Portland basketball coach Shantay Legans has been through it all in the last week. Legans' week began with him tearing his Achilles in practice during Portland's three-game skid, but it ended with a stunning victory over Gonzaga.
Legans, 44, suffered the injury while playing for the Pilots' scout team, which he was forced to do with nearly half his team out sick, Brenna Greene of KOIN News reported. The Portland basketball coach showed up to the Chiles Center on Wednesday night with a hard cast on his right foot and told Greene he would need to sit for the game, but ended up remaining on his feet the entire time while watching his team pull off the biggest upset of the 2025-2026 college basketball season.
Here’s a new one for ya.
A week ago, there were so many players sick for University of Portland that HC Shantay Legans had to play scout team. It did not go well.
He tore his Achilles.
He told me he was going to sit versus Gonzaga tonight. That has yet to happen 😂 pic.twitter.com/Z9VDMzpZHH
— Brenna Greene (@BrennaGreene_) February 5, 2026
Portland entered the game with practically everything against it. The Pilots were just 10-14 on the year, including just 3-8 in the WCC and 1-4 in their last five games, in addition to Legans' injury.
Nobody expected the game to be competitive, particularly after Portland lost by 30 to Washington State in its previous outing. But the Pilots landed the first blow and never relented in the 87-80 victory, their first over Gonzaga since 2014.
Freshman guard Joel Foxwell was Legans' biggest star of the night, as he has been all season. Foxwell left everything he had on the court, dropping 27 points, four rebounds, eight assists and one steal in 39 minutes. He was completely exhausted by the final horn and practically had to be carried off the court by his teammates.
Portland, now 11-14, is still not a WCC contender, but it will end the season with a massive moral victory after collecting its biggest win in program history. They will rematch Gonzaga in Spokane on Feb. 25.
