Gonzaga Basketball: Mark Few, Coach of the Year on and off the court
Mark Norman Few is the coach of the No. 1 Gonzaga Bulldogs. He is the WCC Coach of the Year, but he is also so much more to the Spokane community.
Gonzaga basketball coach Mark Few is a product of Creswell, Oregon, born there on December 27, 1962. He went to Creswell High and the University of Oregon, where he received his B.S. in Physical Education. Then on to Gonzaga University for his Masters in Athletic Administration. After years of assisting good coaches, he has become a great coach with the Gonzaga men’s basketball program.
He’s never left this little corner of America. From Creswell to Spokane to Creswell, finally settling in Spokane, he has earned national acclaim as a college basketball coach. A coach with one of the most successful records in the nation.
This is not just about a reiteration of Few’s accomplishments on the basketball court. From 1999 until this very day, he has been a winner. His overall Gonzaga record is 621-124. That is more than an amazing record. He has not captured the elusive NCAA championship yet, but Mark Few is a national winner in all of his life’s work.
Off the court
Mark Few is a philanthropist and humanitarian who has raised tens of millions of dollars for cancer. He and his wife, Marcy, work tirelessly for the American Cancer Society. Since 2002, through the Coaches vs. Cancer Spokane chapter they established, they have raised over $25M. In 2014 he and others from the Spokane area also started the Community Cancer Fund. They help local Spokane families and local organizations fighting this dreadful disease.
Another organization started is Camp Good Times, giving kids with cancer a week-long summer camp.
Few has helped not just the Gonzaga Men’s basketball program but the entire Spokane community, and it seems he will never leave it. In December of 2020, the New York Knicks tried to convince Mark to go to New York. If James Dolan doesn’t have enough money to convince him to leave, he’s never leaving, and why should he leave.
Mark, his wife, and their four children are all part of the success. His children even help out during practices and have traveled with the team. Before his home games, Few goes jogging with his German Shepherd dog Stella in the beautiful Washington area he calls his own.
In a 2015 Bleacher Report article, Few said, ‘This is my mecca. For me, this is what it’s all about. All those people who wonder why I never leave…if they could see this, they’d understand.’ Few said it enables him to unwind, ‘to inhale the crisp, clean air of the Pacific Northwest, and relish the inner peace he’s found at Gonzaga’—and in Spokane.”
These are the Coaches vs Cancer sneakers Fran McCaffery and Mark Few will wear during Saturday's 3 vs 1 showdown. pic.twitter.com/adaBQJ4zMC
— Keith Murphy (@MurphyKeith) December 17, 2020
From Pacific Northwest Sports, Go Zags!!!