Weekly Zag Briefing

I hope everyone has had a nice holiday season, and is ready to wrap up the last few days of the non-conference schedule before the calendar flips to January and WCC play.

• There have been a lot of amazing individuals who have come through the Gonzaga program over the years. Mac Graff, a manager with the basketball team, suffered a terrible accident over 4 years ago but he hasn’t allowed his injury to stop him from living a positive and inspiring life. Make sure to check out the feature video on himGraff from KHQ if you haven’t seen it yet.
• Few gave the team 4 days off after the game against Denver last Friday, and most of the guys went home to see their friends and family. The ones who stayed in Spokane—a group that includes all the international players and Geno Crandall—spent the holidays with the Lloyd’s who have taken on the tradition of hosting the guys who stick around. It sounds like the break was much needed for a group that was “running on empty,” going into the Tennessee and UNC games, according to Lloyd.
• There are four Zags in Sam Vecenie’s NBA Draft Big Board at the moment. Rui (#13), Brandon Clarke (#25), Killian Tillie (#44), and Zach Norvell (#57) are all inside the Top 60 which means it’s possible that we could see four Zags drafted if all four of those guys declare after the season ends.
• Speaking of Norvell, he got the featured story treatment from Kendra Andrews who wrote a great piece for The Athletic about Norvell’s childhood growing up around basketball in New Mexico and Chicago.
• The Wirth twins have played a big part in helping the Gonzaga women achieve a program best 11-1 start to the season
• Myron Medcalf of ESPN runs through the key points to take away from the college season so far, and in doing so drops Rui Hachimura and Brandon Clarke into the race for the Wooden Award.