Few Passes on Arizona, Will Remain at Gonzaga

All the speculation began to simmer late last night that Mark Few has established himself as the front-runner for the Arizona Wildcats head coaching position.  While we are very used to Coach Few being linked to all these rumors, the Arizona job seemed different.  Few has ties to former Arizona great Lute Olson and over the past few weeks Coach Few had been dodging each question about Arizona and other coaching options. 

Now that the afternoon has come, numerous sources have agreed that Mark Few will not become the next head coach at Arizona and will continue his tenure in Spokane.  Here is what the East Valley Tribune had to say about the Arizona situation ealier today:

Capel emerged as the frontrunner after Arizona's attempts to get John Calipari (who left Memphis for the Kentucky job) and Gonzaga's Mark Few were rebuffed. 

Now I have no clue why Capel would leave a very cushy spot at Oklahoma for a place where he has zero legitimate ties.  Capel is an ACC boy and was always thought to be next in line at Duke or another prestigious ACC school.   Right now, Arizona is just not an extremely desirable job as they could potentially be losing their big three of Chase Budinger, Jordan Hill, and Nic Wise. 

For Gonzaga, this is tremendous news.  Coach Few came under some criticism after the loss to North Carolina but it would be hard to imagine Gonzaga without Few.  It is especially important because Few will be bringing in a major recruiting class this year and says goodbye to five seniors so some minor rebuilding could be in order in Spokane.  Besides, no one wants to go through what schools like Memphis and Washington State had to go through. 

For now, with the Oregon and (possibly) the Arizona job being past us, the coaching staff can focus 100% on the 2009-2010 season.