Sarbaugh Transfer

Sarbaugh has transferred to North Idaho College for the upcoming season.  He is eligible immediately, and we think he can make an impact!

We wish Sarbaugh well with his new team.  A link to the Spokesman Review article is posted below.

Spokesman Review Article

Recruit Profile: Jamal Jones

According to Brad Winton fromJucoRecruiting.com, Gonzaga has shown interest in former Ole Miss Forward, Jamal Jones. Jamal hails from Searcy, Arkansas and committed to Ole Miss out of the class of 2011. He would go on to see limited action in 5 games averaging 1.8 Points and 1.2 Boards a game. Jones was dismissed from Ole Miss back in January for a violation of team rules, he then enrolled at Lee College for the upcoming season with the hopes of reviving his D1 Prospects. After an impressive Juco Showcase Tourney in July, he has received interest from Gonzaga, Oklahoma State, Missouri, Texas A&M and Texas Tech.

2012-13 Schedule

So the WCC has released all conference games thus far, with the recently announced Non-Conference games, we can now piece together the upcoming schedule and it looks like this:

Recruit Profile: Chris Griffin

According to SourceHoops.com, Chris Griffin from Wabash CC will be visiting the Zags next month. He will also be visiting Kansas St. and Auburn. He attended FAMU High School in Tallahassee, FL, was in the class of 2010 and committed to Murray State. He played his freshman year there getting limited action in 22 games. Ultimately he decided it was not for him and left the school after his freshman year. Chris would go on to spend all of last season sitting out without a school. This may he committed to Wabash Community College, he will play 2012-13 at Wabash and is interested in transferring out for the class of 2013 to a D1 program. He will have two years of eligibility left wherever he ends up.

Chris' former High School Coach Rick Davis had this to say about his abilities:

“Chris is a three to four dimension player. He played the guard for me but he can also play from point guard to power forward. Chris is explosive to the basket and his mid range game is probably his best shot. He is a good shot blocker great passer and anticipates the passing lanes really well. He averaged more assists than my point guard last year. He is going to be our floor general this year. Depending on how teams play us, will determine what positions he plays this year.”

We had a chance to catch up with Chris' former AAU coach, Chris Ayers who informed us that Ray Giacoletti has been recruiting him. He echoed Coach Rick Davis sentiments that Griffin is a "Skilled, tough, athletic Wing that can play multiple positions."

 Not much is really out there on Chris Griffin, but with schools like Kansas State going after him and our staff looking at him as well it would appear he has the talent to play at the D1 level. We will refrain from speculating about why the staff is looking at JUCO players to fill scholarships until we know for sure who will and will not be joining our 2013 recruiting class. We will keep you posted as we learn more. GO ZAGS!

Jordan Mathews- more to offer than his scoring ability (Jordan Mathews update)

Jordan Mathews – we have all heard his name mentioned in conjunction with several well known schools: Butler, Cal, Colorado, Kansas State, Nevada, San Diego State, San Francisco, TCU, VCU, Wyoming, Indiana, Kansas, USC, Wake Forest and of course Gonzaga.  He picked up an offer from Marquette today as well. So, why are these schools on board the Jordan Mathews bandwagon?

 

This 6’3 shooting guard from Santa Monica, California has an aggressive style of play.  He is known for attacking the hoop and has the potential to be a leader and dominate the court.  In June, he was chosen as the Ocean League MVP.  More recently, he has had successful games in the Adidas Nations tournament.  In game 2, Jordan scored 15 points, with three rebounds and one assist.  He shot 6 of 13 from the floor, and 1 of 4 from the three-point line.

In addition to his shooting prowess, Jordan appears rather humble and seems to be a good team player.  Having the humility to work well with others is important for team chemistry and Jordan possesses an ideal attitude for a Gonzaga player.  His Vikings head coach James Hecht had this to say about Mathews:

Too Many Question Marks ...What are your thoughts?

It seems Gonzaga coaches have put almost all their eggs into the Jordan Mathews and Darin Johnson baskets.  As little as three weeks ago it appeared that we were rated highly on these two promising recruits’ lists.  Now, within the past few days, it seems that we shouldn’t be as confident as we recently were.  Although both recruits still report that they are planning official visits to campus, the jubilation that we were right in the mix is beginning to fade.

As Darin Johnson expressed, he is visiting SDSU over the Labor Day weekend, although his favorite at this time is Oregon.  What is interesting with Darin is that depending upon which website or tweet you are reading, his top schools vary.  However, we are still in his top 12 and he speaks very highly of his relationship with our coaches, so let’s hope these other visits do not provide him with the same level of comfort he feels with us.  He did take an unofficial to GU at the end of June.  Was that enough to secure his commitment once he takes other official visits?  Darin has moved into Scout 100 at 83.

As for Jordan Mathews, he now lists Cal as his forerunner for his recruitment.  Jordan really blew up during the evaluation period receiving offers from many schools.  At this point, he plans to take an official visit to GU this fall.  Rivals has Jordan ranked at 97.  A top 100 recruit will really help our cause and Jordan would be an excellent addition to learn behind Kevin and Gary.

Class of 2013 Recruiting Update

Who will be donning a Zag jersey out of the class of 2013? So far the staff has received committments from a couple of relative unknowns in Ryan Edwards and Luke Meikle. There is also the commitment of Gerard Coleman who will not be eligible to suit up until 2013. We know these players will need time to develop in the Zags system and most likely will not get loads of playing time up front. So who else is the staff concentrating on for 2013?

Recruit Profile: Elijah Brown

According to ESPN.com, Mark Few and Tommy Lloyd were in attendance at Fab 48 watching Elijah Brown who attends Mater Dei in Santa Ana, CA. Elijah is a 6-3 combo guard in the class of 2013, who happens to be Mike Browns son (Mike is the head coach for the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA). He has been offered by Saint Mary's, San Francisco, San Diego, James Madison, Toledo, Kent St., and Akron and has received interest from several Pac-12 schools, Texas, Virginia Tech, Notre Dame, Iowa, and Wisconsin as well.

Inside College Basketball Excerpt

Seth Davis from SI had a chance to catch up with Mark Few recently and asked him several questions:

"Lots of programs -- midmajor, high-major, whatever -- would love to duplicate the model of consistency that Few has built in Spokane. So while the Bulldogs are losing 7-foot senior center Robert Sacre, who was the final pick in the 2012 NBA draft, they will be adding (or should I say, re-adding) Kelly Olynyk, a 7-foot junior center from Canada. Olynyk averaged 5.8 points and 3.8 rebounds in 13.5 minutes as a sophomore, but he redshirted last season because of the glut of frontcourt players. "He improved a ton. Really took a big jump," Few told me. "He got a chance to see things from a coaching standpoint. His strength is his face-up game but at the same time you don't want to be a 7-foot guard. He has really bought in."

Ditto for the sophomore backcourt duo of Kevin Pangos and Gary Bell, which logged a combined 58 starts during their freshman seasons. Few said Bell was the team's "unsung guy. Just rock solid all year." And he said that Pangos' gym rattitude is the best he has had since Derek Raivio. "Pangos is in the gym every night until 10 or 11," Few said. "Now he's starting to drag guys with him."

Sacre's departure opens the door for 6-9 redshirt junior Sam Dower to move into the starting lineup, and Few told me he's impressed with his 7-1 freshman from Poland, Przemek Karnowski. That bodes well for Gonzaga's chances to reclaim the West Coast Conference title it failed to win or share for the first time in 11 years. Moreover, 6-7 senior forward Elias Harris impressed the NBA scouts who watched him work out with the collegians at the LeBron James Skills Academy several weeks ago in Las Vegas. Few cracked a smile when I suggested to him that Harris has had an up-and-down career. "The funny thing is, he dunked a bunch of balls early in his career and everybody ran around saying he was an NBA pick. He never believed that," Few said. "He has really developed a lot. Everybody wants him to be an NBA three man. He's more suited to be a four man, but he has improved his perimeter game two hundred percent."

 Always nice to get an update from Coach Few on the development of our returning players, GO ZAGS!

Zags in the Olympics - Ronny Turiaf

Gonzaga basketball was represented well in the opening weekend of the 2012 Olympics as Ronny Turiaf took to the court as the starting Center for the French team. 

France had a tough opening game facing off against the highly touted USA team, headlined by super-stars Kevin Durant, LeBron James, and Carmelo Anthony.   The game was no match for France, as they were blown-out in a 98-71 loss.   Ronny posted a solid performance with 7 points, 9 rebounds, and 2 assists in 21 minutes of play.

Next up for Ronny and the France team: Argentina on Tuesday, July 31.

See Ronny's comments on the USA Team here