Mark Few sounds off on the state of college basketball

Mark Few has led the Gonzaga Bulldogs to unprecedented heights in his 27-year tenure as head coach, doing so despite rarely landing five-star recruits out of high school.

Much of this success has been built on cutting-edge roster construction, namely an abundance of international talent from all over the world, as well as utilizing transfers before they became mainstream.

College basketball has caught up, however, with thousands of players transferring every offseason without having to sit out a year, and NIL allowing those same players - as well as international stars - to make significant money playing for their favorite schools.

And while the Zags are still able to use those rules to their advantage, Few admits the lack of guardrails in college athletics right now is a real concern, especially compared to other sports.

"Well, it's not the pros because the pros you can't just leave a team whenever you want and go wherever you want," Few said after the Oregon game on Sunday. "There's contracts and you have to obligate those. We're the only place out there that you can just pretty much leave whenever you want and go play whenever you want. You can't even do it in high school."

College basketball has been fraught with these issues, which include players transferring right before games begin and landing somewhere else at midseason, or guys getting signed out of the G-League or other international leagues midseason, which has led to frustration for many fans and analysts who are used to college sports being more focused on team camaraderie and development.

Few and the Zags remain focused on building their team culture - which has long been among the best in the sport - but they aren't afraid to take advantage of the current state of college basketball either. After all, eight of the team's nine rotation players are either transfers or international additions, with Braden Huff the lone high school recruit who has stayed at GU for multiple years.

"I mean you have to adapt and just deal with the rules, and in our case we always just try to keep our values and protect [the] culture of our program," Few continued. "At some point here I think we're going to get some sanity to this and it'll be good. But I credit the guys that are playing right now, I mean you certainly haven't seen play drop off. But [there] just needs to be some sanity on roster continuity."

Gonzaga will have the rest of the week to enjoy with family before beginning its final season as members of the West Coast Conference on Sunday, Dec. 28, against the Pepperdine Waves.

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