In recognition of past players.

[maynard g krebs]

Dan Dickau. In '97 when he was a fr at UW, I went to one of their exhibition games because it was free, and after seeing Dan play, the next day I bought a season ticket. Six bucks a game for general admission; for a lot of the games you could just walk down and sit in about the 5th row, it was so empty. Then the Huskies squeaked into the tourney with a season ending win over UCLA and made the sweet 16.

In December of that year, GU came to town; Santangelo, Frahm, Calvary, Hall, Hendrix et al. I was like, wow, this doesn't look like a small school team at all. UW with MacCulloch and Watts won about 88 to 81 or 2, but I became a Zag fan that night. And after a year of mostly misuse of Dan and a year of injury, I was really happy to hear he was transferring to GU as I had a pretty good idea of what he could do there. And having heard first hand reports of Stepp from folks in Eugene, I felt good about the chances of the then 2 year old run of the Zags continuing for a couple more. Little did I know....................

[demian]

Dan Dickau. In '97 when he was a fr at UW, I went to one of their exhibition games because it was free, and after seeing Dan play, the next day I bought a season ticket. Six bucks a game for general admission; for a lot of the games you could just walk down and sit in about the 5th row, it was so empty. Then the Huskies squeaked into the tourney with a season ending win over UCLA and made the sweet 16.

In December of that year, GU came to town; Santangelo, Frahm, Calvary, Hall, Hendrix et al. I was like, wow, this doesn't look like a small school team at all. UW with MacCulloch and Watts won about 88 to 81 or 2, but I became a Zag fan that night. And after a year of mostly misuse of Dan and a year of injury, I was really happy to hear he was transferring to GU as I had a pretty good idea of what he could do there. And having heard first hand reports of Stepp from folks in Eugene, I felt good about the chances of the then 2 year old run of the Zags continuing for a couple more. Little did I know....................

great story. I remember watching the huskies team in 1998 with Mcullaugh when they lost at the buzzer to rip Hamilton and UConn. My son Isaiah who is a Huge GU fan was in the belly of his mother at the time, me and his mom we were watching the game at Reborn's house. we were deflated when UConn beat UW and bob bender in that game. We were so pumped up though for the future of UW hoops. We were just simply big fans of any basketball team in the state of Washington at that time.

my son Isaiah was born a week or so later after that UW loss to UConn (Isaiah was born 3/31/98).

The next spring was the beginning of it all. I was a young man still (25 years old), I watched the elite 8 game vs UConn in 1999 at Reborns house and I will never forget that game. My son was a little baby that day, he is now a freshman wide receiver at Idaho State University on there football team. So many great memories throughout the years. Our family has grown and matured and dealt with "life" and oh by the way Gonzaga hoops has been a MAJOR part of our once "young" families life transforming into a life of our kids "now grown"

[Zagger]

I'd have to say Mike Hart... He epitomizes what this "team" has been over the last two decades. Find your role, and excel in that role - put your personal stats aside and just do whatever it takes to get the job done.

Hart is still prolly digging out splinters from all the ball diving he did! A great Zag.

[GonzagasaurusFlex]

My favorite Zag of this era is Blake Stepp. Just loved watching him drain 3's from way deep, loved his toughness and his talent. He had great size for a guard and great talent, but his heart and toughness are what made him a special player and my all time favorite Zag. He's a former player in particular whom I hope can go to the Final Four in person and root these guys on to victory. Wonder if a bunch of former players will be in attendance. Hope so.

[GoZags]

I'll never forget former walk-on Mark Spink ... the slender tough guy who went toe to toe with Madsen and Young of Stanford in '99 ... and Postell and Glover of St. John's in '00. In my mind Spink is right up there when the term "ultimate" Zag is used.

[FuManShoes]

Abdullahi Kuso.

"Who?" youngins ask. He's one of the many Zags who have stepped up over the years when the Zags faced adversity, as well as one of those great JC transfer stories GU become known for. By no means a star, he's a Zag who helped keep the run alive when Heytvelt was suspended and injured. For me he represents toughness, adaptability and one of the unheralded heroes. Next Zag up!

http://www.gozags.com/sports/m-baskbl/mtt/kuso_abdullahi00.html

[former1dog]

Felix McGowan. He and I grew up together in a very small Montana town on an Indian Reservation. Improbably we both ended up as student athletes at Gonzaga.

Felix was a great addition to the Jeff Brown era Zags, the team I consider as the ones who really started Gonzaga on the path to excellence. These guys went from an 8-20 record to just a couple seasons later making the WCC tourney championship game and coming up a little short. Mark Few was a second or third assistant on those teams with Billy Grier and Dan Monson.

[jim77]

Lot of GREAT ones here.

I'll go with one of the nicest persons I've ever met....Ronny Turiaf. He came to the Bismarck civic center while playing for the Yakima Sun kings. Ronny had just come back from his heart surgery. I personally had ben injured and was VERY unsure of my future. After the game me and my family waited to see if we could get his autograph. Not only did we get his autograph...but the guy sat there and talked to us for prolly 20 minutes. Again, prolly one of the nicest people I have ever met on God's green Earth. This world needs more like him.

As many GREAT ball players that GU has produced...they produce GREATER human beings.

[NEC26]

I'll never forget former walk-on Mark Spink ... the slender tough guy who went toe to toe with Madsen and Young of Stanford in '99 ... and Postell and Glover of St. John's in '00. In my mind Spink is right up there when the term "ultimate" Zag is used.

What a great shout out. I remember that game so well and he played a big part. Another walk on that played a role in the Zags ascension.

[Zagceo]

Lot of GREAT ones here.

I'll go with one of the nicest persons I've ever met....Ronny Turiaf. He came to the Bismarck civic center while playing for the Yakima Sun kings. Ronny had just come back from his heart surgery. I personally had ben injured and was VERY unsure of my future. After the game me and my family waited to see if we could get his autograph. Not only did we get his autograph...but the guy sat there and talked to us for prolly 20 minutes. Again, prolly one of the nicest people I have ever met on God's green Earth. This world needs more like him.

As many GREAT ball players that GU has produced...they produce GREATER human beings.

weii said

[Stache]

Axel Dench. Jeremy Eaton. Jabari Hendrix. Anthony Reasons. Mike Leisure..... but from that era Matt Santagelo was the first great athlete guard of this era. He could penetrate, shot and leep. He was a step up in athletic ability and someone the other side had to account for.

[NEC26]

I have already mentioned Batista but I can't believe no one has mentioned Frahm yet. He was a HUGE reason for our early cinderella succes in the NCAA tourney. I remember listening on the radio with Dennis Patchin calling so many threes from Frahm. Such an incredible three point shooter.

[bobma2c]

[QUOTE=YukonJack;1308137]I get emotional looking at past players over the last twenty years. I thought for this thread for each of us to choose a player from this magical era and say something about that player. One player per poster if that is okay.

Anthony Reason. He played with emotion and heart. I lost track of him, but I thinks I read somewhere he was in living in TN.

[MJ777]

I have already mentioned Batista but I can't believe no one has mentioned Frahm yet. He was a HUGE reason for our early cinderella succes in the NCAA tourney. I remember listening on the radio with Dennis Patchin calling so many threes from Frahm. Such an incredible three point shooter.

I thought of Frahm (another Zag from SW Wa - Battle Ground HS), but Following the original poster's instructions I chose only one. I figured Frahm was low hanging fruit so I chose a lesser celebrated but important Zag - Z. Gourde. Walk-ons like Rem are Great Zags also.

[Ikancagin]

I thought of Frahm (another Zag from SW Wa - Battle Ground HS), but Following the original poster's instructions I chose only one. I figured Frahm was low hanging fruit so I chose a lesser celebrated but important Zag - Z. Gourde. Walk-ons like Rem are Great Zags also.

Fragments is one of my favorites but I am also very fond of the first UW transfer and tough guy Eric Brady. He was a big part of the start of all of this. I vote for him.