Inside The Huskies

Huskies Make Contact with Former St. Mary's Guard

Jordan Ross was never at his best against Gonzaga, yet Zags are among his pursuers.

Dan Raley

St. Mary's Gaels guard Jordan Ross looks for a shot against Alabama in the NCAA Tournament.
St. Mary's Gaels guard Jordan Ross looks for a shot against Alabama in the NCAA Tournament. / Ken Blaze-Imagn Images

Maybe Jordan Ross just wanted to put some distance between himself and Gonzaga after facing the Zags three times last season and not being at his best.

Either way, the 6-foot-3, 190-pound guard, who played for St. Mary's the past two years, recently entered the transfer portal and has heard from nearly a dozen basketball programs, including the University of Washington.

Oh yeah, Gonzaga has stuck its nose in the pursuit of this player, as well.

The Zags, Huskies and schools such as St. John's, Iowa, Vanderbilt, Clemson, Mississippi State and others are drawn to him because of his height and the fact he can play both floor leader and shooter.

For a 29-6 St. Mary's team that made it to two rounds of the NCAA Tournament before getting eliminated by Alabama, Ross shared the staring backcourt with 6-foot-4 Augustus Marciulonis, who handled a majority of the point guard responsibilities.

Ross averaged 8.3 points, 3.1 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game and seemed better suited as a playmaker for the Gaels after shooting 38 percent overall and 29.3 from 3-point range. He had a season-best 8 assists against both Pepperdine and Cal Poly.

Starting all 35 games, Ross turned in 13 double-figure scoring outings, topped by a season-high 19 points in a 68-64 loss to Arizona State in what was a strange performance. He connected on just 6 of 15 shots in that game, yet 4 of 5 from 3-point range.

Against Gonzaga, Ross scored 10, 4 and zero points while beating his WCC rival twice and then losing to those guys in the conference championship game in Las Vegas. He shot 1-for-11 collectively in the second and third games.

Spokane just might not be the best place for him.

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Dan Raley
DAN RALEY

Dan Raley has worked for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, as well as for MSN.com and Boeing, the latter as a global aerospace writer. His sportswriting career spans four decades and he's covered University of Washington football and basketball during much of that time. In a working capacity, he's been to the Super Bowl, the NBA Finals, the MLB playoffs, the Masters, the U.S. Open, the PGA Championship and countless Final Fours and bowl games.

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