The Gonzaga-to-NBA pipeline is on full display

There’s a hallway in the bowels of The Kennel that isn’t accessible to the public, but there’s a good chance you’ve seen it anyway. It’s lined with framed jerseys of former Zags who played in the NBA, and the program loves to feature it in social media photos of players walking into the arena before games.

“I feel like it was me, John Stockton, Austin Daye, [Adam] Morrison, and [Robert] Sacre on that wall,” former Zag Kelly Olynyk said, thinking back to when he first made it into the NBA. “Now they need another wall for all the guys we’ve got in the league.”

He forgot a few names, but the sentiment behind what he said is true. When Olynyk was drafted 13th overall in 2013, he became the 10th Zag to make it to the NBA, according to Sports Reference. In the years since, the Zags have more than doubled that number to 25.

Olynyk attended Saturday’s game against Santa Clara, along with Killian Tillie and Jalen Suggs. The three sat behind Gonzaga’s bench and were honored by the crowd during the first half. It was an impressive sight, three active NBA players back in Spokane, sitting side by side. There were more NBA players in that row of seats at The Kennel than Gonzaga had produced over its entire history when Mark Few took over in 1999.

“I’ve been in the league nine years now, and every year there’s more Zags, more Zags, more Zags. Almost every night you’re playing against a Zag. Before it was few and far between. You might get one or two games in a year against a Zag,” Olynyk said. “Right before the [All-Star Game] break I played against Washington, and they had three.”

The Zagification of the NBA is yet another example showing just how far this program has risen in recent years.

Before their breakthrough Elite Eight run in 1999, the Zags had sent just two players to the NBA: John Stockton and Mike Champion. Stockton was an out-of-nowhere Hall of Fame player, while Champion totaled four minutes played over two career games. In the years after 1999, the Zags started generating NBA talent on a more regular basis. Each of Mark Few’s early Gonzaga teams had one, sometimes two, future NBA players on their rosters. As the years wore on, teams would feature three, maybe even four, future NBA players. The 2017 team that made the program’s first Final Four had five. Two years later, the 2019 team had six future NBA players on the roster.

At least one Zag has made his NBA debut in each of the past six seasons, with four — Jalen Suggs, Corey Kispert, Joel Ayayi and Kevin Pangos — making their NBA debuts this season alone.

That pattern is virtually assured to continue next season as well. Freshman Chet Holmgren is in the running to be the top pick in the upcoming NBA Draft, coming in at No. 2 on Sam Vecenie of The Athletic’s big board. Drew Timme and Julian Strawther also appear on the big board, though they land just outside draft range. Looking even further forward, freshmen Nolan Hickman and Hunter Sallis have been generating serious NBA buzz as well.

“It’s exciting, and I don’t think it’s stopping anytime soon, and that’s the best part about it,” Olynyk says.

NEXT UP

Gonzaga heads to the road for the final week of the regular season with a pair of games against their two biggest challengers this season.

On Thursday the Zags face San Francisco (22-7; 9-5) on the road in a game that could all but lock up an NCAA Tournament bid for the Dons with a win. That game tips off at 6 pm on ESPN2. Then the Zags head to the East Bay for the regular season finale against archrival No. 23 Saint Mary’s (22-6; 10-3) in Moraga. That one tips at 7 pm on a yet-to-be-determined ESPN network.