After their dominant 85-66 win over the USC Trojans, the Gonzaga Bulldogs are once again at the Final Four, where they will face off against the UCLA Bruins. This could be the year that they snag that elusive that championship.
While Gonzaga's basketball program has become more relevant these past few years, that is not to say, that the team does not have a history of producing great players.
Here are the top five players to ever put on a Gonzaga Bulldog jersey.
5. Kevin Pangos, G (2011-2015)
Pangos was a well-rounded guard, who was Gonzaga's best outside shooter and would end up in the top five of the school's history in terms of points, assists, and steals. He once sank nine three-point attempts against Washington State.
In his four years at Spokane, Pangos had averages of 12.8 points, 3.8 dimes, and 1.2 steals per contest.
After college, he would play in Europe and is currently suited up for the Russian side Zenit Saint Petersburg.
4. Ronnie Turiaf, F/C (2001-2005)
Recently, Gonzaga has been a factory of NBA big men with their best product being Indiana Pacers All-Star Domantas Sabonis. Other notable names are Kelly Olynyk, Rui Hachimura, and Brandon Clarke.
One noticeable thing these players have in common is that they all have an international background. American-born Sabonis is Lithuanian, Olynyk and Clarke are Canadian, while Hachimura is from Japan.
You can trace the school's connection to foreign bigs to Frenchman Turiaf. He is best known for his time with the Los Angeles Lakers. Turiaf was a tough, hard-nosed player, despite being smaller than most of his match-ups. This was also his style of play as a Bulldog.
Throughout his collegiate career, he averaged 13.6 points, 6.8 rebounds, and 1.4 blocks, per outing. In his last year, his shooting got considerably worse as his percentages from the field and the charity stripe dipped, but he was getting more rebounds. As a senior, he won the West Coast Conference (WCC) Player of the Year honor.
He finished in the top five of blocks and rebounds in the school's record books.
3. John Stockton, PG (1980-1984)
The legendary Stockton was one of the greatest players to ever set foot on an NBA court. He was the quintessential point guard. He did everything well and played with amazing court vision, ball-handling, passing, shooting, and tenacious defense. His partnership with Karl Malone was one of the deadliest ever as teams struggled to stop their pick and roll. Had they not peaked at the same time as the likes of Michael Jordan, they probably would have a could of rings to their name.
Before all of that, he had an underrated career with Gonzaga. He was the third generation of his family to attend the school. During these four years, he had averages of 12.5 points, 2.2 rebounds, 5.2 assists, and an incredible 2.4 steals, each outing.
He saved the best for last, as he scored 20.9 points ad dished out 7.2 dimes a game in his senior year. It was during this time that he was recognized as the Conference's Player of the Year.
2. Adam Morrison, F (2003-2006)
Yes. Yes. That Adam Morrison. While he is notorious for being one of the biggest busts in the NBA, he had a good collegiate career, which led to comparisons to Larry Bird. Seriously.
Morrison was solid in his first two years with the Bulldogs, but it was in his third year when he got everyone's attention. That season, he averaged 28.1 points and 5.5 rebounds, while shooting 42.8% from deep. He and Duke Blue Devil J.J. Redick were both given the National Player of the Year award.
During that season's Sweet Sixteen, Gonzaga would be sent packing ironically by UCLA, despite going up by as much as 17 at one point.
1. Frank Burgess, PG (1958-1961)
For the longest time, the center position was the most important in all of basketball. Just look at the early 2000s, if a team did not have Shaquille O'Neal or Tim Duncan type of player, or at least, someone who can guard those types of players winning a championship would be impossible.
This is what makes Burgess' dominance all the more impressive. At 6'1, he was unguardable as he averaged 28.2 points and 7.6 boards a game in his collegiate career. It is important to note that at the time, there was no three-point shot yet.
Burgess holds the record for most points scored in the program's history at 2,196. He also set the record for most points scored in a game with 52.
If his name does not sound familiar, it is probably because despite being drafted by the Lakers, he opted to play in the American Basketball League, which ended up closing after just two years. He would end up pursuing a legal career, which led to him being a United States District Court Judge.
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