EWU making ‘a little bit of noise’ while existing in Gonzaga’s shadow

By Benton Smith     Mar 17, 2021

Eastern Washington forward Tanner Groves (35) moves the ball around Montana State forward Jubrile Belo during an NCAA college basketball game for the championship of the Big Sky men's tournament in Boise, Idaho, Saturday, March 13, 2021. Eastern Washington won 65-55. (AP Photo/Otto Kitsinger)

Undefeated and NCAA Tournament favorite Gonzaga isn’t the only successful college basketball program operating out of eastern Washington. There’s also, well, Eastern Washington.

While the Zags have become a March Madness regular and a powerhouse program, EWU, located in Cheney, Wash., just earned its third tournament invite in program history.

The Eagles’ star big man, Big Sky MVP Tanner Groves, was asked this week, ahead of EWU’s first-round meeting with Kansas, whether his team had an opportunity to make its own mark, after living in Gonzaga’s shadow.

“They’ve always been one of the top programs in the country,” Groves said of Gonzaga, which plays in his hometown of Spokane. “But I definitely think with this year and with the past few years that Coach Legs (Shantay Legans) has been the head coach, we’ve had a lot of successful seasons.”

Legans, formerly an assistant at EWU, before becoming the head coach four years ago, had directed the team to a record of 75-48 (.610 winning percentage).

The Eagles reached the Big Sky tournament finals in both 2018 and 2019, and then felt poised to give the program its first NCAA Tournament berth in five years in 2020, when they won the Big Sky regular season title. Of course, the Eagles would have to wait another year, as the COVID-19 pandemic shut down the 2020 college basketball season with the Eagles at 23-8.

“We’re definitely starting to make a little bit of noise,” said Groves, a 6-foot-9, 235-pound junior. “And our goal is definitely to go into the tournament and hopefully pick up a win or two and see how far we can get.”

It’s an approximately 23-minute drive from EWU’s Reese Court, in Cheney, to the Zags’ McCarthey Athletic Center, in Spokane.

While EWU doesn’t have the national brand recognition of Gonzaga, Groves thinks the Eagles are headed in the right direction.

“I definitely think this year and down the road even, we’ll definitely keep improving and growing,” Groves said, “and becoming more well known across the country.”

More stressful tournament experience for Legans

EWU’s fourth-year coach, Legans is no stranger to the NCAA Tournament. His first introduction to the experience came as a player at Cal in 2001. Legans also was an assistant on the last EWU team to make the tournament, in 2015.

Taking the Eagles (16-7) to Indianapolis as the head coach this March, Legans said, brought a “different stress level” than ever before.

“Because now you’re trying to prepare your team. You want your guys to get the most notoriety as possible, you want them to have the best time as possible, the best experience as possible,” Legans explained. “Then you’re also really trying to get ready for a game on Saturday that you want to win more than anything, than any other game you’ve coached in your life.”

The Eagles, after defeating Northern Arizona, Montana and Montana State on consecutive days in Boise, Idaho, earn their invite to the NCAA Tournament by winning the Big Sky tournament, arrived in Indianapolis on Sunday, just in time to settle in and find out their next opponent will be KU (20-8).

“For me, since it’s the view I’m looking at right now, it’s the best view,” Legans said of entering the tournament as a head coach.

Staying in the same hotel as “big-time schools,” Legans said, would add another unique element to his players’ March Madness experience.

“I’m excited for them,” he said. “I’m excited for our university.”

Anniversary for EWU coach

When Legans fielded questions from reporters about EWU during a video conference call on Tuesday, it marked the 20-year anniversary of the first time he got a taste of the NCAA Tournament.

Starting in the backcourt for No. 8 seed Cal in the 2001 tournament, Legans recalled that No. 9 seed Fresno State “whooped our tail,” so he remembers the game for that reason specifically.

He said that introduction taught him, “You’ve got to go out and play as hard as you can.”

Cal returned to The Big Dance in 2002, as a No. 6 seed. Legans helped the Golden Bears defeat Penn in the first round, before their journey ended in the second round, with a loss to Pitt.

EWU in NCAA Tournament

The Eagles are 0-2 all-time in the NCAA Tournament. They made their debut in the national championship field in 2004, when Ray Giacoletti was the head coach. EWU, as a No. 15 seed, lost to Oklahoma State, in Kansas City, Mo., at Kemper Arena.

It would be 11 years before EWU got back in the tournament field. In 2015, led by head coach Jim Hayford, the Eagles received a No. 13 seed and lost to Georgetown, in Portland, Ore.

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