Weekly Zag Briefing

Let’s wash out the bitter taste of last night’s game with some Gonzaga reading from around the interwebs:

• Over at The Athletic, Sam Vecenie profiles Killian Tillie (subscription required) and the excellent work he has been doing on both ends of the floor this season. Tillie has been particularly effective at the defensive end where his quickness is allowing the coaching staff to have the flexibility to build in man-switches on defense against perimeter-oriented teams.
• Vecenie wasn’t the only national writer who has taken notice of Tillie, as ESPN’s Myron Medcalf also tabbed the sophomore as one of his “Names to Know” in college hoops.
• Updated Power Rankings from Jeff Borzello over at ESPN has the Zags slowly inching up after impressing against Creighton.
• The data journalists over at 538 took a look at Wichita State’s rise to prominence over the last 5 years and concluded that the only program with a comparable path to becoming a basketball powerhouse is Gonzaga. No surprise there. It doesn’t hurt to have the Koch Brothers serve as the program’s personal bank account either.
• Fun profile by Whitney Ogden for The Spokesman Review of Mary Conley, a Spokane resident who has a unique relationship to the Gonzaga-Creighton connection.
• Longtime team manager Brian Pete got to dress as a walk-on for Gonzaga’s game against Creighton as the team was short on bodies following injuries to Corey Kispert and Alex Martin. Pretty cool story and a great reward to Pete for years of hard work.
• The local Herald in Everett, WA took a look at Corey Kispert’s impact for the Zags just a few games into his nascent collegiate career.
• The Zags came in at #9 in Rob Dauster’s NCAA Power Rankings for NBC Sports.