ABOARD THE USS ABRAHAM LINCOLN – Midway through the 2021-22 college basketball season, Michigan State coach Tom Izzo reached out to Mark Few, his good friend and counterpart at Gonzaga, and made a recruiting pitch. Izzo had agreed with ESPN to play in the Armed Forces Carrier Classic on Veteran’s Day, but the network still hadn’t found an opponent. The Spartans played against North Carolina in 2011 aboard the USS Carl Vinson. Then-President Barack Obama was in attendance that night, and despite losing to the Tar Heels, 67-55, Izzo still thinks of it as one of his more moving experiences in coaching.
“I thought it was one of those memory-making things,” Izzo said at his team’s hotel Thursday morning. “Could it be a little goofy? Might you miss shots? Could you lose a game? Of course, but I told Mark that besides going to the Final Four, it’s the best thing I’ve ever done.”
Izzo grinned and added, “I was hoping Timme would leave, though.”
He was referring, of course, to Drew Timme, Gonzaga’s do-everything, say-anything, 6-foot-10 senior All-American who bypassed a chance to turn pro so he could come back to Spokane and be the mustachioed face of college basketball. (Though Timme is sporting a full beard these days, so perhaps he’s growing, follicly speaking.) If Friday’s game were a four-on-four contest, the Spartans would have gone home winners. Alas, Timme was also on deck, and he managed to rally Gonzaga from a 12-point second-half deficit, force Michigan State’s entire frontcourt into foul trouble, play a vintage all-around game (22 points, 13 rebounds, four assists), and will the Zags to an ugly but deeply meaningful 64-63 win. It wasn’t enough to make Izzo wish he hadn’t played the game or invited the Zags to the party, but it did leave him marveling at Timme’s excellence. “We did everything we needed to do to win the game, and yet the All-American won the game for them,” Izzo said. “If I was a fan, I would have clapped for him.”
The game was as much spectacle as competition, played in a stirring setting yet pockmarked by horrid outside shooting in conditions that got colder and windier as the evening progressed. The teams combined to shoot 7 of 34 from 3-point range, 32 of 50 from the foul line, and commit 34 turnovers. Michigan State led for nearly 30 minutes, but it faltered down the stretch as its two best post defenders, Joey Hauser and Mady Sissoko, fouled out. Michigan State’s starting power forward, Malik Hall, was likewise limited to 28 minutes because of foul trouble. That gave Timme free rein to operate in the post, where he could use his array of spin moves and pinpoint passes to great effect. The mismatches also allowed Timme to snare five offensive rebounds, several of which he converted for putbacks.
Gonzaga’s biggest bucket of the night came with 3:56 to play, when Timme fired a pass through a double team on the left block to the opposite wing, where Rasir Bolton caught it cleanly and converted a 3-point shot to tie the game at 59. It was Bolton’s only trey of the night. The game remained tight going into the final minute. After Julian Strawther traveled with 31 seconds to play and Gonzaga leading by one, the Spartans had one last chance to win. Alas, Jaden Akins’ attempted game-winning 3 clanked off the rim as time expired, and that was that.
Rasir Bolton hit a timely 3 on Friday to help Gonzaga beat Michigan State. (Orlando Ramirez / USA Today)
By now, we should all be used to Timme not just playing well, but playing his best in the biggest moments. Friday’s performance was similar to the rescue mission Timme pulled off in the second round of March’s NCAA Tournament when his 25 points and 14 rebounds lifted Gonzaga from another 12-point second-half deficit to a win over Memphis. Asked on Friday night if his pep talk to the team was the same as the one he delivered at halftime of that game, Timme smiled and said, “It was similar for sure.”
It was one more piece of evidence that Timme’s outsized personality and goofy sense of humor belie his burning competitiveness. “Everbody in our program knows the type of competitor he is,” Few says. “I think that might get lost when people see the facial hair and all that stuff, but you cannot doubt his spirit and fight when you’ve seen what he’s done over the years on the biggest stages.”
Gonzaga will need every bit of that fire this season, because the rest of the roster is with filled strong, silent types. “We have an interesting collection of introverts,” Few says. “They’re getting better at it and they’re working on it. And look, you can win at the highest level with a bunch of introverts. Every one of our teams has been different, and this one is still forming its identity.”
After the Friday night game, Timme emphasized the difference between being quiet and soft. “We have guys that might not show it, but they have passion and grit,” he said. “You can see the fire in their eyes. That’s all that matters. You can fake it all you want, but sometimes it’s the guys who are quiet that are really locked in.”
Few has likewise found that this group needs more oversight at this stage than his recent teams. That extends to nutrition, sleep, lifestyle, and all the things that need to happen off the court to make the season successful. “I’m talking to them a lot about owning their careers,” Few says. “Rather than having everybody do things for them, they need to own their body preparation, their mental prep, all those things. We have all the resources in the world for them to do this. Our teams are much better when they are player driven. We’re still in that mode right now.”
Drew Time took time after beating Michigan State to meet the service men and women aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln. (Seth Davis / The Athletic)
Gonzaga only lost two starters from last season, but aside from Timme, each returnee plays a significantly different role. Sophomore guard Nolan Hickman has taken over at the point for Andrew Nembhard, but he had just one assist to four turnovers against the Spartans and was not on the floor for critical late-game possessions. Strawther has graduated from timely scorer to primary weapon, but he is still developing the requisite alpha mindset. Anton Watson, a versatile defender and multi-faceted Glue Guy, did not make a field goal and played just 21 minutes due to foul trouble. The most significant newcomer is guard Malachi Smith, a transfer from Chattanooga, but he needs to take over more and blend in less. Every team in college basketball is going through a similar discovery period right now, and it’s rarely a smooth process. That’s why Few has grown so tired of the “lazy narrative,” as he puts it, that his program needs to win a national championship to be validated. “That’s like saying, ‘I don’t care about anything my kid does from (ages) two to 18. If he doesn’t get into Yale, he’s a failure,’ ” he says. “Really? The end deal is all that matters? That’s not all that matters to me. This is supposed to be a journey with your team, especially with college kids. We just need to win our next game.”
Few’s desire to enhance his players’ journey, prompted him to agree to play in the Armed Forces Classic, just as it led him to set up the gauntlet approaching with games against Texas, Kentucky, Baylor and Alabama, and a potential clash with Duke at the PK85 Invitational in Portland over Thanksgiving. Few, his staff, and his players came away from their participation in the Armed Forces Classic expressing deep appreciation for the commitment demonstrated by the U.S. military. (Recalling how the ship’s captain told the group that the Lincoln had just been at sea for 228 straight days, Few quipped, “My guys complain if we have four straight days of practice.”) The sailors expressed their appreciation right back. As Timme stood on the court for the postgame trophy presentation, one of the sailors shouted from the stands, “You have a great beard!” Timme turned in his direction, raised his chin and smiled. A few minutes later, dozens of servicemen and women descended on the big man for selfies. Timme obliged them for a while and seemed to be enjoying himself, but as the crowd swelled and closed in further, he made his escape. “Okay, okay, it’s a lot, it’s a lot,” he said, and jogged off the court. The sailors applauded as he left. It was a fitting end to a memorable evening, and it won’t be the last time this season that Timme is the center of attention.
(Top photo of Drew Timme: Sean M. Haffey / Getty Images)
