In college basketball, traditional powerhouse schools are referred to as “blue bloods”. Some of college basketball’s blue bloods includes Kansas, North Carolina, Duke and Kentucky. Within the last 20 years, college basketball’s blue bloods have remained unchanged. However, one school has the chance to become the next up and coming blue blood. Led by head coach Mark Few, the Gonzaga Bulldogs have experienced significant turnaround within the last 20 years.
Prior to Few, Gonzaga only had two NCAA Tournament appearances in program history. In Few’s 22 seasons as Gonzaga’s head coach, the Bulldogs have appeared in 21 NCAA Tournaments. The one year Gonzaga did not make the NCAA Tournament was during the COVID shutdown in the 2019-20 season. Without a shutdown, Gonzaga would have appeared in the 2019-20 NCAA Tournament as well.
As mentioned, Gonzaga only had two NCAA Tournament appearances in program history before Few’s tenure. In these two appearances, Gonzaga was seeded as a 10 and 14 seed. With Few, Gonzaga has been seeded twice as a three seed, twice as a two seed and four times as a one. Also, Gonzaga’s four one seeds have come within their last eight NCAA Tournament appearances.
In Gonzaga’s two March Madness appearances prior to Few, they lost in the first round and appeared in a Elite Eight. In Gonzaga’s 21 NCAA Tournaments under Few, the Bulldogs have appeared in 10 Sweet Sixteens, four Elite Eights, two Final Fours and two National Title games. Clearly, Gonzaga has enjoyed a lot of postseason success within the last 22 seasons.
In modern college basketball, recruiting has become extremely important. Most blue blood programs are built on four and five-star recruits. Programs like Kentucky and Duke have consistently appeared at the top of recruiting within the last 10 years. Typically, Gonzaga has seen success through development rather than elite recruiting. The majority of Gonzaga’s stars have been international players. Some of Gonzaga’s past international super stars includes Domantas Sabonis, Rui Hachimura, Przemek Karnowski and Joel Ayayi.
For the most part, to have the best talent in college basketball you must have elite recruiting. For Gonzaga, they have adapted to modern recruiting. Few is beginning to land elite recruits for Gonzaga, which is leading to elite talent at Gonzaga. For example, the Bulldogs’ last three recruiting classes have finished 13th, 6th and 2nd. Furthermore, Gonzaga has landed three five-stars in the last two recruiting cycles. These five-stars include Jalen Suggs, Hunter Sallis and Chet Holmgren. Suggs was a star on the 2020-21 Gonzaga team and will be a high pick in the 2021 NBA Draft. Holmgren and Sallis will be freshmen on the 2021-22 Gonzaga team.
The five-stars Gonzaga has recently landed are elite. These are not recruits that blue bloods do not want, or gave up on. Sallis is a five-star guard that Kentucky recruited hard, Gonzaga won this battle. Alongside this, Holmgren is the top recruit in the 2021 class and could be the top pick in the 2022 NBA Draft.
Nearly every school in the nation wanted Holmgren. In addition, Gonzaga also landed Nolan Hickman, a high four-star point guard in the 2021 class. Hickman was previously committed to the blue blood Kentucky, but recently decommitted and chose Gonzaga. Gonzaga is starting to experience elite recruiting, which is leading to superior talent.
The Gonzaga Bulldogs program is currently experiencing their best stretch in program history. Gonzaga has a combined 164-14 record in their past five seasons, this is a win percentage of 92.1%. In their past two seasons, Gonzaga is 62-3. Part of Gonzaga’s absurd winning percentage is due to their weak conference. The WCC conference does not have the talent to compete with the tank Few has built at Gonzaga. In turn, many claim Gonzaga is overrated nearly every year due to a weak conference. On the other hand, Gonzaga has started to schedule tough non-conference opponents and have won these games regularly. To take the next step, Gonzaga should consider a conference change. If Gonzaga were to enter the PAC-12, their competition would be a lot better and would gain more respect.
Mark Few cutting down the net after earning a Final Four birth (Photo via NYPost.com)
Even with Gonzaga’s weak conference, their recent success is still extremely impressive. The Bulldogs will consistently be one of the best teams every single season if their elite recruiting continues. Few did a fantastic job with low-rated recruits and international players, but if he has a roster loaded with four and five-stars Gonzaga will be a different beast. The national title has alluded Gonzaga after losing in two national title games within the last five seasons. Elite recruiting combined with Few’s knack for developing players could lead to Gonzaga’s first national title. Considering Gonzaga’s recent success, this title should come sooner rather than later.
Most can acknowledge Gonzaga is one of the best programs in college basketball right now. However, to be a blue blood means being at the top for a long time. Above all else, Gonzaga needs to win national titles to become a blue blood. Few is simply a fantastic coach, and with elite recruiting Gonzaga will eventually win it all. Few is also quite young considering how long he’s coached, he is currently 58. With Few at the helm, Gonzaga is going no where soon and could reach the level of the new blue blood.
All stats courtesy of 247 Sports and Sports-Reference.
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