Richard Fox on Gonzaga's ninth straight Sweet 16: 'It was as good a coaching job as Mark Few has ever done'

"It’s easy when you struggle, particularly early in the year when you don’t get off on the right foot, to see things unravel a little bit — that never happened. That’s a sign of a good coaching effort, to keep these guys into it even if they’re struggling," Fox said on Gonzaga Nation.

Gonzaga head coach Mark Few reacts to a play against Purdue during the first half of the NCAA / Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK

Mark Few's coaching resume speaks for itself.

The two-time Naismith Coach of the Year has the best winning percentage of all time and became the third-fastest to reach 700 career victories earlier this season. He's the only Division-I men's coach to reach the NCAA Tournament in his first 24 seasons, while his 43 career wins in the Big Dance ranks as the fifth-most among active head coaches. Gonzaga has surpassed the title of "mid-major" with two National Championship game appearances, five Elite Eight runs and 13 trips to the Sweet 16, including nine consecutive.

Plenty of talent has come through the doors as well, including 11 consensus All-Americans and a handful of future NBA talent. The 2020-21 team will go down as one of the greatest in recent college basketball history after going 37-1. Meanwhile, the 2018-19 group is often regarded as the most talented team Few has had considering it featured Rui Hachimura, Brandon Clarke and Corey Kispert, three future first-round picks.

The 2023-24 Bulldogs might be remembered as one of Few's most impressive coaching efforts of his career, though, considering the turnaround from an 11-5 start to going 27-8 and making another deep postseason run.

ROOT Sports commentator Richard Fox shared why he believes this season "was as good a coaching job" Few has ever done on a new episode of Gonzaga Nation with former All-American Dan Dickau.

Watch Richard Fox's full interview on Gonzaga Nation's YouTube channel.

Produced by Thomas Gallagher.

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