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Gonzaga Bulldogs' Mark Few named semifinalist for Naismith Coach of the Year

By Ben Arthur, Seattle P-I

|Updated
Gonzaga coach Mark Few yells to players during the first half of the team's NCAA college basketball game against Saint Mary's in Moraga, Calif., Saturday, Jan. 16, 2021. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
Gonzaga coach Mark Few yells to players during the first half of the team's NCAA college basketball game against Saint Mary's in Moraga, Calif., Saturday, Jan. 16, 2021. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)Jeff Chiu / Associated Press

Gonzaga Bulldogs men’s basketball head coach Mark Few has been named a semifinalist for the 2021 Werner Ladder Naismith Coach of the Year Award, the Atlanta Tipoff Club announced Friday.

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Few earlier this week was named West Coast Conference Coach of the Year, extending his own conference record. This year, He’s led the Zags (24-0) to their first unbeaten regular season in program history.

Gonzaga, a favorite to win the NCAA tournament, has held the No. 1 spot in the Associated Press Top-25 poll all year. Under Few, GU has clinched nine consecutive WCC regular-season titles and established itself as a national powerhouse in a mid-major conference.

Four of the five major individual awards in the WCC for the 2020-21 season went to Gonzaga. In addition to Few winning Coach of the Year honors, Corey Kispert (Player of the Year), Jalen Suggs (Newcomer of the Year) and Andrew Nembhard (Sixth Man of the Year) were also honored. The Bulldogs had four players on the 10-member All-WCC first team, too.

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The Naismith Coach of the Year winner will be announced April 4, with four finalists announced March 17.

The full list of semifinalists:

Mark Few (Gonzaga)
Darian DeVries (Drake)
Scott Drew (Baylor)
Leonard Hamilton (Florida State)
Chris Holtmann (Ohio State)
Juwan Howard (Michigan)
Bob Huggins (West Virginia)
Porter Moser (Loyola-Chicago)
Eric Musselman (Arkansas)
Nate Oats (Alabama)

The No. 1-seed Zags will play in the WCC tournament semifinals on March 8.

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Ben Arthur covers the Seattle Seahawks, the Mariners, and other Seattle-area sports for the SeattlePI