How they were built: Gonzaga vs. West Virginia

For the seventh time in his coaching career, Mark Few has Gonzaga into the Sweet Sixteen. The top seed in the West will take on a West Virginia team Thursday night that is short on big names but long on players that fit Bob Huggins’ system. Here is how the two teams were built.

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Gonzaga has always done and effective job of working the transfer market. However, this year they have taken it to an extreme. Three of the Zags top five scorers are former four-star recruits who began their careers elsewhere.

Leading scorer and All-American candidate point guard Nigel Williams-Goss spent two years at Washington. Three-point shooting threat Jordan Mathews spent his first three seasons at California and versatile power forward Johnathan Williams began his career at Memphis. Without landing those three through transfer, we aren’t likely talking about Gonzaga as a legitimate national title contender.

While Few has landed his fair share of talent and put plenty of guys into the NBA, he hasn’t recruited many ready-made stars. That’s exactly what he got in freshman seven-footer Zach Collins, who comes off the bench for the Bulldogs. A McDonald’s All-American and five-star prospect in during his high school days in Las Vegas, Collins has proven to be a true difference-maker and future NBA player.

For years, Few and his staff have been as good as it gets when it comes to landing International talent. Not surprisingly, this year’s team features a worldwide flair. Second leading scorer and immovable force in the middle Przemek Karnowski was found in Poland. Promising freshman power forward Killian Tillie was a four-star prospect it recruited from France. All together, this year’s Gonzaga team features players from six different countries.

Leading West Virginia in scoring with 13.3 points per game, Jevon Carter was at his finest on Saturday as he stepped up and led his team from start to finish. Carter scored 24 in a tight win over Northwestern. The junior guard out of Illinois is another hidden gem that has flourished in Morgantown. WVU beat out mid-majors Green Bay, Toledo, Akron, La Salle, and Valparaiso in the fall of 2013, and now he is the go-to player for a Big 12 team in the Sweet 16.

Carter has help in the form of Esa Ahmad, the highest rated player on the squad. Ahmad chose WVU over Ohio State and Maryland and has flourished under Huggins, upping his scoring from 4.9 to 11.3 as a sophomore.

While Carter and Ahmad are the only two averaging double figures in the scoring column, Tarik Phillip, Daxter Miles and Teyvon Meyers are relied upon heavily in the backcourt, while Elijah Macon, Lamont West, Brandon Watkins and Sagaba Konate fill in admirably in the post and on the back ends of their press defense.

West Virginia didn’t have to go far to find its primary X-factor. Nathan Adrian is a native of Morgantown and has become a key cog in their suffocating press. While many other high school prospects enjoy the recruitment process, Adrian shut his down in quick fashion. An offer at the beginning of his junior year was enough for the local talent to commit. Now it will be about knocking down the occasional jumper, rebounding the basketball and supplying his pristine defensive abilities that will decide whether WVU moves on past the round of 16.