• Bulldogs’ 2009-10 schedule, 2008-09 results, more
Maybe you had the chance to scan the NCAA men’s basketball preseason rankings and you came away with the question: Where’s Gonzaga?

Well, the Zags were down below the Top 25 in that clump of agate type listing “Others receiving votes.”

Yes, the Zags made it to the Sweet 16 last season and finished 10th in the final Associated Press poll.

But for now, a better question than “Where is Gonzaga?” is, “Who is Gonzaga?” Coach Mark Few is back for his 11th season. That’s at least one face you can recognize.

And the reason the Zags are so far down the list is the exact reason he deals with a challenge unlike others in his successful (264-66) career. He’s having to figure ways to replace four of his top five scorers while fielding a team stocked with 10 players who have never played a minute of NCAA Division I basketball.

“We’ll be a very simple team for a while,” Few said.

It will be a steep learning curve for the Bulldogs, who travel to East Lansing, Mich., for a Tuesday match against the second-ranked Michigan State Spartans.

They’ll arrive without last season’s top scorer, Josh Heytvelt (14.9 points), top rebounder, Austin Daye (6.9), and top assist man, Jeremy Pargo (4.9). Toss Micah Downs (9.6 ppg) in with the departures, and the main recognizable face still on campus is senior guard Matt Bouldin.

The two-time all-West Coast Conference guard is on the Wooden Award top-50 watch list, and he’s going to have to be a leader as well as a scorer this season.

“It’s going to be Matt’s team,” Few said. “I’ve been trying to pull some leadership out of Steven (Gray, junior guard), and (Demetri Goodson), being the point guard, but this will mostly have Matt’s stamp on it.”

Whether his stamp will provide sufficient postage to get the Zags to their 12th consecutive NCAA tournament will be revealed as they face a typically difficult nonconference schedule.

“There’s a lot of new faces, that’s for sure,” said Bouldin, who averaged 13.6 points last season and had huge games against Tennessee and Portland (26 points each). “They’re definitely going to build names for themselves in years to come. I’m excited for this group; I think they’ve got a ton of talent and are really going to make things happen.”

Three of the players joining Bouldin on the tentative starting unit will be familiar to Zags fans: Gray, Goodson, and sophomore center Robert Sacre.

Gray announced his presence as a freshman, scoring 21 points in the Zags’ NCAA opening-round loss to Davidson. He was streaky last season, but had 19 against Tennessee. Goodson became an instant Zags favorite for scoring the game-winning basket with a layup at the buzzer to beat Western Kentucky in the NCAA second round. Sacre is a 7-footer who battled foot injuries all last season.

The most mature of the newcomers is forward Elias Harris, a 6-8, 215-pound rebound machine who recently played for the German national team in the European championships.

High roster turnover is forcing Few to take a different approach this season.

“I’d rather look at seven veterans out there,” he said. “This is a different dynamic; there’s a lot more teaching. We’ll have to go a lot slower with this group, just trying to build it piece by piece and build it as the season progresses.”

Although Bouldin is 21, he jokes about how much energy the young guys bring to the team.

Few sees that as a positive, of course.

“These guys are willing and coachable and eager to get better,” he said. “So it’s been fun in that respect. It’s more about what they’re absorbing. There’s a different absorption rate from guy to guy with the concepts and making sure our core beliefs are instilled in all of them.”

Dave Boling: 253-597-8440

dave.boling@thenewstribune.com

3 Demetri Goodson
Spring, Texas (Klein Collins)
Class: Sophomore
Height: 5-11
Weight: 164
Last year’s numbers: 3.8 ppg 1.3 rpg

15 Matt Bouldin
Highlands Ranch, Co. (Thunder Ridge)
Class: Senior
Height: 6-5
Weight: 224
Last year’s numbers: 13.6 ppg 4.1 rpg

32 Steven Gray
Bainbridge Island (Bainbridge)
Class: Junior
Height: 6-5
Weight: 208
Last year’s numbers: 9.1 ppg 3.2 rpg

20 Elias Harris
Speyer, Germany
Class: Freshman
Height: 6-8
Weight: 215
Last year’s numbers:* 20.9 ppg 9.2 rpg

00 Robert Sacre
North Vancouver, B.C. (Handsworth Secondary)
Class: Sophomore
Height: 7-0
Weight: 247
Last year’s numbers: 3.0 ppg 2.8 rpg

*High school statistics

THE BENCH

1 Mangisto Arop, F, 6-5/208, fr., Edmonton, Alberta (St. Mary’s Second)
35 Sam Dower, C, 6-9/228, fr., Brooklyn Park, Minn. (Osseo)
45 Will Foster, C, 7-5/273, sr., Bonney Lake (White River)
10 Grant Gibbs, G, 6-4/204, RS fr., Marion, Iowa (Linn-Mar)
34 Bol Kong, F, 6-6/220, RS so., Vancouver, B.C. (St. George’s)
13 Kelly Olynyk, F, 6-11/215, fr., Kamloops, B.C. (Kamloops)
14 Andy Poling, F, 6-11/232, fr. Portland (Westview)
5 G.J. Vilarino, G, 6-0/177, fr., McKinney, Texas (McKinney)

THE COACH: Mark Few (11th season). Fact: For the fourth time as head coach, Few guided the Bulldogs to the NCAA tournament’s Sweet 16 in 2009.

3 THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT THE BULLDOGS

With center Josh Heytvelt gone, can 7-footer Robert Sacre stay healthy?
Sacre is a big body with some developing offensive skills but two foot injuries last season limited him to five appearances. So far, he’s been healthy.

Can the Zags keep the turnovers down?
When they struggled last season, it was often due to flurries of turnovers. With veteran point guard Jeremy Pargo gone now, the point will be handled by Demetri Goodson, who is quick and talented and confident ... but still just a sophomore.

How quickly will all the new players learn the schemes?
After years of controlled roster turnover with a core of veterans helping teach newbies the Zags’ way, the 2009-10 Zags feature 10 players who have never played a minute of Division I basketball.

Dave Boling, The News Tribune