Northwest Notes: March 18, 2021

Few among finalists for

Naismith Coach of the Year

Gonzaga’s Mark Few was named one of four candidates for the 2021 Werner Ladder Naismith Men’s Coach of the Year, the Atlanta Tipoff Club announced Wednesday.

The finalists emerged from a group of 10 semifinalists and were selected by the Atlanta Tipoff Club’s national voting academy, comprised of leading journalists from around the country, current and former head coaches, former award winners and conference commissioners, all of whom base their selections on outstanding on-court performances during the 2020-21 regular college basketball season. The next round of voting runs from March 19-31, with the winner being announced live on CBS Sports Network’s NCAA® March Madness® 360 studio show on April 2.

Fans can vote at www.naismithfanvote.com from March 19-31.

The fan vote accounts for five percent of the overall vote, which will be tabulated and certified by Aprio, a premier CPA-led business advisory firm, headquartered in Atlanta.

Honors continue to roll in

for Gonzaga men's basketball

Gonzaga's Corey Kispert was named First Team All-American by the United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) Wednesday. Jalen Suggs and Drew Timme were selected second team.

Zags’ head coach Mark Few was named one of four finalists for the Henry Iba Award, which is given annually by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association to its national coach of the year. Baylor’s Scott Drew, Michigan’s Juwan Howard and Alabama’s Nate Oats were the other finalists.

Few won the Henry Iba Award in 2017 following a 32-1 regular season and will try to become just the ninth coach to win the award multiple times. Drew, Howard and Oats would be first-time winners. The award is based on regular-season performance and the winner of the award will be announced on Friday.

Gonzaga placed four players on the All-WCC First Team and three Bulldogs – Kispert, Suggs and Timme – are USBWA All-Americans contending for multiple national honors. Joel Ayayi was the other all-conference player, marking the fourth time in WCC history for one team to have four first team members. Gonzaga, also the WCC Tournament champion, has won 25 or more games in 14 consecutive seasons and faces either Norfolk State or Appalachian State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Saturday.

Among the first-team All-American selections, Illinois’ Ayo Dosunmu, Iowa’s Luka Garza and Kispert are the finalists for the Oscar Robertson Trophy, presented to the national player of the year by the USBWA. The winner of the award will be announced April 1 in a virtual event in conjunction with the Final Four in Indianapolis, the hometown of Oscar Robertson.

Jenn Wirth, Townsend earn

AP All-American honorable mentions

For the first time in history, two Gonzaga women’s basketball players were named Honorable Mention AP All-American, as seniors Jenn Wirth and Jill Townsend were selected as announced by the Associated Press on Wednesday.

Wirth and Townsend are the fifth and sixth Zags to earn Associated Press All-America accolades, joining Shannon Mathews (2005), Stephanie Hawk (2007), Courtney Vandersloot (2009, 2010, 2011) and Haiden Palmer (2014), all of whom were all selected honorable mention during their respective seasons.

Wirth, the reigning West Coast Conference Player of the Year, ranked second on the team in points per game at 12.8 and second in the conference in field goal percentage at 54.3. On average, Wirth finished with 8.2 rebounds per game (third in the WCC), collecting nine double-doubles to rank second in the conference.

Townsend, the 2020 WCC Player of the Year, was selected First Team All-WCC for the second-straight season after leading the Zags in scoring at 13.4 points per game.

The complete list can be found in SCoreboard

Washington State volleyball series

with Washington canceled

PULLMAN — Due to recent COVID-19 protocol developments within the Washington State volleyball program, the Cougars matches against Washington scheduled for March 19 and March 21 have been canceled. The games will not be rescheduled.

Washington State will work within the university's and the county's return to play protocol to determine a suitable date to safely return to competition.