Although USF and Gonzaga are now involved in a p--------- contest over who has the leakiest roster (my unofficial count has it as a 9-9 tie), the real issue is squandering resources and what the implications are.
Just to take one example, look at what the Zags are going through with the graduation of Sacre and the return of Spangler to Oklahoma. Reports have Few flying to Poland for an audience with a 7-footer who is considering a number of colleges, Gonzaga among them. Whether Few has to kiss his ring before the audience is not known, but what a picture that makes. Meanwhile, right in Few's back yard is a 6-11, 240-lb post man, Andy Polling, heading into his senior season at Seattle Pacific after back-to-back 14.5 ppg and 15.4 ppg seasons. Polling, of course, was originally a Zag after a stellar high school career at Westview in Portland (are there any other schools in Portland?). Then he was a 190-lb beanpole and the knock was he couldn't put on weight and would never survive in D-I competition. Well, he's now 240 lbs and, by all accounts, an excellent player for Seattle Pacific.
Before you skeptics point out that Seattle Pacific is a D-II team, please note that it is a very good D-II team and the difference between it -- 23-8 last year and defeated in the third round of the D-II national championship -- and some WCC teams is very slight. We played Seattle Pacific a few years ago and barely beat 'em in Moraga.
So, if Few had used some of his air fare budget on a nutritionist he could be looking at a senior (or junior if he redshirted) getting ready to move into the starting lineup after two years of apprenticeship under Sacre. Isn't that -- and the good will earned in the Pacific Northwest over developing a local kid -- a better outlook than pleading for a Polish kid to save your bacon as the late signing period wears down?
Sacre's spot isn't Few's only concern, as the defection of Spangler, Keita and, according to the Zag board, Mooninghoff, leaves Gonzaga with five open scholarships for next year and nobody officially in the fold as yet. This is probably why the Zag board is salivating over every warm body who ends up on the transfer list: Lockett out of Arizona State, whose ostensible reason for leaving was to be near his sick mom in Minnesota, Alex Oiracha (sp?) from Connecticut, who ended up in Missouri, even Brendan Lane, the UCLA big man who pulled splinters out of his butt for three years before choosing Pepperdine for his final year.
Now, to that USF-Gonzaga transfer contest. Here's my unofficial tally over the last three years:
Gonzaga (9): Polling, Goodson, Gibbs, Arop, Vilarino, Hyland, Kong, Keita and Mooninghoff.
USF (9): Brouha, Petrovic, Vaughn and the Gang of Six.
Think of all the wasted paperwork for Few and Walters' staffs.
Just to take one example, look at what the Zags are going through with the graduation of Sacre and the return of Spangler to Oklahoma. Reports have Few flying to Poland for an audience with a 7-footer who is considering a number of colleges, Gonzaga among them. Whether Few has to kiss his ring before the audience is not known, but what a picture that makes. Meanwhile, right in Few's back yard is a 6-11, 240-lb post man, Andy Polling, heading into his senior season at Seattle Pacific after back-to-back 14.5 ppg and 15.4 ppg seasons. Polling, of course, was originally a Zag after a stellar high school career at Westview in Portland (are there any other schools in Portland?). Then he was a 190-lb beanpole and the knock was he couldn't put on weight and would never survive in D-I competition. Well, he's now 240 lbs and, by all accounts, an excellent player for Seattle Pacific.
Before you skeptics point out that Seattle Pacific is a D-II team, please note that it is a very good D-II team and the difference between it -- 23-8 last year and defeated in the third round of the D-II national championship -- and some WCC teams is very slight. We played Seattle Pacific a few years ago and barely beat 'em in Moraga.
So, if Few had used some of his air fare budget on a nutritionist he could be looking at a senior (or junior if he redshirted) getting ready to move into the starting lineup after two years of apprenticeship under Sacre. Isn't that -- and the good will earned in the Pacific Northwest over developing a local kid -- a better outlook than pleading for a Polish kid to save your bacon as the late signing period wears down?
Sacre's spot isn't Few's only concern, as the defection of Spangler, Keita and, according to the Zag board, Mooninghoff, leaves Gonzaga with five open scholarships for next year and nobody officially in the fold as yet. This is probably why the Zag board is salivating over every warm body who ends up on the transfer list: Lockett out of Arizona State, whose ostensible reason for leaving was to be near his sick mom in Minnesota, Alex Oiracha (sp?) from Connecticut, who ended up in Missouri, even Brendan Lane, the UCLA big man who pulled splinters out of his butt for three years before choosing Pepperdine for his final year.
Now, to that USF-Gonzaga transfer contest. Here's my unofficial tally over the last three years:
Gonzaga (9): Polling, Goodson, Gibbs, Arop, Vilarino, Hyland, Kong, Keita and Mooninghoff.
USF (9): Brouha, Petrovic, Vaughn and the Gang of Six.
Think of all the wasted paperwork for Few and Walters' staffs.
