Spirit March 2017

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spirit

CHART TOPPING EXPOSURE What top 5 Ranking Means to University For the month of February, Gonzaga carried a No. 1 basketball ranking in the country, and with it came a significant increase in attention, not just to the basketball program, but to the University, as well. And there’s no sign that will diminish soon, the Zags still ranking in the top 4. “It has had a significant impact on students inquiring about coming to school here,” says Julie McCulloh, dean of Admission. Already this year, inquiries have exceeded 55,000. The previous largest pool of inquiries was for the fall 2015 class, with 49,709. “Being ranked the best in the country certainly changed our conversations with donors,” says Brian Ruark, assistant vice president for University Advancement. “The notoriety helped open doors and built enthusiasm about Gonzaga. I don’t see that changing.” Alumni chapter game watches are drawing record crowds. Website visits have increased significantly since GU was first ranked No. 1 on Jan. 30. Gonzaga is averaging 155,000 weekly visits to its main website (gonzaga.edu), up 20 percent, and 228,000 visits to the athletic website (gozags. com), up 57 percent.

GONZAGA FACULTY AND STAFF NEWSLETTER

›› 47% study abroad, 2 ›› UW-GU partnership at 1, 3 ›› Tournament talk, 4 MARCH 2017 | VOL 18 | #6

TAKING STOCK: BASKETBALL HALL-OF-FAMER IS ALL ABOUT OTHERS Social media lit up when the West Coast Conference announced Gonzaga’s John Stockton would be part of the ninth class inducted into the WCC’s Hall of Honor, March 4, in Las Vegas. “It’s about time.” Athletics’ Facebook page views were up 48 percent in February; and its Twitter account gained 14,000 followers, to 85,000 total.

Requests for interviews with Coach Mark Few and his players are off the chart, says Sports Information Director Barry Henderson. Few has done national programs like SportsCenter, The Dan Patrick Show, Jim Rome, Rich Eisen and others. Przemek Karnowski was featured on ESPN.com, SB Nation, and will be on CBS Sports, along with Nigel Williams-Goss and Few later in March. Williams-Goss will also be featured in the NCAA Tournament preview issue of Sports Illustrated. The Associated Press and USA Today are also doing national stories

100 Students Spend Spring Break in Service Through Mission:Possible, about 100 Knoxville – community building students are traveling during Spring Montgomery, Ala. – civil rights Break to sites across the U.S. to work history and impoverished alongside nonprofit organizations in communities serving vulnerable populations. WeekNeah Bay – Makah Reservation long immersion opportunities are support student-led with support from these faculty and staff advisers: Brooklyn New York City – children of Beeler, Aunja Staymates, Darcy incarcerated women Phillips, Hannah Klaasen, Andrew Portland – homeless services Mercer and Hilary Beardslee, all of CCASL; Jeff Dodd, English; Heidi San Francisco – Golden Gate Nordstrom, Physical Education; Jim National Parks Conservancy Simon, Sustainability; Megan Ferney, St. Louis – homeless services Business; Natalie Hastings, Rudolf Fitness Center; Sabrina Nelson, Tacoma – adults with Housing; and Nico Bernabe, Cura developmental disabilities Personalis. A missioning ceremony to “send off” This year’s locations and projects are: these teams takes place Friday, Mar. 10, 5:30 in the Student Chapel. All are Denver – refugee resettlement and welcome. elementary school outreach

on the program that will run in March, and CNN International is doing a story on Assistant Coach Tommy Lloyd and our international guys, Henderson says. The impact is just volume, says Deputy Athletic Director Chris Standiford. “This is what our staff is excited and prepared for, and embrace the opportunity. The coolest thing for us is we’re in the midst of this really big moment, working twice as hard but enjoying it twice as much, and not missing a beat with the other six sports (in action right now).”

MEN’S NCAA TOURNAMENT First Four – March 14-15 Dayton

Regionals – March 23-26 Kansas City First/Second Rounds – March 16-19 San Jose Buffalo Memphis Greensboro New York City Indianapolis Milwaukee Final Four – April 1, 3 Orlando Phoenix Tulsa Sacramento Salt Lake City

WOMEN’S NCAA TOURNAMENT First/Second Rounds – March 17-20 Final Four – March 31, April 2 16 non-predetermined campus sites Dallas Regionals – March 24-27 Bridgeport, Conn. Lexington Oklahoma City Stockton

VIEW ONLINE AT: www.gonzaga.edu/spirit

“What took the league so long?” Truth be told, Stockton probably delayed this as long as he could, as he is much more comfortable in the stands than under the spotlight. He played basketball for the love of the game, and his desire to compete, which was honed on the family’s driveway against big brother Steve. Stockton earned WCAC Player of the Year honors in 1984, two Olympic gold medals (1992, 1996) and a permanent place in the Naismith National Basketball Hall of Fame (2009). His drive to compete at his highest level has not diminished. “I remain amazed at the skill level John demonstrates,” says Shann Ferch, Gonzaga professor of leadership studies and a man who plays with and against Stockton and other Sunday warriors. “He could help some NBA teams in the playoffs right now. But beyond the excellence, John loves his family. He lives humbly, and with great respect for truth and compassion. He is a man of powerful conviction and faith. He inspires me to be a better man.” Today, Stockton is a family man first. He served Montana State last season as assistant coach so he could watch his senior daughter Lindsay compete in her last year of college basketball. And he most always found a way back to the Kennel or wherever the Bulldogs were playing to see his then-freshman daughter Laura play for the Zags. He hardly ever missed a game son David played for Gonzaga (2010-14). “He is consistent in every aspect of his life,” says Nada (’84), John’s wife of 32 years. “And he’s loyal. You always know what you have in John. That’s a blessing in this crazy mixed up world. You can always count on him.” Here’s another sign of his character. “When his agent was renegotiating a contract for him with the Utah Jazz, talks broke down. John wanted no part of the stress between he and the Jazz. So he respectfully told his agent he’d take care of it, and with a handshake agreed to terms with (owner) Larry Miller,” Nada says John’s other love is his community. He has lent a hand to more people and projects behind the scenes than anyone will ever know . . . and that’s the only way this extremely unpretentious and caring man will have it. His loyalty was evident, playing 19 seasons and 1,504 games for the Jazz, still the most ever played for one team in NBA history. John’s No. 12 Jazz jersey was retired a year after he stopped playing. At a dinner preceding the ceremony, one speaker after another told of things behind the scenes that made John the true gentleman that he was; not basketball exploits. Jazz teammate Karl Malone talked about his mom’s illness, and the daily calls he’d receive from John asking how she was doing. When she died, John showed up at the funeral unannounced, in the backcountry bayou where Malone grew up, Malone recalled, tears running down

In a 1983 Bulletin, Stockton responded to a question about autographs: “It’s embarrassing (to be asked). It’s not like I’m a UCLA player who is expected to go to the NBA.” Above, John on NBA draft day, 1984.

his face. Coach Jerry Sloan, choking up, talked about a friend whose 14-year-old son was dying of cancer, and the joy on the lad’s face when John made a lengthy bedside visit, about which there was never any publicity. The boy died the next day, perhaps content. When Gonzaga employee Cindy Perry’s son broke his arm during a high school baseball game, John reportedly contacted and arranged for his orthopedic doctor to tend to

this young man. “We knew each other only through our connection to the baseball team, yet he went out of his way to make sure our son was seen by the best,” Cindy said. So while the fact that John Houston Stockton is inducted into the WCC Hall of Honor for his basketball prowess, it is his human qualities that make him a hall-of-famer in minds of friends and family members alike.

MARCH 2017


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