Written by Kerry Miller at Bleacher Reports.com
One of the most exasperating narratives in men’s college basketball is mercifully dead. In its 19th consecutive trip to the NCAA tournament, Gonzaga is going to the Final Four.
The top-seeded Bulldogs drained a dozen three-pointers and were in control from start to finish in Saturday night’s 83-59 win over No. 11 Xavier in San Jose, California.
A lot has changed since their first trip to a regional final in 1999. Back then, Gonzaga was the plucky underdog—the Cinderella story that enthralled the nation by upsetting three straight major-conference programs before falling just short against the eventual national champions, UConn.
This time around, the Zags were the big bad bullies, using a roster full of future pros to put an end to Xavier’s dream of becoming one of the unlikeliest Final Four teams ever.
As Sam Vecenie of Sporting News noted on Twitter, this squad has significantly more talent than it did in its days of shocking the world with the likes of Casey Calvary and Matt Santangelo:
Gonzaga: not your typical mid-major. Two pros sit w/ fouls, who comes on? A double-digit scorer from SEC, future French national teamer
— Sam Vecenie (@Sam_Vecenie) March 25, 2017
The biggest reason for that transformation was head coach Mark Few’s aggressive use of the transfer market, bringing in former major-conference players Nigel Williams-Goss (Washington), Jordan Mathews (California) and Johnathan Williams (Missouri).
As a result, Gonzaga finds itself in waters uncharted by any other program.
Whether you want to call it an epidemic or just a new way of life, transferring has become an integral part of college basketball’s offseason news cycle. More than 700 D-I players have transferred in each of the past two years, and we’re already drowning in reports of players who have decided to move elsewhere this summer.
