Weekly Zag Briefing

Don’t waste your time up here, click on the links below!

• It’s always great to hear about athletes giving back to those that have supported them along the way. For his dad’s recent birthday, Nigel Williams-Goss decided to present him with a gift in the form of a car he’s wanted for many years. Despite being overseas in Serbia, Nigel arranged for the car to be presented with a bow and everything in his dad’s driveway.
• Myron Medcalf notes the differences in each of last year’s Final Four teams compared to their present iterations.
• Jay Bilas published Volume III of The Bilastrator, where he currently has the Zags at #20 in his ranking of the college basketball field.
• Gonzaga’s versatile lineup spreads the wealth and means that anyone can lead the team in scoring on any given night.
• In Sam Vecenie’s latest mock draft for The Athletic, he projects Killian Tillie to be an early second round pick at #34 to the Brooklyn Nets, though Vecenie notes that he rates Tillie higher than that pick:

“I personally have Tillie higher on my board than this. He’s possibly the highest-IQ big in this class, an absolutely terrific defender both on the perimeter and at the rim who can also pass the heck out of the ball and knock down shots from 3. That’s the perfect player for anyone, but particularly for what Kenny Atkinson wants from bigs.”

• Brian Bennett of The Athletic profiled Portland head coach Terry Porter, and his pursuit of turning the Pilots into a cool mid-major like Gonzaga. Bennett also posted his latest WCC Notebook providing some insight into what’s happening around the league.
• Not directly about Gonzaga, but John Gonzalez of The Ringer took a look at some former NBA stars that are coaching in the college ranks. There’s a good amount of discussion for WCC coaches Damon Stoudamire and Terry Porter (along with Grand Canyon University coach Dan Majerle and Donyell Marshall over at Coastal Carolina), so it’s definitely worth a read.