Gonzaga in talks with Massive 12 about becoming a member of convention

Gonzaga’s athletic director met in particular person with the Massive 12 commissioner final week as a part of broader discussions concerning the Zags becoming a member of the Massive 12, sources advised ESPN. The discussions are a part of the potential for a seismic transfer of the basketball powerhouse leaving the West Coast Convention to an influence convention.

Massive 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark met with Gonzaga athletic director Chris Standiford on the Hyatt in Frisco, Texas, whereas the Zags have been within the Dallas space to play Tennessee in a scrimmage, based on sources.

The transfer backs up Yormark’s guarantees of the Massive 12 to be aggressive and “open for enterprise,” and will additionally find yourself shifting the panorama of school basketball.

Sources point out that Gonzaga has been exploring its convention choices, because it has emerged as one of many premier basketball packages in the complete nation. Each the Pac-12 and Massive East have been engaged with Gonzaga, based on sources, however the extent of these conversations are unsure.

Gonzaga performs within the West Coast Convention, a mid-major convention that Gonzaga has constantly dominated because it has grown into one of many high packages within the sport. The varsity has been clear with the WCC about its conversations.

The Massive 12 concentrating on Gonzaga as a possible addition to bolster its basketball isn’t surprising, because the convention has been regarded in current seasons as the highest basketball league within the nation. The Massive 12 boasts the final two males’s basketball nationwide champions — Kansas and Baylor — and have been an time beyond regulation loss by Texas Tech in 2019 from having three consecutive NCAA champions.

The addition of Gonzaga to the Massive 12 can be a large shift within the panorama, as it will perpetuate the Massive 12’s repute atop the game. Gonzaga’s males’s basketball program has performed within the nationwide title recreation in 2017 and 2021. Gonzaga has been a No. 1 seed within the NCAA match in 4 of the previous 5 years.

Yormark has been open concerning the league’s want to increase. He is spoken overtly about including a fourth time zone and packages with nationwide cache. The Massive 12 and its tv companions, ESPN and Fox, are close to settlement on a six-year extension that features a important pay elevate. How any potential payout would trickle down to a faculty with out soccer is unsure, however the concept of Gonzaga taking part in Kansas, Baylor, BYU and Texas Tech in league play can be engaging to tv companions.

The notion of Gonzaga doubtlessly becoming a member of the Massive 12 was introduced up by the convention with its tv companions in a cursory method in conversations concerning the league’s new tv deal just lately. However the potential addition had nothing to do with the Massive 12’s last deal.

“It was hinted at,” mentioned an individual accustomed to the Massive 12 deal. “It got here up in a quiet method. It is a optimistic, however it’s not a monetary game-changer.”