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Mark Few's son joins former Gonzaga rival Randy Bennett's staff at Arizona State

Joe Few will be as a graduate assistant for longtime Saint Mary's coach Randy Bennett
The Few family celebrates Joe Few’s senior night at the McCarthey Athletic Center before Gonzaga’s game against Saint Mary’s. AJ Few, pictured on the far right, is now set to begin a new role with Boise State men’s basketball.
The Few family celebrates Joe Few’s senior night at the McCarthey Athletic Center before Gonzaga’s game against Saint Mary’s. AJ Few, pictured on the far right, is now set to begin a new role with Boise State men’s basketball. | Photo by Erik Smith, Myk Crawford

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After playing for Mark Few and the Gonzaga Bulldogs from 2021-2025, it's no surprise to see Joe Few following in his father's footsteps and getting into the college basketball coaching world.

What is a surprise is who he will work under to start his professional career.

Randy Bennett, who is in his first season at Arizona State after a 25-year career at Gonzaga's rival Saint Mary's, is bringing Few on as a graduate assistant for the 2026-27 season, according to an updated roster on the program's website.

Few had a front row seat to what developed into one of the best rivalries in college basketball between Gonzaga and Saint Mary's, a rivalry that effectively ended after last season with Gonzaga moving to the new-look Pac-12 while Bennett left SMC to return closer to home and take over the Sun Devils.

Few's time at Gonzaga

Joe Few Gonzaga Bulldogs
Joe Few Gonzaga Bulldogs | Photo by Erik Smith, Myk Crawford

Joe is coach Few's second-oldest son, while his oldest, AJ, is the director of player personnel at Boise State under longtime Gonzaga assistant Leon Rice. AJ previously was a graduate assistant and video coordinator at Gonzaga, and even spent one summer working with the Miami Heat in the NBA Summer League in 2025.

Meanwhile, Joe appeared in 42 games playing for his dad from 2021-2025, making his lone start on Feb. 22, 2025, against Bennett and Saint Mary's - playing two minutes on Senior Night in a 74-67 loss to the Gaels that gave SMC an outright WCC regular season championship.

All told, Few scored 13 points on 4-26 shooting for the Zags, grabbing 18 rebounds with 15 assists, five steals, and one block. His most memorable moment, unfortunately, came in a blowout win over Baylor to kick off the 2023-24 season, when freshman wing VJ Edgecombe threw down a thunderous dunk on the walk-on during garbage time.

Fit with Arizona State

ASU men's basketball coach Randy Bennett (center)
ASU men's basketball coach Randy Bennett (center) at the end of practice at the Weatherup Center in Tempe, Arizona, on June 30, 2026. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Joe now gets a chance to begin his coaching career alongside a veteran in Bennett, who is looking to get Arizona State out of the Big 12 cellar and back to basketball relevance after a tumultuous tenure by former head coach Bobby Hurley.

Joe spent last year away from basketball but got the itch to return, and despite the obvious rivalry between coach Few and Bennett, the two have always been friendly with each other - and it's not hard to imagine Few trusting Bennett to help his son more than almost any other coach in the country.

Joe will reunite with a former teammate of his in Emmanuel Innocenti, who transferred from Gonzaga to Arizona State for his senior season - where his tenacious on-ball defense and ball security will make him an ideal fit in Bennett's system.

ASU also brought in former Saint Mary's stars Paulius Murauskas and Dillan Shaw, as well as Portland point guard Joel Foxwell, while Gonzaga of course snagged star center Massamba Diop from the Sun Devils to replace All-American Graham Ike up front.

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Andy Patton
ANDY PATTON

Andy Patton is a diehard Gonzaga fan and alumnus who has covered the Bulldogs extensively since 2021. He hosts the Locked On Zags podcast and co-hosts the Locked On College Basketball podcast, bringing years of experience covering Gonzaga, the West Coast and college basketball nationally. Andy also covers the Arizona Wildcats for Arizona Wildcats On SI, where his longtime familiarity with former Gonzaga assistant and current Wildcats head coach Tommy Lloyd provides a natural connection between two of college basketball’s premier programs. Andy has worked in sports media since 2017, with experience covering nearly every major sport. He covered the Seattle Seahawks for USA TODAY from 2017–21, where he also spent time covering the USC Trojans and Oregon Ducks, and previously served as lead writer for College Sports Wire. He has also covered the NBA, NHL and MLB for various TEGNA outlets, including KREM in Spokane, 12News in Phoenix and KING 5 in Seattle. A 2013 Gonzaga graduate, Andy now lives in Spokane, Washington, with his wife, daughter and dog.

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