Weekly Zag Briefing

The briefing took a holiday break last week since Gonzaga’s win over Duke (remember that?) took center stage on Wednesday. But we’re back and better than ever and there was lots of Gonzaga-related content published on the interwebs since then.

• We see “Gonzaga is no longer a Cinderella” pieces from time to time. Usually, they come later in the season but NCAA dot com decided to grace us with one before the first month of the season ended.
• Features on Rui and Gonzaga’s foresight in recruiting and developing international talent is all the rage these days, and Sports Illustrated was the latest outlet to get into the act. SI also listed its winner and losers of feast week, with the Zags unsurprisingly topping the list.
• Jim Meehan of The Spokesman-Review wrote a piece on how Jeremy Jones ended up at Gonzaga. Jones initiated by calling Tommy Lloyd directly at his office, and made the leak to Gonzaga without any guarantees of a scholarship or playing time. Things really worked out well for both sides.
• Will Maupin’s weekly WCC Power Rankings over at Mid-Major Madness once again feature Gonzaga at the top spot, but also contains a notable shake-up in the Top 3.
• If you haven’t read it yet, make sure to check out Dana O’Neill’s excellent piece on Mark Few and his slice of heaven in Maui. O’Neill did a great job of pulling back the curtain for fans and showing exactly how Mark Few celebrated last week’s Maui title. O’Neill also recapped the Maui title game and Rui and Few’s comments after the game that could portend even bigger things to come from Gonzaga’s junior forward.
• O’Neill and Brian Hamilton of The Athletic also discussed the Gonzaga-Duke game at length in their weekly “Shot Takers” series. Both believe the Elite 8 is the floor for the Zags at full strength.
• ESPN’s Mike Schmitz posted his quick NBA draft scouting analysis of Rui and Brandon Clarke. He highlights the progression of Rui’s offensive game and performance against Duke as factors that should aid his ascension up draft boards, though notes that Rui’s defense is a mixed-bag at this point. Schmitz also highlighted that Clarke pulled off the difficult feat of disrupting Zion Williamson, while his energy and athleticism got him noticed by scouts. ESPN’s most recent NBA mock draft has Rui going at the 14th pick, Clarke at No. 30, and Tillie at No. 42. Three Zags in the Top 42 would be quite the coup for the program.
• The Zags are at the top of Andy Katz’s Power 36 rankings in college basketball. Katz also caught up with Zach Norvell after the Duke game, so check out the video if you haven’t seen it yet.