The 2017–18 Gonzaga Bulldogs men's basketball team represented

Gonzaga University Gonzaga University (GU) ( ) is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit university in Spokane, Washington, United States. It is Higher education accreditation in the United States, accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges ...

in the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team was led by head coach Mark Few, who was in his 19th season as head coach. The team played its home games at McCarthey Athletic Center in

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

. This was the Bulldogs (also informally referred to as the Zags) 38th season as a member of the

West Coast Conference The West Coast Conference (WCC) — known as the California Basketball Association from 1952 to 1956 and then as the West Coast Athletic Conference until 1989 — is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with NCAA Division I consisting o ...

. They finished the season 32–5, 17–1 in WCC play to win the WCC regular season championship. They defeated

Loyola Marymount Loyola Marymount University (LMU) is a private Jesuit and Marymount research university in Los Angeles, California. LMU enrolls over 10,000 undergraduate and graduate students, making it the largest Catholic university on the west coast of the ...

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

and BYU to become champions of the WCC tournament. They received the WCC's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament where they defeated UNC Greensboro and Ohio State to advance to the Sweet Sixteen where they lost to

Florida State Florida State University (FSU or Florida State) is a Public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preeminent university in the s ...

. The last weeks of the season were played against the backdrop of a potential Gonzaga move to the

Mountain West Conference The Mountain West Conference (MW) is a collegiate athletic conference in the Western United States, participating in NCAA Division I. Its football teams compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). The MW officially began operations on Ja ...

(MW), first publicly reported by the ''

San Diego Union-Tribune ''The San Diego Union-Tribune'' is a metropolitan daily newspaper published in San Diego, California, that has run since 1868. Its name derives from a 1992 merger between the two major daily newspapers at the time, ''The San Diego Union'' and ...

'' on February 28, 2018. MW commissioner Craig Thompson told the newspaper that the league had discussed expansion with six schools, with Gonzaga the only school he specifically named. Thompson added that Gonzaga could potentially join as a full but non-football member as early as the 2018–19 school year. A later ''Union-Tribune'' report indicated that talks were advanced enough that the conference's presidents planned a vote on an invitation to Gonzaga during the MW men's and women's basketball tournaments in Las Vegas, but decided to delay the vote until after the Final Four. However, before the MW's planned vote, Gonzaga athletic director Mike Roth notified both conferences that Gonzaga would remain in the WCC for the immediate future.

Previous season

The Bulldogs team finished the 2016–17 season 37–2, 17–1 in WCC play. The season was arguably the greatest season in Gonzaga's 109-year basketball history. The Bulldogs finished with a 32–1 regular season record and did not lose a game until February. They finished ranked second in the final AP Poll, the highest final national ranking in school history. They won both the WCC regular season and

tournament A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concen ...

championships. As a result, they received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament and a received a No. 1 seed in the West region. They advanced to the first NCAA National Championship game in the school's history—the deepest run for a WCC team since

advanced to its third consecutive Final Four in 1957, and also the deepest run by any Division I school without a football team since Seton Hall made the championship game in

1989 1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...

. With a victory over

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

in the national semifinal, the Bulldogs tied the NCAA Division I record for the second-most wins in a season. Their run ended in the NCAA National Championship game, where they lost to

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

Offseason

Coaching changes

Departures

Additions to staff

Player departures

Johnathan Williams had entered the NBA draft but did not hire an agent, giving him the option to return to Gonzaga. He withdrew from the draft on May 24, the last day he could have done so to retain NCAA eligibility.

Incoming transfers

2017 recruiting class

2017 returning missionaries

Jesse Wade graduated high school in 2015, but before enrolling in college at Gonzaga, he left for a 2-year LDS mission in Lyon, France, and will arrive on campus as a freshman in Fall 2017.

Future recruits

Recruiting class of 2018

Roster

* Roster is subject to change as/if players transfer or leave the program for other reasons.

Coaching staff

Schedule and results

Gonzaga's non-conference schedule includes matchups with Washington and San Diego State on the road. Gonzaga hosted Creighton, Texas Southern, and Incarnate Word at home. Gonzaga battled Villanova on a neutral court at Madison Square Garden in the Jimmy V Classic. The Zags were invited to play in the PK80: Phil Knight Invitational, where they played against

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

, Ohio State, and

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

. The Zags played in the single-elimination WCC Tournament, which took place in March 2018 at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas. , - !colspan=12 style=, Exhibition , - !colspan=12 style=, Non-conference regular season , - !colspan=12 style=, WCC Regular Season , - !colspan=12 style=, WCC Tournament , - !colspan=12 style=, NCAA tournament

Rankings

^Coaches did not release a Week 2 poll.
*AP does not release post-NCAA tournament rankings ;Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2017-18 Gonzaga Bulldogs men's basketball team Gonzaga Bulldogs men's basketball seasons Gonzaga

Gonzaga Bulldogs men's basketball The Gonzaga Bulldogs are an intercollegiate men's basketball program representing Gonzaga University. The school competes in the West Coast Conference in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). The Gonzaga Bulldogs p ...

Gonzaga 2010s in Spokane, Washington