Bio: In 1997, Santangelo was the co-winner of the WCC Newcomer/Freshman award. The next three seasons he was selected to the WCC’s First Team. In 2001, he was named an AP All-America Honorable Mention. He is the career assists leader in Gonzaga history (668). Now, he is the executive director of Hoopfest and organizes various youth basketball programs, including Spokane AAU.
On the 1999 team’s run to the Elite 8: “We could out-execute a more athletic team. ... We played with a big chip on our shoulder, and that was a theme in the early development of Gonzaga. That ‘us-against-the-world’ mentality really lends itself to a successful run in March.”
STATS
At Gonzaga (1996-2000): Games played: 131 ... Points per game: 13.8 ... Assists per game: 5.1 ... Record in NCAA tournament games: 5-2
