or tune in to ESPN U