‘We rolled right through that thing’: Gonzaga launched onto the national scene by winning 1997’s Top of the World Classic
Editor’s note: This is the first of a six-part look back at Gonzaga’s wild run to the Elite Eight during the 1998-99 season.
Dan Monson could be excused for being nervous. It was his first road trip as head coach of the Gonzaga Bulldogs men’s basketball team, having taken over from the iconic Dan Fitzgerald.
Quite a trip, too, to Fairbanks, Alaska, in late November for the 1997 Top of the World Classic.
Coaches were asked to make a few comments at the pretournament luncheon, which included future National Coaches of the Year Rick Barnes (Clemson) and Bill Self (Tulsa).
Monson, being the unknown rookie of the bunch, opened his comments with some levity, predicting: “We’re just gonna roll through this thing.”
Everybody yukked it up. Good one, kid.
“It turned out to be hilarious,” said GU assistant Bill Grier, “because that’s exactly what we did, we rolled right through that thing.”
(Quotes in this story were retrieved from the book “Tales From the Gonzaga Hardwood” – Sports Publishing, 2004).
By fall 1997, the Zags had gradually elevated their competitive profile with NIT appearances in 1994 and ‘96, and a lone NCAA berth in 1995. But they had to go to Fairbanks for the first wins that grabbed national attention.
Monson may have been intentionally sand-bagging, but it’s certain nobody could have picked the Zags to come away with the championship trophy.
The Zags wasted no time sending an indisputable message.
In the opener against Tulsa, GU held the stunned Golden Hurricanes to 10 points in the first 20 minutes, leading 34-10 at halftime on the way to a shockingly easy 78-40 win over a team that would finish with 19 wins.
Holding a team to 40 would seem to be the headline, but the Zags’ perimeter shooting hinted of bigger things, as sophomore Richie Frahm led GU with 24 points, making five of 8 3-pointers.
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Mississippi State had been a Final Four team in 1996, and were better prepared for the suddenly emergent Zags the next night, but still fell 70-68, sending GU to the title game against Clemson, the No.5 ranked team in the nation.
It was 4 degrees outside the gym at tip-off, but the Zags were riding a super-charged hot streak. Making 14 of 19 attempts from beyond the arc, and 68 percent of their field goals overall, the Zags topped the heavily favored Tigers 84-71.
Guard Matt Santangelo led with 19 points (5-for-7 3s) and was named the tournament’s MVP. The next morning, Gonzaga received one vote in the Top-25 poll.
It was GU’s first win over a Top 10-ranked team. Monson’s quote afterward, which was carried nationally by Associated Press, was the perfect assessment of the win’s meaning to the future of GU basketball: “A lot of people will see that score and not know where Gonzaga is, and tomorrow they will.”