The Gonzaga Bulldogs () (also known unofficially as the Zags) are the intercollegiate athletic teams representing Gonzaga University, located in

Spokane, Washington Spokane ( ) is the largest city and county seat of Spokane County, Washington, United States. It is in eastern Washington, along the Spokane River, adjacent to the Selkirk Mountains, and west of the Rocky Mountain foothills, south of the ...

, United States. Gonzaga competes in the

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges ...

(NCAA) Division I as a member of the West Coast Conference.

History

Gonzaga University was founded in 1887 by Fr.

Joseph Cataldo Joseph Mary Cataldo S.J. (March 17, 1837 – April 9, 1928) was an Italian-American Jesuit priest, a pioneer missionary in the inland Pacific Northwest, who also founded Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington. Born in 1837 in Terrasini in th ...

, a Sicilian-born

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in partic ...

. At one time, Gonzaga went by the nickname of "Fighting Irish" in the 1910s to early 1920s. This name was dropped in 1921 favor of the current "Bulldogs" mascot. Although the school's official mascot is a bulldog, fans and media have long used "Zags" as an alternate nickname. Gonzaga was an NAIA school from 1947 to 1958, when they moved to the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges ...

as an independent. They were a charter member of the Big Sky Conference in 1963, the only one of the six without a football program. GU moved over to the West Coast Athletic Conference in the summer of 1979, and the Big Sky added

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

, now in the Mountain West Conference. The WCAC was shortened to today's WCC in 1989.

Sports sponsored

Baseball

Men's basketball

Men's basketball has been the most successful sport for the Bulldogs. Gonzaga home games have been played at the

McCarthey Athletic Center McCarthey Athletic Center (MAC) is a 6,000-seat indoor arena on the campus of Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington. Opened in November 2004, it is home to the university's Bulldog basketball programs, members of the West Coast Conference (WC ...

since 2004. The Bulldogs opened the arena with a 100-game win streak, the longest at the time in the NCAA, eventually snapped in February 2007 by the Santa Clara Broncos. The Bulldogs have established a reputation as one of the strongest consistently great teams in men's college basketball, having played in 22 consecutive NCAA tournaments and ascending to the #1 ranking in both major polls during the 2012–13 season. They are generally reckoned as one of the closest things to a major basketball power in a mid-major conference. Notable alumni of Gonzaga basketball players include Hall of Famer John Stockton, Domantas Sabonis, Rui Hachimura, Kelly Olynyk, Adam Morrison, Ronny Turiaf,

Brandon Clarke Brandon Clarke (born September 19, 1996) is a Canadian-American professional basketball player for the Memphis Grizzlies of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Gonzaga Bulldogs and San Jose State Univ ...

, Zach Collins,

Dan Dickau Daniel David Dickau (born September 16, 1978) is an American former professional basketball player who currently works as an on-air broadcaster for ESPN, the Pac-12 Network, CBS Sports Network and Westwood One. He is also a co-host of the ''Dicka ...

Austin Daye Austin Darren Daye (born June 5, 1988) is an American professional basketball player who plays for New Taipei Kings of the P. League+. He played college basketball for Gonzaga before being drafted 15th overall by the Detroit Pistons in the 200 ...

Robert Sacre Robert Sacre (born June 6, 1989) is an American-Canadian professional basketball player who is the assistant general manager for the Vancouver Bandits of the Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL). A dual citizen of both the United States and C ...

Richie Frahm Richard Anthony Frahm (born August 14, 1977) is an American former professional basketball player. He competed in the NCAA 3-point shootout his senior year, winning the men’s division but losing in the battle of the sexes to Rice University’s ...

J. P. Batista João Paulo Lopes "J. P." Batista (born October 29, 1981) is a Brazilian former basketball and current coach. Standing at , he plays at the power forward position. He played college basketball at Gonzaga University and also started his coaching c ...

, Jeremy Pargo,

Blake Stepp Blake Roy Stepp (born February 4, 1982) is an American retired professional basketball player. After a standout prep career at South Eugene High School and college career at Gonzaga University, he was drafted in the second round of the 2004 NBA ...

, Paul Rogers,

Corey Kispert Corey James Kispert (born March 3, 1999) is an American professional basketball player for the Washington Wizards of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Gonzaga Bulldogs, where he was a consensus first-t ...

, and

Jalen Suggs Jalen Rashon Suggs (born June 3, 2001) is an American professional basketball player for the Orlando Magic of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Gonzaga Bulldogs. He was selected by the Magic with the f ...

Women's basketball

Former teams

Football

Gonzaga last fielded a varsity

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly ...

team in 1941. From 1892 to 1941 (excluding having no teams from 1894 to 1895 & 1900 to 1906), Gonzaga went 129–99–20.

= Head coaches

= Source:

Boxing

The university had a strong

boxing Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermined ...

program and shared the national title with

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Monta ...

in 1950 with a team composed of Carl Maxey, Eli Thomas, and Jim Reilly. Both Maxey and Thomas were undefeated over the course of the season, and Thomas would go on to win the individual championship after another undefeated season the following year. All three were inducted into Gonzaga's Athletic Hall of Fame, with Maxey and Thomas being inducted in 1988 and Reilly in 1989. Gonzaga dropped the sport in 1952, followed by Idaho in 1954, and the NCAA in 1960. Football star Tony Canadeo boxed during his senior year in 1941 at and was named team captain.

References

External links

* {{Navboxes , titlestyle = {{CollegePrimaryStyle, Gonzaga Bulldogs, color=white , list = {{West Coast Conference navbox {{Washington Sports {{Division1washingtoncolleges