Bouldin named WCC player of the year
SPOKANE - Matt Bouldin came to Gonzaga because he wanted to win basketball games. He accomplished that and became one of the finest players in the program's history along the way.
"Matt's going to go down in history as one of the all-time greats here at Gonzaga," coach Mark Few said. "He's as complete a player as you are ever going to coach. He's a great passer, great shooter, great scorer, great guy off the bounce. He rebounds."
"He's a Gonzaga guard," Few concluded, part of a line that runs from John Stockton to Matt Santangelo to Dan Dickau, Blake Stepp, Derek Raivio and Jeremy Pargo.
Bouldin, who on Monday was named the West Coast Conference player of the year, plays his final home game Tuesday when No. 18 Gonzaga (24-5, 12-2 West Coast) faces Cal State-Bakersfield (7-21) in a nonconference match.
"It's been a fun ride," Bouldin said.
Statistics don't tell the whole story, but they tell plenty.
Bouldin leads the Zags with 16 points per game, plus 4.6 rebounds and 4.1 assists. The 6-foot-5 guard is shooting 46 percent from the floor, 37 percent from 3-point range and makes nearly 87 percent of his free throws. He plays 36 minutes per game, which is why he is generally wearing numerous ice packs in the locker room afterward.
Few earned his eighth Coach of the Year honor in his 11 years at the helm in leading Gonzaga to a 10th straight WCC regular-season title with a 12-2 mark. That is the longest current conference title streak in the country and ties the Bulldogs with The University of Connecticut which won 10 straight Yankee Conference titles from 1951-60 and UNLV which captured 10 straight Big West Crowns from 1983-92. Few earned six straight Coach of the Year honors from 2001-06, the longest run in WCC history. His eight selections are also the most in WCC annals.
Few, in his 21st year overall with the Bulldogs, has 288 career victories, three shy of becoming the all-time wins leader in Gonzaga's basketball history. He has a career record of 288-271.
Elias Harris became the first Gonzaga player since J.P. Batista in 2005 to earn Newcomer of the Year and the fourth Zag overall to capture the honor since it was begun in 1975. The native of Speyer, Germany, made quite a splash as a freshman, averaging 15.1 points per game and a team-high 7.4 rebounds per game. He recorded six double-doubles, scored a season-high 31 points at Saint Mary's College and grabbed 16 rebounds in a win over the University of Illinois in the United Center in Chicago. He averaged a team-high 17.0 ppg and 7.4 rebounds per game in WCC play. He shot 57.2 percent from the field in conference action. Harris was also named to the All-Freshman Team.
Junior guard Steven Gray joined Bouldin and Harris on the All-WCC first team, the Bainbridge, Wash., native averaging 13.8 points, 4.1 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game.
About the only thing Bouldin hasn't done in his career is date singer Taylor Swift, despite persistent rumors making the rounds for months in Spokane. Bouldin did attend a Swift concert in Spokane, sat in the front row, and she said hello to him from the stage, Bouldin has told reporters. That was it.
The rumor gained traction in part because Bouldin looks like the sort that could, well, date a pop star.
Bouldin grew up in the Denver suburb of Highlands Ranch, where he was Colorado state player of the year after both his junior and senior seasons at ThunderRidge High.
Rated one of the top shooting guards in the West, he spurned programs such as Notre Dame and California for Gonzaga because he admired the guard play under Few.
He also wanted to play for a consistent winner.
"That was one of the biggest things about coming to Gonzaga, I knew they were going to win," Bouldin said.
He hasn't been disappointed. The Zags have won the West Coast Conference title and made the NCAA tournament all four of his seasons.
He moved into the starting lineup midway through his freshman year, averaging nearly 9 points per game. He averaged 12.6 points as a sophomore and 13.6 as a junior.
After Bakersfield, Gonzaga has a bye going into Sunday's semifinals of the West Coast tournament in Las Vegas, where the Bulldogs will play either Loyola Marymount, Pepperdine or San Francisco.
2010 West Coast Conference
Men's Basketball Honors
WCC Player of the Year - Matt Bouldin, GU
WCC Defensive Player of the Year - Omar Samhan, SMC
Newcomer of the Year - Elias Harris, GU
Coach of the Year - Mark Few, GU
2010 All-WCC First Team
Matt Bouldin, GU, T.J. Campbell, POR, Steven Gray, GU, Elias Harris, GU, Dior Lowhorn, USF Mickey McConnell, SMC, Omar Samhan, SMC, Robin Smeulders, POR, Vernon Teel, LMU, Drew Viney, LMU.
Honorable Mention
Keion Bell, PEP, Matthew Dellavedova, SMC, Brandon Johnson, USD, Luke Sikma, POR, Jared Stohl, POR, Mychel Thompson, PEP, Marc Trasolini, SCU.
All-Freshman Team
Matthew Dellavedova, SMC, Ashley Hamilton, LMU, Elias Harris, GU, Chris Manresa, USD, Robert Smith, SCU.