Last call: Pargo, streaking Gonzaga back for another try 'to bust through' to Final 4

When Jeremy Pargo turned down the opportunity to be drafted into the NBA last year as a junior, it was because of what he begins Thursday: A senior year run through the NCAA tournament.

"Oh, definitely. This tournament is unbelievable. I haven't experienced the NBA, but there's nothing like this," the streaky point guard said Wednesday in Gonzaga's locker room before a practice for a first-round game against 13th-seeded Akron.

Pargo and the heralded Bulldogs (26-5) are heavy favorites to zap the Zips (23-12), who won the Mid-American Conference tournament, and advance to the second-round Saturday against Illinois or Western Kentucky, who play later Thursday. Gonzaga has won 18 of 19 games and were undefeated in the West Coast Conference regular season and tournament.

Yet Pargo, fellow senior and leading scorer Josh Heytvelt, coach Mark Few and shooter Matt Bouldin all mentioned how one bad day can end everything for Gonzaga, which has yet to reach the Final Four in 11 consecutive NCAA tournament appearances.

"I definitely want to leave a mark on this program," Pargo said. "This program has been to an Elite Eight. The Final Four is the next step."

"Our expectations are really high," Bouldin said. "We just can't take any game for granted. I think the last two years taught me that."

Few, a former 10-year Zags assistant who was promoted to head coach in 1999, cautioned not to judge this team, or his program, by the standard of Final Four appearances.

"We've had an incredible run these last 11 years now," he said. "I'm hesitant to put all the eggs in one basket like so many people like to do with this tournament, when it's a one-and-done deal. These seasons are long, hard journeys, and I wouldn't take that for granted.

"The fact that we've won 26 games with an incredible difficult schedule. ... The league championships obviously mean a lot to us.

"We've been to an Elite Eight, we've been to several Sweet 16s, and I think if we keep fielding the type of teams with student athletes like these guys ... then eventually we'll be able to bust through and get to a Final Four sometime, but it's certainly not — I don't think it's the end-all to everything."

Few praised Pargo for his resiliency — "he's probably missed one or two practices in four years" — for playing lately as well as he has all season and for spurning the temptation of NBA riches.

"He's meant everything to this program," Few said. "He's as charismatic and engaging a person that you'll ever coach. You can hear him, even in my office when he comes rolling in down through the corridors of the arena.

"He was going to get drafted and yet weighed it out where he was at and what he wanted to accomplish, what he wanted to do with this group of guys. It's hasn't been perfect. I don't think it's been exactly the way that he scripted it, but here he is.

"Hopefully, he can end what's already been a great career with a long run in the NCAA tournament."

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BUNK MATES: There's a reason why Gonzaga and Washington are staying minutes away from the arena in the same fancy hotel, The Benson — and it's not because the cross-state rivals who don't play each other anymore suddenly like each other.

The NCAA arranges hotel assignments ahead of time, based on seedings. The two top seeds in Portland were assigned to one of the city's top-rated hotels. Rooms at The Benson, a renovated boutique hotel, listed for as much as $279 for the weekend.

By contrast, 12th-seeded Northern Iowa, which plays Purdue on Thursday, is staying at a far less opulent chain hotel just off Interstate 5 and next to a shopping center. Rooms there were going for $145 a night.

Two years ago at a sub-regional in Spokane, 11th-seeded Winthrop was sent to stay out in the east Spokane Valley, near the Idaho border. After the Eagles upset sixth-seeded Notre Dame in the first round, some of them joked they hoped to be able to get the better rooms at the better hotel in which the Irish had been staying downtown, near Spokane Arena.