Gonzaga to host Western Oregon in Exhibition Game with Special Connection for coach Mark Few
SPOKANE, WA – Gonzaga University men’s basketball will face Western Oregon University in an exhibition game on October 27th at the McCarthey Athletic Center, providing a final tune-up before the start of the regular season. The game holds particular meaning for head coach Mark Few, as it reunites him with a family deeply rooted in his coaching origins.
The exhibition,which will not impact either team’s official win-loss record,features a connection stretching back to Few’s high school days in Creswell,oregon. Western Oregon’s first-year head coach,Ryan Orton,is the son of Doug Orton,who coached Few during his varsity basketball career at Creswell High School in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
Few’s coaching journey began under Doug Orton’s mentorship,as he was hired to coach the school’s freshman team in 1985 promptly following his time as a player at Creswell High. This early experience proved pivotal in shaping Few’s future career.
Ryan Orton’s own basketball background includes attending Creswell High School and playing college basketball at Eastern Oregon. He spent the previous decade as an assistant and associate head coach at Alaska Anchorage. Notably, Orton’s first Division I assistant coaching position came in 2000 at Eastern Washington, where he was promoted by Ray Giacoletti, who later served on Few’s staff at Gonzaga.
This exhibition marks the first meeting between Gonzaga and Western Oregon during Mark Few’s 24-year tenure as head coach of the Bulldogs. Gonzaga routinely schedules exhibition games against smaller schools - Division II, Division III, and NAIA programs – within the pacific Northwest to prepare for the competitive regular season.
Gonzaga’s schedule includes “Kraziness in the Kennel” on october 4th, a fan event to kick off the season. The regular season is currently slated to begin on November 3rd with a home game against texas Southern from the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC). Further details regarding the tipoff time for the exhibition game against western Oregon are pending.
