Gonzaga University head coach Mark Few has established himself as one of the most successful coaches in NCAA Division I basketball annals in his 24 seasons at the helm, and in the process has made Bulldog basketball a household name across the country. He served as an assistant coach at GU for 10 seasons prior to take the reins of the program.
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Few has put together one of the most dominating runs in NCAA history, especially in the West Coast Conference. The Zags have won or shared 22 regular season league titles in his 24 seasons (all but the 1999-2000 and 2011-12 season) and taken home the conference tournament championship 19 times. The Bulldogs won or shared 11 straight West Coast Conference regular-season titles from 2000-11 and from 2012-23, which are the third-best streaks all-time in the NCAA Division I ranks behind UCLA's 13 Pac-10 Conference titles from 1967-79 and Kansas's 14 Big 12 Conference titles from 2005-18.
Few led Gonzaga to the national championship game in the program's first-ever Final Four in 2017, and again in the second Final Four in 2021. Under Few, GU has appeared in five Elite Eight appearances (2015, 2017, 2019, 2021 and 2023) and 12 Sweet 16 appearances (2000, '01, '06, '09, '15, '16, '17, '18, '19, '21, ‘22, '23). He has coached 21 All-Americans, nine Academic All-Americans, 98 all-conference selections, 17 WCC Players of the Year, 10 league newcomers of the year and nine league defenders of the year. Few has also cultivated NBA talent, including current NBA players in Domantas Sabonis, Kelly Olynyk, Zach Collins, Rui Hachimura, Brandon Clarke, Jalen Suggs, Corey Kispert, Chet Holmgren, Andrew Nembhard, Julian Strawther and Filip Petrusev. He also helped recruit and develop Dan Dickau, Richie Frahm, Adam Morrison, Jeremy Pargo, Elias Harris, Austin Daye, Rob Sacre, Ronny Turiaf, Kevin Pangos, Killian Tillie and Joel Ayayi, all NBA players. Morrison was the highest-drafted player in GU history when he was taken No. 3 overall by the Charlotte Bobcats in 2006, but Holmgren was taken second overall by the Oklahoma City Thunder in the 2022 draft.
Entering the 2023-24Â Season, Few:
• Is the winningest active coach by percentage at .836 (688-135)
• Tied for 18th for fastest to 100 wins in Division I, accomplishing the feat in 126 games
• Third fastest to 200 wins, reaching the milestone in 247 games
• Tied for sixth fastest to 300 wins, achieving his 300th win in his 378th game
• Fifth fastest to 400 wins, achieving the milestone in 499 games
• Third fastest to 500 wins, reaching the milestone in 612 games
• Fourth fastest to 600 wins, reaching the milestone in 754 games
• Ranks ninth in winning percentage after five seasons at .806 (133-32) and six seasons .811 (159-37); sixth after seven seasons at .821 (188-41); seventh after eight seasons .802 (211-52); seventh after 10 seasons .800 (264-66); fifth for 11 seasons .799 (291-73); eighth after 12 seasons .792 (316-83); eighth after 13 seasons .792 (342-90), fourth after 14 seasons at .801 (374-93), sixth after 15 seasons at .801 (403-100), third after 16 seasons at .810 (438-103), fourth after 17 seasons at .808 (466-111), third after 18 seasons at .817 (503-113), fourth after 19 seasons at .819 (535-118), fourth after 20 seasons at .823 (568-122), second after 21 seasons at .828 (599-124), second after 22 seasons at .834 (630-125) and second after 23 seasons at .836 (657-129).
• Ranks sixth for most wins after two seasons (52-16); fourth for three seasons (81-20); sixth after four seasons (105-29); fourth after five seasons (133-32); fifth for six seasons (159-37); first for seven seasons (188-41); fourth for eight seasons (211-52) and nine seasons (236-60); third for 10 seasons (266-64), 11 seasons (291-73) and 12 seasons (316-83); third for 13 seasons (342-90) and 14 seasons (374-93); second for 15 seasons (403-100), first for 16 seasons (438-103), second for 17 seasons (466-111), first after 18 seasons (503-113), 19 seasons (535-118), 20 seasons (568-122), 21 seasons (599-124), 22 seasons (630-125) and 23 seasons (658-129).
• Is in the Top 15 among active Division I coaches for most 20-win seasons with 24, never having won less than 20 games in a season
• Is first for most consecutive 20-win seasons for active coaches with 24
For all that Few has accomplished on the court, his achievements off of it are equally impressive. In 2002, Mark and his wife Marcy initiated the Spokane branch of Coaches vs Cancer. The Few's annual event would become the largest Coaches vs Cancer fundraiser across the country. Quietly and without fanfare, Few has created a culture of giving at Gonzaga. In 2007, Gonzaga began hosting the Ronald McDonald House Charities Classic. For six seasons, these annual games helped raise over $750,000 for Spokane's Ronald McDonald House.
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Building on their success with Coaches vs Cancer, the Fews and others in the Spokane region launched the Community Cancer Fund in 2014 to keep more money in the local market while devoting more resources to cancer patients, their families and the local organizations that serve them. In the last six years, the Community Cancer Fund has raised over 17 million dollars bringing the total raised over 18 years between the organizations to well over 25 million dollars.
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Among the highlights, the charity established a 3-million-dollar endowment to fund Camp Good Times, a week-long summer camp for kids with cancer. And this year, the Community Cancer Fund worked to increase lodging options for cancer patients and their families traveling to the region for treatment, which included the completion and opening of a 5-million-dollar Hospitality Center at Kootenai Health and a campus expansion of Spokane's Ronald McDonald House.
Few was recognized for his philanthropy in 2020 when he was honored at the Dick Vitale Gala that benefits The V Foundation for Cancer Research, and in 2008, as a recipient of the Nell and John Wooden Coaching Achievement Award by the World Sports Humanitarian Hall of Fame.
Playing one of the nation’s toughest schedules in 2022-23, the Bulldogs won 31 games of their 37 games. Gonzaga clinched the program's eighth 30-win season, with the previous seven being in the last 10 years, while also clinching its 16th straight 25-win season, which is now the NCAA Div. 1 record. The Zags advanced to the Elite Eight for the sixth time in program history after their eighth straight Sweet 16 appearance. For the fifth straight season, the Zags led the country in scoring at 86.1 points per game, and for the fourth consecutive season, GU led the nation in field goal percentage shooting 52.1 percent from the field in 2022-23. Drew Timme was a consensus First Team All-American and was named the WCC Player of the Year. Few guided GU to its 11th straight conference regular season title and fourth consecutive conference tournament title.
Few was named on the coaching staff for the 2023 FIBA World Cup and the 2024 Olympics in February in 2023. He joins a staff that includes USA Head Coach and Golden State Warriors Head Coach Steve Kerr, Miami Heat Head Coach Erik Spoelstra and Clippers Head Coach Tyronn Lue. Few boasts plenty of USA Basketball experience. Serving as an assistant coach at the 2018 USA National Team minicamp, Few was named an assistant coach for the 2019 USA Men's Select Team, a team that helped prepare the USA World Cup Team prior to playing in China. He returned in 2021 as an assistant coach for the USA Men's Select Team to help prepare the gold medalist U.S. Olympic Team prior to playing in Tokyo.
He served as head coach of the 2015 U.S. Pan American Men's Basketball Team, a squad composed of collegiate players, and led the team to a bronze medal, and he also was an assistant coach for the gold medalist 2012 USA U18 National Team and a court coach for the 2009 USA Men's U19 World Cup/World University Games Team training camp.
During the 2021-22 season, Few guided to the program's second straight overall number one seed in the NCAA Tournament, also the second in program history. GU finished with a 28-4 overall record, including 13-1 in West Coast Conference play. The Zags advanced to their seventh straight Sweet 16, the only program in the country that has done so. GU won the WCC regular season title for the 10th straight season, along with the conference tournament title for the third straight year. The Bulldogs’ 10 straight league titles and 25 straight appearances in the conference tournament championship games currently lead the nation. Gonzaga received a one-seed in the NCAA Tournament for the fifth time in program history, the third straight tournament, and the fourth time in the last five NCAA Tournaments. Drew Timme and Chet Holmgren were named Second Team All-American by Sporting News and the Associated Press, and were named to the Wooden Award All-Americans. Timme was Second Team All-American by the NABC and USBWA, while Holgmren was third team by those outlets. Holmgren was a Malone Award Finalist (nation’s top power forward), Andrew Nembhard was a Cousy Finalist (nation’s top point guard), and Timme was an Abdul-Jabbar Finalist (nation’s top center). Timme was named the West Coast Conference Player of the Year, while Chet Holmgren was the Newcomer and Defensive Player of the Year. Timme, Holmgren and Nembhard earned First Team All-WCC honors. Gonzaga finished first in the nation in scoring offense, scoring margin, field goal percentage and defensive rebounds.
In 2020-21, Few was named the Naismith National Coach of the Year and NABC National Coach of the Year after guiding Gonzaga to the national championship game. The Zags entered the national final in Indianapolis, winners of winners of 35 straight games, the second best in WCC history. GU's 93-90 overtime thriller against UCLA in the National Semis was its 31st consecutive win - the best single-season streak in program and WCC history. The Bulldogs spent the entire season ranked No. 1 in the Associated Press poll. Three Gonzaga men's basketball players earned consensus All-American honors – Corey Kispert (first), Jalen Suggs (second) and Drew Timme (second). Gonzaga led the nation in multiple offensive categories, including: scoring offense (91.6), field goal percentage (54.9), two-point percentage (63.6), scoring margin (23.1) and points in the paint (49.5).
The Bulldogs qualified for their 23rd straight trip to the NCAA Tournament in 2021, a streak that started when Few was an assistant coach in 1999 and currently ranks the Zags tied for third among current active streaks behind Kansas and Michigan State. When Dan Monson departed for the University of Minnesota following that Elite Eight season, Few was named head coach and has continued the streak the past 21 years. In 2021, Gonzaga won the WCC regular season title for the ninth straight season, before capturing the program's 18th West Coast Conference tournament title. GU appeared in its 24th straight WCC Tournament Championship game. The 24 consecutive tournament final appearances is the longest streak of its kind in the nation.
The COVID-19 pandemic canceled the 2020 NCAA Tournament, and the Zags finished the season ranked No. 2 in the Associated Press and Coaches' polls with a 31-2 record. During the season, Gonzaga topped the national polls for the fifth time in program history. Filip Petrusev was named the WCC Player of the Year and an All-American after the season. Few was named the NABC District 9 Coach of the Year and a semifinalist for the Naismith Trophy Coach of the Year.
The Bulldogs ended the 2018-19 season in the program's fourth Elite Eight. The Zags finished with a 33-4 record, the program's third straight 30-win season, and fifth 30-win campaign in the last seven seasons. During the season, GU climbed to No. 1 in both national polls for the third and fourth times in program history. The Zags rose to No. 1 after defeating Duke in the Maui Invitational Championship game. Few was named a Henry Iba Coach of the Year Finalist, a Naismith Trophy Coach of the Year Semifinalist, the WCC Coach of the Year, the USBWA District IX Coach of the Year and the NABC District 9 Coach of the Year. Rui Hachimura was tabbed the WCC Player of the Year and Brandon Clarke was the league's Newcomer and Defender of the Year. Following the season, Hachimura and Clarke were both named All-Americans.
In 2016-17, the Zags rewrote the record books, winning 37 games to just two losses. GU ended the season in the national championships game in the program's first-ever appearance in the Final Four. The Bulldogs opened the season with 29 straight wins, shattering the program record for consecutive wins. Gonzaga received a number one seed in the NCAA Tournament for the second time in program history, during a season when it received its second number one national ranking. Few was selected the AP Coach of the Year, Naismith Trophy Coach of the Year, NBC Sports Coach of the Year, USA Today Coach of the Year, USBWA District IX Coach of the Year, Sporting News Coach of the Year, USBWA Coach of the Year, NABC District 9 Coach of the Year, NABC Coach of the Year and the West Coast Conference Coach of the Year.
The Bulldogs won the West Coast Conference regular season and tournament titles. Nigel Williams-Goss became the first player in league history to be named the confernece Player of the Year and Newcomer of the Year. Williams-Goss, Przemek Karnowski and Johnathan Williams were all tabbed First Team All-WCC. Williams-Goss was selected All-American and Academic All-American. Karnowski also received Senior CLASS All-American honors.
Gonzaga ended the 2015-16 season with a 28-8 record in the program's seventh Sweet 16 appearance. The Zags shared the West Coast Conference regular season title, before winning the WCC Tournament for the 15th time in program history. Kyle Wiltjer and Domantas Sabonis were both named First Team All-WCC, while Eric McClellan was tabbed the league's Defender of the Year. Wiltjer and Sabonis were named honorable mention All-Americans by the Associated Press. Wiltjer also received a Senior CLASS All-American honor.Â
In 2015, Gonzaga took full advantage of its 17th consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament, making a run to the Elite Eight, before falling to eventual national champion Duke. The Zags won a school-record 35 games last season, including a record 22-game win streak, and WCC regular season and tournament titles. Few was named WCC Coach of the Year in a sweep of league individual awards -- Kevin Pangos, Player of the Year; Gary Bell Jr., Defender of the Year, Kyle Wiltjer Newcomer of the Year. In addition, Pangos and Wiltjer each earned multiple All-America honors, including Third Team accolades from the Associated Press. Following the season, Few also threw out the first pitch at a Seattle Mariners game on June 6, and coached the USA Team that earned a bronze medal at the Pan-Am Games.
In 2013-14, Few's Bulldogs again reigned supreme in the West Coast Conference, sweeping the WCC regular season and conference tournament titles for the 11th time in his tenure. GU put together a record of 29-7, including a 15-3 league mark on the way to the NCAA Tournament. In the NCAAs, the eighth-seeded Bulldogs took down ninth-seeded Oklahoma State before falling to top-seeded Arizona in the Round of 32. The 2013-14 campaign saw the Bulldogs advance to the WCC Tournament title game for the 17th consecutive year, ahead of Kentucky for the all-time lead as the Wildcats advanced to 14 successive SEC Tournament title games from 1939-52.
Gonzaga finished the 2012-13 season 32-3, hitting the 30-win plateau for the first time in school history, and marking the 11th time in Few's 13 years as head coach the Bulldogs had single-digit losses. The Bulldogs finished the regular season ranked No. 1 in the Associated Press and USA Today Top 25. GU received its inaugural No. 1 seed into the NCAA Tournament and defeated Southern University in the Second Round, the 11th time in Few's head coaching tenure the Bulldogs have won at least one game in the tourney. The Bulldogs also won the Old Spice Classic for the second time.
All of that came on the heels of a 2012 season that saw the Bulldogs go 26-7 overall, advance to the WCC Tournament title game and earn a 14th straight trip to the NCAA Tournament, beating West Virginia in the Second Round. Along the way, the Zags played at the University of Illinois and Xavier University; hosted the University of Notre Dame, Michigan State and Butler, and faced the University of Arizona in the Battle in Seattle.
While it's never easy, the 2011 road to the NCAA Tournament was a little bumpier than normal for the Bulldogs. A 4-5 record early in the non-conference season had people buzzing about Gonzaga's WCC and post-season fortunes. And a 3-3 start in WCC play had naysayers predicting Gonzaga's dominance was about to end. But Few and success go hand-in-hand and he rallied the Bulldogs to eight straight WCC wins down the stretch to claim the regular-season title, then won the WCC Tournament with victories over San Francisco and Saint Mary's to punch their March Madness ticket for a 13th straight season. Of those five early-season non-conference losses, three were to nationally-ranked teams, but a win over ninth-ranked Baylor help propel the Bulldogs to nine straight wins, including three straight victories to open WCC play. Few and the 11th-seeded Bulldogs downed No. 6 seed St. John's in the NCAA Second Round (the NCAA went to a new format with First Round play-in games) and finished the season 25-10.
The 2010 season saw the Bulldogs make their mark early by winning the EA Sports Maui Invitational. The 27-7 season was capped with a No. 22 Associated press ranking and No. 23 ESPN/USA Today finish in the final polls.
Few guided the Bulldogs to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament in 2009, the fourth time in his head coaching tenure the Bulldogs advanced to the Sweet 16. He was an assistant on the 1999 squad that made it to the Elite Eight. Along the way, the Bulldogs ran the table in the West Coast Conference with their third 14-0 campaign since 2004. The Bulldogs finished the 2009 season with a 28-6 overall record and ranked 10th in the final Associated Press Top 25 in 2009.
Few has evolved the Bulldogs basketball into an annual participant in the NCAA Tournament and into one of the elite programs on the West Coast as well as nationally. Since 1992 -- his first year as a fulltime assistant coach with the Bulldogs -- Gonzaga has posted a 831-202Â record for a .805Â winning percentage.Â
But success has been his trademark since taking over the head reigns for the 2000 season. With Few at the helm, the 2006 season was one of the best in the 100-plus year history of Bulldog basketball, the squad rolling to a 29-4 record, including a second 14-0 WCC campaign in three seasons. With national Player of the Year candidate Adam Morrison leading the nation in scoring, Few and the Bulldogs finished fifth in the final Associated Press Top 25 in `06, claimed a No. 3 seed into the NCAA Tournament and advanced to the Sweet 16 for the third time under Few. All of that came following the 2005 season in which Few guided the Bulldogs to 10th in the final AP Top 25.
He is one of only two coaches to lead a team into the Sweet 16 in their first two years as a head coach since the bracket was expanded to 64 teams in 1985. While Few continued Gonzaga's string of postseason success, there are some individual player honors he looks to with pride.
Morrison, recognized as much for his diabetes as for his ability to score, became the first Bulldog since Frank Burgess in 1961 to lead the nation in scoring at 28.1 ppg. Morrison was a household name across the country and he was up for every major Player of the Year award in the country.
Morrison shared the Oscar Robertson Trophy with Duke University's J.J. Redick, was named the CBS Chevrolet Player of the Year and was a close runner-up to Redick in the Associated Press, Naismith Award and John R. Wooden Award balloting for Player of the Year. He was a unanimous All-America selection on the AP first team. Morrison was taken as the third pick in the 2006 NBA Draft by the Charlotte Bobcats, making Morrison the highest Gonzaga player ever drafted and validating the job Few and his staff did in developing Morrison's skills.
Ronny Turiaf is another player that Few looks to with pride as Turiaf earned his second straight AP honorable mention accolade in 2005 and joined with then-sophomore Morrison to give the Bulldogs two players with AP All-America recognition in the same season for the second straight season. Blake Stepp was a second-team AP All-American in 2004 in addition to being a John R. Wooden Award Top 10 All-America pick.
Kelly Olynyk received Morrison-like stature in 2013 as he transformed his game and his body in a redshirt season of 2012 to become one of the dominant big men in 2013. Olynyk's achievements read like an honor roll ... West Coast Conference Player of the Year, All-West Coast Conference First Team, West Coast Conference All-Tournament Team, John R. Wooden Award Top Five All-America, Associated Press First-Team All-America, National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) First-Team All-America, U.S. Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) First-Team All-America, U.S. Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) District IX Player of the Year, Sporting News First-Team All-America, Oscar Robertson Player of the Year Finalist, Naismith Award Top 30, Capital One/College Sports Information Directors of America Academic All-America First Team, Capital One/College Sports Information Directors of America Academic All-District 8 First Team.
After being named the conference Player of the Week four times during the season, Nigel Williams-Goss was named a finalist for the Bob Cousy Award and a semifinalist for the Naismith Trophy. He was named to the Wooden Award All-American Team, and First Team All-American by Sports Illustrated and the USBWA. He was tabbed Second Team All-American by NBC Sports, The Sporting News, USA Today, the NABC and the Associated Press. Williams-Goss boasted a 3.84 GPA and received a degree in Psychology. For his success off of the court, he was named First Team Academic All-American by CoSIDA. He was also selected as the Men's Scholar Athlete of the Year by the DI-AAA ADA and received the Mike Gilleran Scholar Athlete of the Year honor by the West Coast Conference. Williams-Goss was singled out for academic achievements at the Final Four and was given the NCAA’s Elite 90 Award, which recognizes the true essence of the student-athlete by honoring the individual who has reached the pinnacle of competition at the national championship level in his or her sport while also achieving the highest academic standard among his or her peers.
Few, who in such a relatively young career as a head coach is mentioned in the same breath with some of the more veteran coaches patrolling the sidelines, has also accomplished plenty of "firsts" since taking over the reins for the 1999-2000 season. Dan Dickau became Gonzaga's inaugural selection to the Associated Press All-America first team in 2002, and also was tabbed Gonzaga's first John R. Wooden Award Top Five All-American.
The Bulldogs also cracked the Top 10 in the national polls for the first time in school history in 2002, finishing the season ranked sixth in the Associated Press Top 25. Gonzaga's 29-4 record also set a single-season mark for victories, which was matched in 2006, then broke in 2013 when the Zags went 32-3, eventually shattered in 2017 during GU's 37-2 run to the national championships.
A 10-year Gonzaga assistant head coach, Few was named head coach on July 26, 1999, following Monson's departure for the University of Minnesota. Few originally joined the Bulldogs for the 1989-90 season as a graduate assistant under former head coach Dan Fitzgerald, then was promoted to a fulltime assistant for the 1991-92 season. He was named associate head coach in April of 1999 following a season in which the Bulldogs became the basketball darlings of the nation with their March run that came within a few ticks of the clock of advancing to the Final Four. A loss to eventual national champion University of Connecticut in the West Regional Finals in Phoenix, Ariz., ended the Cinderella story that captured basketball fans from coast to coast.
Former Gonzaga University President Robert J. Spitzer, S.J., and director of athletics Mike Roth didn't hesitate in rewarding Few for his long loyalty to Gonzaga.
"Mark is an integral part of Gonzaga's success the last decade," Roth said at the time. "I think that speaks well for the program when you can say your last two head coaches were promoted from within. It displays the loyalty they have had as assistants. We didn't give Mark the job, he earned it. He's continued to raise the bar every season as head coach."
"When a young man enters the Bulldog basketball program, I believe it is our responsibility as coaches to help them reach their potential in every facet of their lives," Few said. "Our commitment to the players will always go far beyond the basketball court with a goal of producing the complete individual, one that Gonzaga University will be proud of long after their playing days."
Few and Marcy, married in 1994, became parents with the arrival of Austin James (A.J.) (2000); followed by the arrival of Joseph Dillon (2002), Julia Ann Elizabeth (2006) and Colt Walker Norman (2009). The Few's wedding was more special because Rev. Norm Few, father of the groom, officiated.
Mark Few
Birthplace: Creswell, Oregon
High School: Creswell (Ore.) HS, 1981
College: University of Oregon, 1987
Degree: B.S./Physical Education
Graduate School: Gonzaga University, 1993Â
Degree: M.A./Athletic Administration
Coaching Experience
1986-88 - Assistant Coach, Creswell (Ore.) High
1988-89 - Assistant Coach, Sheldon (Ore.) High
1990-91 - Graduate Assistant Coach, Gonzaga University
1992-1999 - Assistant Coach, Gonzaga University
April 16, 1999 - Named Associate Head Coach, Gonzaga University
July 26, 1999 - Named Head Coach, Gonzaga University
