Gonzaga’s head coach, Mark Few, already knows when he plans to retire from college basketball coaching and what he will do afterward. But before he calls it a day, he wants to see an overhaul in the existing transfer portal scene.
Few, who has long been a voice of reason in the sport’s evolving landscape, mirrored John Calipari’s sentiments regarding the matter.
What Are Gonzaga HC Mark Few’s Retirement Plans?
While Mark Few did not specify a firm retirement date, his comments suggest a desire to conclude his career in a way that preserves the legacy he’s built at Gonzaga.
In an interview on CBS Sports College Basketball, Jon Rothstein asked Few how long he wants to keep coaching. The 62-year-old said that he doesn’t like to think about his retirement. His entire focus at the moment is on keeping Gonzaga “nationally relevant” as a top 5 or 10 program.
Few emphasized that coaches like him now have their work cut out for them with responsibilities like recruiting, scheduling, developing players and work on retaining them, and the “massive, time-consuming effort” of raising NIL money.
But the day Few feels like all his efforts are not amounting to what’s best for the program, he would bid farewell.
“That’s kind of my total focus–to keep this [college] at that level. If we can’t do that anymore, I’m out of here. You’ll catch me on a river somewhere, fly fishing, or visiting you to come watch the US Open in September,” Few told Rothstein.
In the future, he plans to spend time with his family, visit people and places, pursue his personal interests, and more.
Few made a segue into his recent contribution to ensuring stability in the college basketball structure, as well as about efforts made by Arkansas HC John Calipari, Michigan State HC Tom Izzo, and many others.
“I don’t think people understand how hard the three of us–many of us, actually–are trying to help shepherd this game. Whether it is NCAA tournament expansion, whether it is fixing the transfer portal–all these things need to be addressed.”
Mark Few Agrees with John Calipari’s Transfer Portal Fix
In light of Braeden Smith & Jalen Warley redshirting for a year before being on active roster, Few called out the Congress and media members who claim it is “damaging” for student-athletes to sit out a year after transfer.
“You should get one transfer, and you don’t have to sit that first [year],” Few advocated for a change of rule in the transfer portal to help fix the issue of roster turnover. “Anything after that, no matter what happens, you need to sit a year. It could be the best thing for your career, we’ve had many of our redshirts go on to have incredible NBA careers. In many ways it helps.”
John Calipari has been pitching a similar solution for a while, and even voicing concerns regarding the impact of multiple transfers on the mental health of the players.
“We’ve got to say, you’ve got five years, to play four,” Calipari recently said at SEC Media Day. “If we get those two things in order, we’re on the path to being better. They should be able to transfer. Once without penalty. After that, you can transfer, just you have to sit out.”
Tom Izzo has also been vocal about his disapproval about certain elements of the transfer portal fiasco, especially how it allows “middlemen” with ulterior motives to step in and compromise students’ potential future.
