Few A Good Man For Gonzaga

Gonzaga University athletic director Mike Roth didn't have to look too far to find the new men's basketball coach. Mark Few's office is located down the hall from Roth.

Associate head coach Few was named Monday to replace Dan Monson, who was named coach at Minnesota on Saturday.

Few, 36, is entering his 11th season with the Gonzaga program. The Oregon graduate started as a graduate assistant, then spent eight years as assistant coach. He was named associate head coach in April.

"This was a no-brainer," Roth said. "We didn't need to do a search, we wouldn't find a better coach than Mark."

Contract terms were not disclosed.

"This is the biggest day outside of my marriage," Few told a roomful of current and former players. "This is a dream job with the type of guys we have here. The beat will continue on from last year."

Few's recruiting and game preparation helped the Bulldogs to 170 wins, five West Coast Conference championships and five trips to postseason play in the past eight years.

Eight of the Bulldogs' top ten players return to a team that finished with a 28-7 record and made it to the Elite Eight before falling to eventual champion Connecticut in last year's NCAA tournament.

Few, who was recently recruiting in California, said that even with the changes, the returning players and players who have already signed plan to stay at Gonzaga.

Few, who was in charge of scheduling games before his appointment as head coach, put together the toughest schedule in the program's history for the upcoming season. The Bulldogs have road games against Cincinnati, Temple, UCLA and Washington.

"As an assistant I put together the toughest schedule in Gonzaga history, and I had every intention playing it as an assistant," Few joked. "This is the type of schedule our guys want to play."

Gonzaga opens its season Nov. 6 against a team of alumni.

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