The 2021–22 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 ...

, located 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 ...

, in the

2021–22 NCAA Division I men's basketball season The 2021–22 NCAA Division I men's basketball season began on November 9, 2021 and concluded on March 13, 2022. The 2022 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament culminated the season and began on March 15 and concluded on April 4 with the c ...

. The team, also unofficially nicknamed the "Zags", is led by head coach

Mark Few Mark Norman Few (born December 27, 1962) is an American college basketball coach who has been the head coach at Gonzaga University since 1999. He has served on Gonzaga's coaching staff since 1989, and has led the Bulldogs from mid-major obscur ...

, in his 23rd season as head coach. This is the Bulldogs' 18th season at the on-campus McCarthey Athletic Center and 42nd 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 ...

(WCC). They finished the season 28-4, 13-1 in WCC Play to finish as WCC regular season champions. They defeated

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 Saint Mary’s to be champions of the WCC tournament. They received the WCC’s automatic bid to the NCAA tournament where they defeated Georgia State and Memphis to advance to the Sweet Sixteen where they lost to

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the West South Central region of the Southern United States. It borders Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma ...

Previous season

In a season limited due to the ongoing

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, the

Bulldogs The Bulldog is a British breed of dog of mastiff type. It may also be known as the English Bulldog or British Bulldog. It is a stocky, muscular dog of medium size, with a large head, thick folds of skin around the face and shoulders and a rel ...

finished the 2020–21 season 31–1 and 15–0 in WCC play to win the regular season championship. They defeated Saint Mary's and BYU in the WCC tournament to win the tournament championship and receive the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. It was their 22nd straight trip to the NCAA Tournament. The Zags became the first Division I men's team since

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

to enter the NCAA Tournament without a loss. They received the No. 1 seed in the West region where they beat Norfolk State,

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

, Creighton, and

USC USC may refer to: Education United States * Universidad del Sagrado Corazón, Santurce, Puerto Rico * University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina ** University of South Carolina System, a state university system of South Carolina * ...

to advance to the Final Four. There they defeated

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

to become the first undefeated team to advance to the national championship game since Indiana State in

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

. The Bulldogs lost their first game of the season to Baylor in the championship game, denying the Bulldogs a

perfect season A perfect season is a sports season, including any requisite playoff portion, in which a team remains and finishes undefeated and untied. The feat is extremely rare at the professional level of any team sport, but has occurred more commonly at th ...

Offseason

Coaching changes

Departures

Additions to staff

Player departures

Due to COVID-19, the NCAA ruled in October 2020 that the 2020–21 season would not count against the eligibility of any basketball player, thus giving all players the option to return in 2021–22. This in turn meant that seniors in the 2020–21 season had to declare themselves eligible for the

2021 NBA draft The 2021 NBA draft, the 75th edition of the National Basketball Association's annual NBA draft, draft, was held on July 29, 2021, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, Brooklyn, New York. The NBA draft returned to Brooklyn after 2020 NBA draft, the pre ...

Incoming transfers

2021 recruiting class

Preseason

Mark Few arrest and suspension

On September 6, 2021, head coach Mark Few was pulled over by police and arrested for

driving under the influence Driving under the influence (DUI) is the crime of driving, operating, or being in control of a vehicle while one is impaired from doing so safely by the effect of either alcohol (drug), alcohol (see drunk driving) or some other drug, whether re ...

Coeur d'Alene, Idaho Coeur d'Alene ( ; ) is a city and the county seat of Kootenai County, Idaho, United States. It is the most populous city in North Idaho and the principal city of the Coeur d'Alene Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 54,628 at th ...

. Few refused sobriety tests on the scene, but was shown to have a blood alcohol level of .119 and .120 from breath tests, well over the legal limit of .08. Few later apologized for the incident and pled guilty to misdemeanor DUI. The school suspended Few for three games for his actions. However, the suspension notably included two exhibition games and the first game of the regular season, meaning he was able to coach the November 13 game against No. 5

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 ...

Preseason rankings

Gonzaga was a near-unanimous selection as the No. 1 team in the country in the preseason AP and

Coaches poll In the United States, the Coaches Poll is a weekly ranking of the top 25 NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) college football, Division I college basketball, and Division I college baseball teams. The football version of the poll has ...

Roster

* Roster is subject to change as/if players transfer or leave the program for other reasons. * Matthew Lang was awarded a basketball scholarship for the second semester of the 2021–22 season.

Coaching staff

Schedule and results

, - !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 Source

Rankings

*''AP does not release post-NCAA Tournament rankings.''
^''Coaches did not release a Week 1 poll.''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2021-22 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 2020s in Spokane, Washington