Former Zags applaud Gonzaga’s decision to leave WCC for reconstructed Pac-12

Four former Gonzaga basketball players from across the spectrum of the program’s rise to national powerhouse gave the school high marks for its decision to join the Pac-12 Conference in 2026-27.

The former Zags said the Pac-12 should represent a sizable step up in competition, beef up the home conference schedule, boost the school’s ability to generate revenue, including name, image and likeness , and better positions GU in the rapidly changing landscape of college athletics.

“I’m extremely excited,” said former Gonzaga center Robert Sacre, who played four NBA seasons with the Los Angeles Lakers before finishing his career playing professionally overseas. “I wish it happened while I was playing there. Our home games are going to be a lot better to watch. It’s going to be exciting at the Kennel, bring new vibrancy and energy. It’s a pick-me-up for the whole town, community and Gonzaga.”

Corey Kispert, standout wing at Gonzaga from 2018-21, agreed GU made the right call to leave the West Coast Conference for the Pac-12 beginning in 2026-27.

“It’s a good move, honestly,” said Kispert, entering his fourth season with the Washington Wizards. “I don’t know a lot of the details yet and how the conference will look in the future, but it’s something I wish I had a chance to do (when he was a Zag).

“Absolutely, you have to change with the times and if you don’t, you get left behind. I thought it was smart to pump the brakes and wait to see how things shake out and I think we made a wise decision.”

At the moment, the Pac-12 roster for 2026-27 includes Gonzaga, Washington State, Oregon State and the Mountain West Conference’s San Diego State, Fresno State, Colorado State, Boise State and Utah State. The Pac-12 needs to add at least one all sports member, including football, to be recognized as an FBS conference.

Washington State and four of the five MWC schools played in the NCAA Tournament last year. San Diego State played in the 2023 national championship and has qualified for March Madness four straight seasons. BSU, led by former GU assistant Leon Rice, has made the last three NCAA Tournaments.

Gonzaga, which is joining the Pac-12 in all the sports it offers, has played in every NCAA Tournament since its improbable run to the 1999 Elite Eight. The Zags earned an automatic bid in 2020, but the tournament was canceled in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

On paper, the future Pac-12 is stronger top to bottom than the WCC, which was top-heavy with Gonzaga and Saint Mary’s.

“You talk about the (Mountain West’s) success in recent years, it’s one of those unsung, unheralded stories in college basketball,” said Matt Santangelo, who led the 1999 Zags in assists and was second in scoring. “It’s good basketball and big-time athletes. It’s hard-nosed basketball, whereas in the WCC we always spoke about the high IQ, the stretch ‘4’ and the undersized but skilled teams.

“One knock Gonzaga has always received is that lack of bruising -style basketball that all these other conference play, where they all beat each other up. This is a step in that direction. And Gonzaga is obviously going to elevate the quality of basketball itself.”

There is some risk in leaving the WCC, a conference GU has dominated for 25 years and “served Gonzaga awfully well,” former Zags center Richard Fox said, but the potential benefits in a rebuilt Pac-12 warrant making the move.

“The level of basketball is going to go up, probably more than a peg or two,” said Fox, an analyst on Zag games televised on KHQ/SWX. “These are real basketball programs that have football money quite frankly … It’s going to be interesting to see how Gonzaga likes being a bigger fish in a bigger pond versus being the big fish in a small pond.”

Depending on future reshuffling, the Pac-12 projects as potentially the sixth-best basketball conference, behind the Big 12, SEC, ACC, Big Ten and Big East.

“A lot of really good teams that have made deep runs and it’s going to be a higher standard for the entire year instead of having a really good nonconference schedule and then the conference schedule,” Kispert said of GU’s future basketball home. “Our conference was good when I was on team, but there were stretches in January and February where you were in the middle of the conference season, and you watch games on TV of other good teams around the country playing high-level, ranked games and you missed out on that competitive edge and all the benefits that brings.”

GU is 121-8 in the WCC in the past eight seasons and played in the 2017 and 2021 national championship games.

“From a coaching standpoint, you always want to be an aggressor,” Sacre said. “I feel like this is an aggressive move for us. You can’t really think about the way the WCC thinks of us. We have to take care of ourselves.”

GU had discussions with the Big 12 for more than a year about joining the conference, but those stalled months ago. Many of the Big 12 members are in the Midwest and three are in the Eastern time zone. There was speculation several years ago about GU and the Big East, but that, too, would have required lengthy travel for Gonzaga’s teams.

Joining the Pac-12 makes sense for all of Gonzaga’s student-athletes, including men’s and women’s basketball, Santangelo said.

“Obviously, the Big 12 is the best basketball conference,” said Santangelo, a financial adviser with D.A. Davidson. “Those would have been really interesting. I could just never figure out the logistics. How do you move baseball, volleyball, soccer? I couldn’t have reconciled that personally.”

Financial details probably won’t be finalized until the Pac-12 adds another member, but those seemingly figure to line up favorably for the Zags.

“I’d have to think so, 100%,” Fox said. “A lot is going to be said about the synergy of the Pac-12 and Gonzaga, the benefits for student-athletes, the level of competition. No one is going to say it but the primary motivator was money and the need to be more competitive financially. A big part about the competitive aspect involves NIL, that’s a huge part of this move.

“This was about positioning yourself in college athletics for the next 20, 25 years. NIL isn’t going away. If the rules of the road start to get defined with NIL, that’ll be helpful, but you certainly need to compete in that space and Gonzaga has been able to do so in recent years. Being in a larger conference should make it easier for them.”