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Gonzaga Basketball

South Carolina coach Frank Martin calls Gonzaga ‘as high major as high major can get’

Gonzaga guard Nigel Williams-Goss (5) dribbles the ball downcourt during the first half of an NCAA Final Four basketball game, Sat., April 1, 2017, in Phoenix. (Colin Mulvany / The Spokesman-Review)
Gonzaga guard Nigel Williams-Goss (5) dribbles the ball downcourt during the first half of an NCAA Final Four basketball game, Sat., April 1, 2017, in Phoenix. (Colin Mulvany / The Spokesman-Review)Buy a print of this photo
By Jacob Thorpe

GLENDALE, Ariz. – Frank Martin’s South Carolina squad is a high-major school that finally crashed the dance. His opponent on Saturday was Gonzaga, a storied team in a conference otherwise not known for basketball.

Martin has seen his fair share of college basketball blue bloods – the Gamecocks beat Duke this year and typically play Kentucky twice each season – and says the Zags are indistinguishable from such storied programs.

“It’s not 1997 anymore,” Martin said. “They were Cinderella and all that pretty stuff in ’97. They’ve been in this thing for 20 consecutive years. They’re as high major as high major can get.”