As he sat in his office Tuesday afternoon reflecting on Gonzaga’s NCAA Tournament run to the Final Four, Boise State basketball coach Leon Rice felt like a proud father.
Rice spent 11 years as an assistant under Gonzaga head coach Mark Few and was the associate head coach from 2007-10. Gonzaga has consistently been one of the top programs in the nation, having won at least 23 games in each of Few’s first 17 years at the helm.
Despite the success, the Bulldogs have had plenty of heartbreak. There was always an asterisk when discussing Gonzaga as one of the nation’s elite programs.