Mark Few, Gonzaga teammates heap praise on Noah Haaland after career performance

The Gonzaga Bulldogs have gone without star big men Braden Huff and Graham Ike in each of the past two games, relying on 7'0 sophomore Ismaila Diagne and small-ball lineups to power past Seattle U and Pepperdine and extend their win streak to 13 games.

Many thought Mark Few and the Zags would burn the redshirt of 6'9 freshman Parker Jefferson to ensure they avoid taking a bad loss in conference play, but instead the team turned to redshirt senior Noah Haaland - and he delivered with a career-night in Wednesday's 84-60 win over the Waves.

Haaland, who had scored eight points in 10 career games at Gonzaga prior to Wednesday, played 11 minutes against Pepperdine and scored 10 points on perfect 4-4 shooting, grabbing four rebounds - including three on the offensive glass - and making both his free throws in a career night for the native of Rathdrum, ID.

"I mean, it feels great," Haaland said after the game. "Obviously, the main thing is just be ready defensively. We got a ton of offensive weapons already, and even though we're down two of our main weapons, we still got people that can score. So, just being able to sub in and not be a liability on one end of the floor, and then be able to do my job on the offensive end is just the main thing I was focusing on."

"I mean, to be honest, he's been doing that the last two years, and he's very worthy of getting this time; he was just playing behind two All-Americans," coach Few said. "This isn't an out of body experience. This is kind of what we've been seeing every day in practice. We have confidence in him. I think the players have confidence in him, and hopefully we'll see a lot more of him."

Haaland was born in Rathdrum, ID - about 30 miles from Spokane - and went to Lakeland High School before beginning his college career at Allan Hancock Junior College in Santa Maria, CA. The 6'9 big man played two seasons of JuCo ball, averaging 7.8 points and 3.6 rebounds as a sophomore in 2023-24 and earning All-Conference honors.

Gonzaga players celebrate teammate Noah Haaland during a team huddle after defeating Pepperdine. — Gonzaga players celebrate teammate Noah Haaland during a team huddle after defeating Pepperdine at the McCarthey Athletic Center. | Photo by Erik Smith

He brought his college experience back to the Inland Northwest, joining Gonzaga as a walk-on ahead of the 2024-25 season. Both Haaland's parents - Dale and Robyn - were student-athletes at Gonzaga, with his father averaging 10 points and 6.7 rebounds in 56 games as a Zag from 1985-1987, earning All-WCAC honors in 1987.

Haaland only made it into three games his first year with Gonzaga, playing ten total minutes, but has been more involved as a senior this season - scoring the first points of his Zag career back on Nov. 11 against Creighton, and chipping in four points and two rebounds on 2-2 shooting against LMU on Jan. 4.

But with Ike joining Huff on the shelf these past two games, Haaland has been thrust into a bigger role behind Diagne, Jalen Warley, and Tyon Grant-Foster - with 17 of his 47 minutes as a Zag coming in those two contests.

The 6'9 big man was ready for his number to be called, learning a valuable lesson from a previous Gonzaga walk-on, who also had a parent play for the Zags:

"I think the main thing — I kind of got it from David Stockton, I talked to him briefly before last year — is taking all the reps in practice, even the scout team reps, very seriously, and playing hard and treating it like it's a game," Haaland said. "Obviously, knowing when to back off so nobody gets hurt or anything like that, like before games and stuff; but that I think has been the most important thing, is just not sitting back into that role of being a scout team player the whole year and really taking advantage of the time being able to play with these really high-level guys has helped me improve so much."

Haaland's teammates echoed coach Few's sentiments, showing full confidence in the senior's ability to help this team on the court - just like he has been doing in practice the past two years.

"Noah's amazing, man," Adam Miller said after Wednesday's game. "We got a lot of guys who don't always get the shine some nights ... some guys will get in there, but this team doesn't run without those guys. So, kudos to him for being ready for the moment. We wouldn't be as good as we are without those guys. I'm happy that he had a good game today."

"He's just always playing super hard, making it happen on both ends; on defense, obviously, just staying his ground and then offensively, getting a lot of rebounds," Davis Fogle added. "He's always in the right spot for the dump down, so I knew when he went in there he was gonna do his thing."

Huff remains out until at least mid-February for Gonzaga, while Ike is considered day-to-day and could return for the Zags as soon as Saturday when they host San Francisco (13-8, 5-3) at 5:00 PM at the McCarthey Athletic Center. The game will be broadcast on the CBS Sports Network.

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