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Complete Mark Few Bio in PDF Format
Son. Husband, Father. Coach. All describe Gonzaga University head coach Mark Few. Now you can add humanitarian to the list. Few, along with his wife, Marcy, were named recipients of the Dell and John Wooden Coaching Achievement Award in June, 2008, by the World Sports Humanitarian Hall of Fame based in Boise, Idaho. The award, begun in 2003, is presented to a coach, along with his or her spouse, who has made exceptional contributions to their community as well as their players and their futures. "To be honored for what you do away from the court, and to be honored with an award named after a truly outstanding couple like John and Dell Wooden is humbling," Few said. "When you look at the list of people who have won this award in its short existence, and when you look at the members of the World Sports Humanitarian Hall of Fame, it's like reading a Who's Who in sports. It is an honor to be associated with these legends." But what Few has accomplished on the court is equally as humbling, evolving Bulldogs basketball into an annual participant in the NCAA Tournament and into one of the elite programs on the West Coast as well as nationally. Few enters his 10th year as head coach and his 20th year overall in the program this season, and the beat continued in 2008. Since 1992 - his first year as a fulltime assistant coach with the Bulldogs - Gonzaga has posted a 405-134 record for a .751 winning percentage. UCLA (.717) and Stanford (.701) are the only other West Coast schools to crack the .700 plateau. The 2008 season saw the Bulldogs win or share their eighth straight West Coast Conference title and their 10th in the last 11 years; advance to the WCC Tournament title game for the 11th straight season, and earn their 10th straight trip to the NCAA Tournament. GU finished the season 24th in the Associated Press Top 25. In nine seasons Few and the Bulldogs have posted a 236-60 record. He finished his ninth season as head coach third on the all-time NCAA Division I wins list for 9-year head coaches, trailing only the legendary Roy Williams (247 wins at Kansas from 1989-97) and Everett Case (241 wins at North Carolina State from 1947-55). His 236 wins already place him sixth for wins by a 10-year head coach entering the 2008-09 season, Williams (282) and Case (265) also holding the top two spots. His career victory total also ranks in the Top 100 among active coaches, and his .797 career winning percentage is second among active coaches behind Williams .807. Few has yet to win less than 20 games in a season - 24 in 2003 his lowest win total - and the Bulldogs have lost double-digit games just once (23-11 in 2007) in his nine previous years as head coach as he is averaging just 6.7 losses/season. With Few at the helm, the 2006 season marked the best campaign in the 100-plus year history of Bulldog basketball, the squad rolling to a 29-4 record, including a second 14-0 WCC campaign in three seasons. With national Player of the Year candidate Adam Morrison leading the nation in scoring, Few and the Bulldogs finished fifth in the final Associated Press Top 25 in `06, claimed a No. 3 seed into the NCAA Tournament and advanced to the Sweet 16 for the third time since Few took the reigns for the 2000 season and the fourth time overall with Few a part of the coaching staff. All of that came following the 2005 season in which Few guided the Bulldogs to 10th in the final AP Top 25. Few, in just nine years in the head seat on the Bulldog bench, has three Sweet 16 and three NCAA Second Round appearances in his nine trips to the tourney. He is one of only two coaches to lead a team into the Sweet Sixteen in their first two years as a head coach since the bracket was expanded to 64 teams in 1985. While Few has continued Gonzaga's string of post-season success, there are some individual player honors he looks to with pride. Morrison, recognized as much for his diabetes as for his ability to score, became the first Bulldog since Frank Burgess in 1961 to lead the nation in scoring at 28.1 ppg. Morrison was a household name across the country and he was up for every major Player of the Year award in the country. Morrison shared the Oscar Robertson Trophy with Duke University's J.J. Redick, was named the CBS Chevrolet Player of the Year and was a close runner-up to Redick in the Associated Press, Naismith Award and John R. Wooden Award balloting for Player of the Year. He was a unanimous All-America selection on the AP first team. Morrison was taken as the third pick in the 2006 NBA Draft, the Charlotte Bobcats making Morrison the highest Gonzaga player ever drafted and validating the job Few and his staff did in developing Morrison's skills. Ronny Turiaf is another Few looks to with pride as Turiaf earned his second straight AP honorable mention accolade in 2005 and joined with then-sophomore Morrison to give the Bulldogs two players with AP All-America recognition in the same season for the second straight season. Blake Stepp was a second-team AP All-American in 2004 in addition to being a John R. Wooden Award Top 10 All-America pick. Few, who in such a relatively young career as a head coach is mentioned in the same breath with some of the more veteran coaches patrolling the sidelines, has also accomplished plenty of "firsts" since taking over the reigns for the 1999-00 season. Dan Dickau became Gonzaga's inaugural selection to the Associated Press All-America first team in 2002, and also was tabbed Gonzaga's first John R. Wooden Award Top Five All-American. The Bulldogs also cracked the Top 10 in the national polls for the first time in school history in 2002, finishing the season ranked sixth in the Associated Press Top 25. Gonzaga's 29-4 record also set a single-season mark for victories which was matched in 2006. A 10-year Gonzaga assistant head coach, Few was named head coach July 26, 1999, following Dan Monson's departure for the University of Minnesota. Few joined the Bulldogs for the 1989-90 season as a graduate assistant under former head coach Dan Fitzgerald, then was promoted to a fulltime assistant for the 1991-92 season. He had been named associate head coach in April of 1999 following a season in which the Bulldogs became the basketball darlings of the nation on their March run which saw Gonzaga come within a few ticks of the clock of advancing to the Final Four. A loss to eventual national champion University of Connecticut in the West Regional Finals in Phoenix, Ariz., ended the Cinderella story that captured basketball fans from coast to coast. Gonzaga University President Robert J. Spitzer, S.J., and director of athletics Mike Roth didn't hesitate in rewarding Few for his long loyalty to Gonzaga. "We are extremely fortunate to have a coach of Mark's caliber right here on our staff," Spitzer said. "He is a gifted strategist, and a man who buys into the University's mission 100 percent." "Mark had been an integral part of Gonzaga's success the last decade," Roth said. "I think that speaks well for the program when you can say your last two head coaches were promoted from within. It displays the loyalty they have had as assistants. We didn't give Mark the job, he earned it." Few's contract assures his presence on the Bulldog bench through 2018, his long-term agreement reflecting the university's commitment to Few and his commitment to Gonzaga. This will allow Few to continue to build on success he has enjoyed at Gonzaga. Few has always been known for getting the most out of players both and off the court. He is committed to total player development. Since Few arrived on the Gonzaga staff, the Bulldogs have produced 54 All-West Conference selections, 10 WCC Player of the Year recipients and six Academic All-Americans. "When a young man enters the Bulldog basketball program, I believe it is our responsibility as coaches to help them reach their potential in every facet of their lives," Few said. "Our commitment to the players will always go far beyond the basketball court with a goal of producing the complete individual, one that Gonzaga University will be proud of long after their playing days." Through the efforts of Mark, his wife Marcy, and assistant coach's wives Robin Rice and Chanelle Lloyd,the inaugural Coaches vs. Cancer Golf Tournament and Gala was held in September of 2002. The event has continued to grow and in the fall of 2005 surpassed the $1 million mark and in 2007 eclipsed the $2 million barrier to benefit the American Cancer Society. It is the second largest Coaches vs. Cancer event in the country behind Coach Jim Boeheim of Syracuse University. Few and Marcy, married June 11, 1994, became parents with the arrival of Austin James (A.J.) Few on Jan. 18, 2000, followed by the arrival of Joseph Dillon on June 11, 2002, the Few's eighth wedding anniversary, and Julia Ann Elizabeth on June 25, 2006. The Few's wedding was more special because Rev. Norm Few, father of the groom, officiated. Rev. Few also married Bulldog assistant Leon Rice and wife Robin. Mark Few Coaching Experience
Wife: - Marcy (Laca) Few |
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