The list of Gonzaga players who went to the NBA under Mark Few is, in a word, uninspired. For as good as the Bulldogs have been during the past 21 seasons, they’ve mustered a grand total of one NBA All-Star. And even then, it took a minute for Domantas Sabonis to put it altogether at the next level.
Of course, Adam Morrison was supposed to be the guy, but the third overall pick in 2006 wasn’t very good as a rookie. He then tore his ACL the following season and just sort of bounced around from there.
However, he is not alone. The ceiling for Bulldogs in the pros seems to be solid role player. With that in mind, let’s take a look at the Gonzaga players who went to the NBA under Mark Few.
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Gonzaga players who went to the NBA under Mark Few
1Dan Dickau
Graduated 2002
1st round draft pick (28)
In six years as a pro, Dan Dickau managed to play for seven teams after leaving Gonzaga. His career high point came in 2004-05 when Dickau started 46 games for a New Orleans Hornets team that was imploding spectacularly. All things considered, the 28th pick of the 2002 draft was a really good college basketball player and it was surprising he didn’t carve out a role in the NBA.
2Ronny Turiaf
Graduated 2005
2nd round draft pick (37)
I never got Ronny Turiaf. He always looked so uncoordinated on the court. Despite this, he managed a ten-year career that was largely forgettable. The only highlights of Turiaf you’re likely to find are of him celebrating on the bench.
3Jeremy Pargo
Graduated 2009
Undrafted
Jeremy Pargo has enjoyed a long, illustrious professional basketball career, nearly all of which has been outside of the NBA. He spent his first two years after leaving Gonzaga in Israel before getting a shot with the Memphis Grizzlies. He would bounce around for one more season before heading back overseas in 2013.
Last season, Pargo made it back to the big time with the Golden State Warriors who were basically giving anyone a 10-day contract. As a player, Pargo seemed good, but it just never clicked for him.
4Austin Daye
Left 2009
1st round draft pick (15)
Gonzaga started to attract more big-time recruits after Morrison left in 2006. The most high profile of this first wave was arguably Austin Daye. In hindsight, the 2007-08 and 2008-09 teams were probably the best under Few. That’s because they had a mix of high-end prospects like Daye and typical, overachieving Gonzaga players like Josh Heytvelt and Matt Bouldin.
Daye would leave after his sophomore season, something that was unheard of for the Bulldogs at this time. Unfortunately, he was way ahead of his time. Stretch fours and big men shooting threes were not en vogue yet and no one seemed to know what to do with him at the next level.
5Robert Sacre
Graduated 2012
2nd round draft pick (60)
To this day, Robert Sacre remains a bit of an enigma. He was good in college, but you always felt like he could have been more dominant. He was drafted by the Los Angeles Lakers in 2012 and had a front-row seat for the Kobe Bryant retirement tour. That’s because he almost never left the bench.
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6Elias Harris
Graduated 2013
Undrafted
Elias Harris is your prototypical Gonzaga player, very solid and hardworking but not particularly talented. He had a good college career before going undrafted. He appeared in two games for the Lakers during the 2013-14 season before heading overseas.
7Kelly Olynyk
Left 2013
1st round draft pick (13)
It’s easy to forget that Kelly Olynyk is still playing in the NBA at this point. He’s there, and he’s getting minutes. But there is nothing memorable about it.
8David Stockton
Graduated 2014
Undrafted
David Stockton is the fucking worst, and it is a joke that he played in six NBA games.
9Domantas Sabonis
Left 2016
1st round draft pick (11)
Here he is. The one NBA All-Star to have played at Gonzaga under Mark Few. Domantas Sabonis was good with the Bulldogs, but it is a shame he didn’t stick around for his junior year. That team went 37-2 and lost in the National Championship game without Sabonis. Imagine how good they would have been with him.
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10Kyle Wiltjer
Graduated 2016
Undrafted
One of the reasons Sabonis never broke out at Gonzaga was the presence of Kyle Wiltjer. The Kentucky transfer was a second-team All-American in 2015 and an All-American honorable mention in 2016 for the Bulldogs. Wiltjer’s NBA career was far less illustrious having appeared in only 14 games with the Houston Rockets in 2016-17. These days he plies his trade in Turkey.
11Zach Collins
Left 2017
1st round draft pick (10)
Zach Collins was the first one-and-done recruit Gonzaga had under Few. The Bulldogs’ good NCAA Tournament elevated his draft stock and he elected to cash in. Collins has flashed at times for the Portland Trail Blazers but injuries have derailed his career.
12Nigel Williams-Goss
Left 2017
2nd round draft pick (55)
Another player to bolt after that tournament run was Nigel Williams-Goss who had only been there for one season. He transferred over from Washington before being the team’s leading scorer that year. Apart from ten games with the Utah Jazz last season, Williams-Goss’ career has seen him ball overseas.
13Johnathan Williams
Graduated 2018
Undrafted
Johnathan Williams was the team’s top player and senior leader in 2017-18. He went undrafted in 2018 but caught on with the Lakers as a rookie. Williams started six games for the Washington Wizards last season but is currently out of the league.
14Rui Hachimura
Left 2019
1st round draft pick (9)
Of all the Gonzaga players who went to the NBA under Mark Few, Rui Hachimura came into the league with the highest expectations outside of Morrison. His junior year in Spokane was really good although, like Sabonis before him, he left nowhere close to being a finished product. The jury is still out on Hachimura, however. He could become an All-Star, or he may end up as a less talented version of Aaron Gordon.
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15Brandon Clarke
Left 2019
1st round draft pick (21)
Hachimura wasn’t the only first round pick from Gonzaga in 2019. Brandon Clarke was selected with the 21st pick after a dominate defensive season with the Bulldogs. Clarke looks like he will be a solid NBA role player over the coming years.
16Zach Norvell
Left 2019
Undrafted
Zach Norvell also left Gonzaga following the 2019 season, although his NBA career is far less certain. He played in a couple of games last season but found himself in the G-League at the start of this year. However, a knee injury meant he was cut from the Santa Cruz Warriors before the season started.
17Killian Tillie
Graduated 2020
Undrafted
Killian Tillie was one of Gonzaga’s most complete prospects and seemed destined to be a lottery pick before injuries hampered him as a junior and season. He went undrafted in 2020 and is currently signed to a two-way contract with the Memphis Grizzlies.
