Gonzaga coach Mark Few clarifies his national champions ‘who do it right’ postgame comment

Gonzaga coach Mark Few stands by his comments Sunday that he’s disappointed the NCAA hasn’t moved faster with its investigation into college basketball corruption.

But the Zags coach was adamant about clarifying one of his remarks that was published in a Yahoo! Sports article.

“There’s two teams today who were competing who do it right. I know that to be true,” Few told a Yahoo! Sports reporter, following Gonzaga’s loss to Tennessee on Sunday in Phoenix. “And there’s a lot of teams who do it right – the national champions two out of the last three years. There’s a lot of great things. This thing is worth saving.”

The Yahoo! Sports article’s next paragraph read: Considering Villanova won two of the last three national titles, it’s pretty clear he was indirectly calling out 2017 champion North Carolina. The team North Carolina beat in the championship game? Sure enough, it was Gonzaga, and that game was also in the Phoenix area.

Few said Monday that inference “couldn’t be farther from the truth.”

“Nobody is rolling more than Villanova, that’s what I was saying,” said Few, whose fourth-ranked Bulldogs visit No. 12 North Carolina on Saturday. “North Carolina does it the right way. They’re as ethical as ethical can be.”

Few and Tar Heels coach Roy Williams have been close friends for years. Leading up to the 2017 national championship game, both coaches recounted a funny story of their staffs visiting a casino in Tunica, Mississippi, a few days before the 2009 GU-UNC Sweet 16 matchup in Memphis.

“Roy is a high-character, Hall of Fame coach who I have the highest amount of respect for of anybody coaching in any sport,” said Few, who has reached out to Williams.

NCAA president Mark Emmert said recently the investigation into college basketball corruption is ongoing and penalties won’t be handed out until after this season, at the earliest.

“There’s teams out here who are competing for Final Fours and national championships and they don’t need to stall this thing out,” Few told Yahoo! Sports. “They need to make decisions and roll with it.

“I think that’s on Emmert. Emmert needs to step up and be a leader and make some quicker decisions.”