News Article

The West Coast Conference women’s basketball championship game between Gonzaga and San Diego will be broadcast Sunday on KGA radio 1510 AM in the Inland Northwest, and on CSTV. Game time is 1:30 p.m. Sunday’s two men’s tournament semifinal games will be televised live on ESPN2. The Gonzaga men take on No. 4 Santa Clara at 6:30 p.m. Sunday. Santa Clara beat No. 5 San Francisco 51-50 in a quarterfinal game Saturday. The Zags vs. Santa Clara game also can be heard on KGA radio. The other WCC Tournament men's semifinal Sunday pits Saint Mary’s against No. 3 San Diego at 9 p.m. San Diego beat No. 6 Pepperdine 73-55 in a quarterfinal game Saturday. (All Times Pacific)

In Saturday’s semifinals of the women’s tournament, Gonzaga beat Saint Mary's 81-64, and San Diego beat Santa Clara 72-66. Sophomore Heather Bowman led the Zags with 26 points and 12 rebounds. Freshman Courtney Vandersloot added 14 points, 8 rebounds and 8 assists. The Zags entered the title game with a 24-7 record. USD is 18-12.

March 8, 2008
By Dale Goodwin
(SAN DIEGO) – Jeremy Pargo and his older brother Jannero made a pact as youngsters in their Chicago neighborhood that they would not succumb to drugs and alcohol.

Today Jeremy, the West Coast Conference Player of the Year, is working hard preparing to help lead his team to a WCC championship and a trip to the NCAA Tournament. Jannero is enjoying his sixth season in the NBA, playing for the New Orleans Hornets. Pact pays off.

“I’m grateful for the way the Gonzaga and Spokane communities have embraced me,” Jeremy said. “Being a kid from Chicago, I really appreciate that.”

This is a young man who comes to the McCarthey Athletic Center to see a women’s basketball game when his team is in town, only to find himself swarmed by children who want to have him sign their clothes and programs, and mothers who want to get an autograph for their kids who couldn’t make it, or so they say.

Pargo greets all with a smile, and obliges.

He was honored to be selected the league’s top player, but what really warmed his heart was the love Gonzaga fans gave to this team’s two seniors Monday night, March 3, in their last home game against Santa Clara.

“David Pendergraft has been here four years. He hasn’t missed a game. He’s played through a lot of bumps and bruises. Here’s this 6-foot-6 forward going up against bigger guys every night out, getting rebounds and scoring points.

“(Abdullahi) Kuso has been here two years. He has coaches riding him, players riding him, and he never gets down. He does so many things for this team (blocked shots, rebounds, points in the paint, hustle for loose balls). He’s very quiet, but he brings so much energy,” Pargo said.

Coach Mark Few, co-Coach of the Year with Saint Mary’s Randy Bennett, said Pargo has become a true leader of this group, which has compiled a 24-6 record, four of the six losses against Top 25 teams, the other two to storied programs Oklahoma and Texas Tech.

“I’m ecstatic for Jeremy,” Few said in response to his selection as league MVP. “This game means so much to him. He works as hard in the off-season as any player we’ve had. And he has done a great job taking constructive criticism this year.”

Jeremy admits that he has changed his game from the first half of the season to the second, and for the better.

“My playing better the last half of this season is all because Coach Few helped me to realize that to be a good leader I have to make guys happy, get them the ball in the right spots for them to have success. We have guys who can score in every situation. That’s our best weapon. I just have to be patient and get them the ball,” Pargo said.

“I think we’re peaking at the right time,” he added. “We have talked all year about playing our best basketball at the end of the season. Our goal is to win our last game.”

More Men's Notes

• Coach Mark Few on the team's development: “We have made good progress since early in the season. We’re taking better care of the basketball. We only have five turnovers against Saint Mary’s (3/1/08) and our core guys took care of the ball against Santa Clara (3/3/08). This team has been forced to deal with adversity, adapt and survive. We’ve grown since mid-January when we finally had all our guys healthy and at practice.”
• Few on biggest surprise: “Our biggest surprise has been Jeremy’s overall maturity and leadership, and the quick development of our freshmen. Austin Daye and Steven Gray are really becoming good players.”
• Few on WCC Tournament: “The league has made some important changes since we last held our tournament in San Diego. The changes help protect the top teams, and I think that’s been good for the tournament. I think we have to protect the top teams to help them in their running for at-large berths. A neutral location would further enhance this tournament.”
• Future tournaments: League officials are expected to meet in San Diego this tournament weekend to make a decision about moving the tournament to a neutral site. Las Vegas’ Orleans Arena appears to be the top contender. It provides a warm March climate and lots of activities.
• Few on David Pendergraft’s selection to the all-conference first team: "It’s great for this league that the coaches rewarded David for everything all of us coaches want our players to be about. David is a tremendous ambassador for college basketball. He’s selfless in the community doing charity work, and he’s a very good student (WCC All-Academic team). He’s a warrior. Every practice he plays the way he does in games. Hard. He’s one of those guys who punch the clock and never misses a practice. This shows (others) that you can be all-league by playing hard and playing right.”
• Other postseason awards: Matt Bouldin joined Pargo and Pendergraft on the all-conference team. Daye and Gray were named to the all-freshman team.