The Gonzaga Bulldogs have two exhibition games on the calendar leading up to the 2022-23 season. The Zags secured a bout with Rick Barnes’ SEC champion Tennessee Volunteers on October 28, and in addition they will host Warner Pacific University for their final tuneup before the start of the regular season. The game is scheduled for November 2 and will be in Spokane at The Kennel.
Warner Pacific is an NAIA school located in Portland, and their Athletic Director – Matt Gregg – is the father of Gonzaga forward Ben Gregg.
With the two exhibitions finalized, Gonzaga fans are waiting on one more game during the non-conference slate to be revealed. The opponent for Gonzaga’s final non-conference game is unlikely to be on par with the Kentucky’s and Texas’ in the world, and is probably going to take place in the long gap between Montana (12/20) and the first game of the WCC season against Pepperdine on 12/31.
Gonzaga’s exhibition contests have historically come against schools like Warner Pacific, and the connection with the Gregg family makes this a slam dunk decision to get on the calendar.
Few will now have an exhibition game to really see what his team is made of against one of the best teams in the country, and another to give some of his younger, still developing players a chance to familiarize themselves with the offense in a live game setting.
Andy hosts the Locked on Zags and Locked on College Basketball podcasts, and serves Locked On in a marketing/digital content creator role as well. He lives just outside Portland with his wife Jenna and dog, Tillie.