LOS ANGELES – Mark Few of Gonzaga University will receive the John R. Wooden Award "Legends of Coaching" Award, presented by Principal Financial Group, in 2025. Coach Wooden's grandson-in-law Craig Impelman was proud to announce Few's selection at the Los Angeles Athletic Club's annual Wooden Award Tip-Off Luncheon today. The event featured the head coaches from Division I men's basketball programs in Southern California.
The "Legends of Coaching" honor recognizes coaches who exemplify Coach Wooden's high standard of coaching success and personal integrity and was adopted by the Wooden Award Steering Committee in 1999. The honorees are selected based on character, success on the court, graduation rate of student-athletes in their basketball program, coaching philosophy, and identification with the goals of the John R. Wooden Award. Few will be presented the honor alongside the 2025 Wooden Award winners presented by Principal on April 11, 2025.
Chairman of the Wooden Award Steering Committee Sam Lagana states, "Coach
Mark Few has been a consistent and significant part of the Wooden Award experience, dating back to his assistant coaching assignment at Gonzaga. Mark has supported the Award and stood with his candidates every step of the way. Coach Wooden had an appreciation for Coach Few, and Coach Few has expressed great regard for Coach Wooden as they shared an emphasis on care for the student-athlete and on the value of competitive greatness.
Mark Few is a wonderful addition to the fraternity of Wooden Award 'Legends of Coaching' recipients."
Mark Few of Gonzaga University is one of the most successful head coaches in NCAA Division I basketball history. His players have made Bulldog basketball a household name across the country from a small city in eastern Washington. He served as an assistant coach at GU for 10 seasons prior to take the reins of the program in 1999. Coach Few has the highest winningest percentage of all coaches at 83.3% (715-143) in his 25 seasons.
In the West Coast Conference, under Few, the Zags have won or shared 22 regular season league titles in his 25 seasons, and Few has coached players to the conference tournament championship 21 times. Gonzaga appeared in the national championship game in 2017 and in 2021. With Few at the helm, GU has appeared in the Elite Eight six times (2015, 2017, 2019, 2021, 2023 and 2024) and in the Sweet 16 13 times (2000, '01, '06, '09, '15, '16, '17, '18, '19, '21, '22, '23 and '24). Few and his wife, Marcy, have raised tens of millions of dollars for cancer research over the last 25 years, including hosting the country's largest Coaches vs. Cancer event, presenting the Ronald McDonald Charities Classic, endowing a weeklong camp for children with cancer, and spearheading the Community Cancer fund in Spokane.
Few has coached numerous Wooden Award All Americans and 21 consensus All-Americans, nine Academic All-Americans, 98 all-conference selections, 17 WCC Players of the Year, 10 league newcomers of the year and nine league defenders of the year. This past summer Few was an assistant coach for head coach Steve Kerr and the gold medal winning Team USA at the Paris Olympics.
John R. Wooden Award Legends of Coaching Honorees
2025
Mark Few, Gonzaga
2024 John Calipari, Kentucky
2023 Dawn Staley, South Carolina
2022 Rick Byrd, Belmont
2021 Dave Yanai, Cal State Dominguez Hills/Los Angeles
2020 C. Vivian Stringer, Rutgers
2019 Lon Kruger, Oklahoma
2018 Jay Wright, Villanova
2017 Muffet McGraw, Notre Dame
2016 Tubby Smith, Texas Tech
2015 Steve Fisher, San Diego State
2014 Tara VanDerveer, Stanford
2013 Bill Self, Kansas
2012 Geno Auriemma, Connecticut
2011 Tom Izzo, Michigan State
2010 Billy Donovan, Florida
2009 Rick Barnes, Texas
2008 Pat Summitt, Tennessee
2007 Gene Keady, Purdue
2006 Jim Boeheim, Syracuse
2005 Jim Calhoun, Connecticut
2004 Mike Montgomery, Stanford
2003 Roy Williams, Kansas
2002 Denny Crum, Louisville
2001 Lute Olson, Arizona
2000 Mike Krzyzewski, Duke
1999 Dean Smith, North Carolina
About the John R. Wooden Award:
Created in 1976, the John R. Wooden Award Program hosts the most prestigious honors in college basketball recognizing The Wooden Award Most Outstanding Player for men and women, The Wooden Award All America Teams for men and women and the annual selection of the Wooden Award Legend of Coaching recipient.
Honorees have proven to their universities that they meet or exceed the qualifications of the John R. Wooden Award as set forth by Coach Wooden and the Wooden Award Steering Committee, including making progress towards graduation and maintaining at least a 2.0 cumulative GPA. Previous winners include Larry Bird ('79), Michael Jordan ('84), Tim Duncan ('97), Kevin Durant ('07), Candace Parker ('07; '08), Maya Moore ('09; '11), Chiney Ogwumike ('14), and last year's repeat recipients, Caitlin Clark of Iowa and Zach Edey of Purdue.
Since its inception, the John R. Wooden Award has contributed nearly one million dollars to the universities' general scholarship fund and nonprofit enterprises in the names of the Wooden Award All American recipients and has sent more than 1,000 underprivileged children to week-long college basketball camps.
The John R. Wooden Award partners with the Special Olympics Southern California (SOSC) each year to host the Wooden Award Special Olympics Southern California Basketball Tournament. The day-long tournament brings together Special Olympics athletes and Wooden Award All Americans and coaches in attendance. It is hosted at the Los Angeles Athletic Club during the John R. Wooden Award Weekend.
The Legends of Coaching Award will be presented along with the Wooden Award Men's and Women's Players of the Year on April 11, 2025. For up-to-date information on the Wooden Award, please go to www.woodenaward.com and follow the Wooden Award on Facebook at www.facebook.com/woodenaward and @WoodenAward on Twitter and Instagram. For more information on Principal Financial Group and its' sponsorship activities, visit: Sports partnerships and sponsorships.
