How Matt Santangelo helped ignite and sustain Gonzaga's 24-year NCAA Tournament run

Santangelo is the director of athlete engagements for the Zags Collective

Matt Santangelo was there from the very beginning of the Gonzaga men’s basketball team’s 24-year stretch of consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances.

The 6-foot-1 guard was a junior on the 1998-99 team that ignited Gonzaga’s period of dominance by making it to the Elite Eight in only the program’s second-ever March Madness run.

Santangelo and the Zags returned to the “Big Dance” the following season, reaching the Sweet 16 in head coach Mark Few’s first year at the helm. Fast forward more than two decades and Few has yet to miss an NCAA Tournament.

"I am extremely proud of what we accomplished," Santangelo said of the 1998-99 and 1999-00 squads. "It is difficult to put into words. We had our time and left our imprint on what has become the greatest story in college basketball and it is just getting better and better."

Santangelo ended his four-year career at Gonzaga with multiple individual accomplishments, including the WCC Freshman of the Year award, three All-Conference First-Team selections and one WCC Tournament MVP honor. 

He dished out 668 assists in college, securing the second spot on the Bulldogs' all-time list, while his 1,810 points scored placed him seventh in the program's history.

GROWING GONZAGA'S PRESENCE OVERSEAS

Shortly after his junior season at Gonzaga, Santangelo joined the U.S. team that won the gold medal at the 1999 World University Games in Spain. 

"Representing our country, winning a gold medal, that is a dream come true," Santangelo said. "I never thought I would have an opportunity to play at that level."

Santangelo traveled back overseas following his college career to play for Poliform Cantù in Italy's Lega Basket Serie A. In his only season with the club, Santangelo averaged a career-high 12.3 points, 3.0 rebounds and 2.3 steals per game. 

Over the span of seven years, Santangelo played in Italy, Spain, Greece and Poland. He still cherishes his experience playing internationally, especially fresh out of college.

"It is such a high level of basketball," Santangelo said. "We are all seeing it now as the USA struggles to compete. Overseas ball had the intensity of college where every single game counted, but you were playing with grown men who really understood the game. Plus, the crowds were crazy. So many good stories."

Gonzaga to the Big 12 very much alive

RETURNING TO SPOKANE AND GIVING BACK TO THE COMMUNITY

Santangelo, who's from Portland, Oregon, returned to Spokane with his family in 2007. 

Having not closely followed the program since his college days, he was thrilled to see that Gonzaga's basketball brand had grown exponentially from when he was a student.

"I didn’t realize what GU basketball had become while I was gone so being instantly connected in the community was a gift," Santangelo said. "It continues to be a gift that I am grateful for today."

Santangelo worked at Summit Capital from 2006 to 2011 and with Moloney & O’Neill insurance company from 2012 to 2013. Then, in 2014, Spokane attorney Terry Kelly, a longtime member of the board of Hoopfest, approached Santangelo and recommended that he apply for the open executive director's position.

Santangelo was the basketball nonprofit’s leader for nearly eight years, overseeing the world's largest three-on-three basketball tournament in Spokane. He helped the annual competition navigate through the COVID-19 pandemic, which reinforced his appreciation for the impact sports have on communities.

"Sports are a connector across so many lines," Santangelo said. "Basketball is my love language. Hoopfest is the global leader in community basketball. It is such a unique event and organization. I am grateful for the opportunity to lead in a sport and community that I love."

JOINING ZAGS COLLECTIVE, OTHER CURRENT PURSUITS 

Santangelo stepped down from his position at Hoopfest in 2021 for a job in the medical device sales industry. Meanwhile, he also became the director of athlete engagements for Zags Collective, an NIL collective that serves student-athletes at Gonzaga.

The group provides players with opportunities to engage with charitable causes and participate in business engagement. This allows student-athletes to build their brands while making a positive impact in the community. 

"NIL is challenging but necessary," Santangelo said. "We need to find, build and create ways to engage our student-athletes. These are unprecedented times. The challenge is to educate Zag Nation on what NIL is and why it is important."

The ability for players to profit off their name, image and likeness has transformed college athletics, with schools like Gonzaga utilizing the new rules to boost recruiting and fan engagement. 

"We want to show people what the opportunity is and do everything we can to keep Gonzaga toward the top of college basketball," Santangelo said. 

Aside from his leadership role with Zags Collective, Santangelo is the program manager for the Expo '74 50th Celebration and an associate financial advisor at D.A. Davidson Companies. 

ASSESSING THIS YEAR'S GONZAGA MEN'S BASKETBALL TEAM

Santangelo remains close to the Gonzaga basketball team, which begins its 2023-24 campaign with an exhibition against Lewis-Clark State on Nov. 3.  

"I get a fair amount of interaction with the squad. I have been around this program in many ways over the years. Student-athlete, practice squad talent when I first moved back, radio color analyst, now Zags Collective. I have seen many different iterations of the Zags."

Santangelo is curious how this year's squad will perform without Drew Timme, who graduated after last season as Gonzaga's all-time leading scorer with 2,307 points. 

"This team is good but not without its own challenges," Santangelo said. "It will be interesting to see how quickly they jive together, and the style of play they employ. Timme was so dominant last year, so it will be fun to see who steps up this year. It’s always fun to watch the team grow and develop."