Two Gonzaga legends inducted into Hooptown Hall of Fame

Before Mark Few cemented Gonzaga as a college basketball powerhouse, and before Dan Monson led the program to their magical Elite Eight run in 1999, the Zags were led by legendary head coach Dan Fitzgerald, who is getting recognized for his brilliance on the sidelines.

Fitzgerald, alongside one of the best players he coached at Gonzaga - big man Jeff Brown - are getting inducted into the Hooptown Hall of Fame, as announced by Gonzaga on social media Wednesday afternoon.

The Hooptown Hall of Fame honors those in the Inland Northwest who made an impact on Spokane's basketball community. The ceremony takes place on Wednesday, June 24, from 6-9 PM PT at the Hooptown USA Courts at Riverfront Park.

The ceremony will have food, drinks, dessert, and more, serving as the tip-off for Hoopfest weekend in Spokane.

Two more Zags enter the Hooptown Hall of Fame! pic.twitter.com/2xARoDOjxY
— Gonzaga Athletics (@GonzagaBulldogs) June 24, 2026

Fitzgerald's impact

'Fitz' took over as Gonzaga's head coach back in 1978, when the program was in the Big Sky conference. They moved over to the WCC - then called the WCAC - a year later, while Fitz led them to a .500 or better record in 14 of his 15 seasons at the helm.

Fitz was the head coach of legendary point guard John Stockton from 1980-1984, and got the program into their first NCAA Tournament back in 1995, where they went 21-9 and earned a No. 14 seed before losing, 87-63, to No. 3 Maryland in the first round.

All told, Fitzgerald - who died of an apparent heart attack in 2010 - went 252-171 in 15 seasons with Gonzaga, securing an excellent 59.6% win rate which included winning 20 or more games in four of his final six seasons, and winning the WCC regular season in 1994 and again in 1996.

Fitzgerald also hired Monson and Few as assistant coaches, making him the catalyst for what has become the most dominant college basketball program on the West Coast over the past 30 years, and a team now situated to join the new-look Pac-12 officially on July 1, 2026.

An early dominant big man

One of Fitzgerald's best players was Jeff Brown, a 6'9 center who, like Dan Dickau and Nigel Williams-Goss, would eventually transfer to Gonzaga from the University of Washington.

Brown played just seven games with the Huskies in 1989-90, but after sitting out in 1990-91, he burst onto the Spokane scene, averaging a whopping 17.9 points and 6.2 rebounds as a sophomore, leading the WCC with a 61.7% effective field goal rate.

He then led the WCC in scoring the next two seasons, averaging 16.7 points and 5.8 rebounds in 1992-93 and an even 21 points with 6.2 rebounds and 1.6 assists in 1993-94, which earned him conference Player of the Year and his third straight appearance on the All-WCC Team.

Fitzgerald and Brown are joined by Emily Westerberg, Kim Eng, and the Ferris boys basketball 2006-2008 team in the 2026 class, the fifth group to be inducted.

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