Weekly Zag Briefing

It has been a very difficult week in the wider world of basketball. In challenging moments, there is comfort in routine, so we’ll march on here. The Zags will continue to play, and we’ll continue to produce and gather content:

• We’ve mentioned it frequently around here over the season, but it’s hard to imagine where the Zags would be this year if Ryan Woolridge didn’t choose Gonzaga to be the place he’d spend his final year of collegiate ball. Jim Meehan writes about Woolridge’s path to Spokane, which almost didn’t happen. Woolridge admitted he was leaning a different way that would have once again kept him close to home after he swapped San Diego for North Texas as his parents battled cancer. Fortunately, Woolridge’s parents are healthy; he landed at Gonzaga; and his basketball future is looking brighter than ever.
• The Athletic’s Dana O’Neill sheds some light on the work several coaches—including our very own Mark and Marcy Few—are doing in the battle against cancer. Through their partnership with the Community Cancer Fund, the Fews have helped raise more than $20 million while also adding a mobile women’s health care clinic around Spokane. Phenomenal work!
• In a recent post for his blog, Bud Withers reflects on the remarkable consistency with which Gonzaga has produced hyper efficient offensive machines over the years. That level of consistency, with so many different types of players with varying level of experiences, is certainly impressive and deserves our appreciation.
• Jeff Borzello has Gonzaga at #2 in his Power Rankings, and writes that if Gonzaga is going to suffer a loss in WCC play, it will come in this current stretch of play when it has to play five of its next seven games on the road.
• BRACKETOLOGY: Joe Lunardi’s most recent iteration of the tournament field still includes three WCC teams, with Saint Mary’s and BYU in at the moment, though I’m skeptical that will hold up. SB Nation’s Chris Dobbertean also has BYU and Saint Mary’s sneaking into the field with Gonzaga, with the Zags as the #1 in the East region. Brian Bennett of The Athletic wonders whether the selection committee will make this the second time since 1979 that the tournament has two #1 seeds from the West Coast in the same year.