Score! Cd'A man going to Final Four
Ryan Collingwood Staff Writer | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 7 years, 9 months AGO
Johnstun
Traversing though Utah in early March, Jerry Johnstun made a pit stop in Beaver, a three-hour shot up Interstate 15 from Las Vegas.
The Coeur d'Alene man had just left Cedar City for a work-related trip. The night before, Gonzaga had captured another West Coast Conference tournament title in Sin City.
When Johnstun stepped into a gas station that doubled as a Wendy's, he spotted an elderly couple draped in Bulldogs garb, assuming they were also making the trek north.
"Go Zags," Johnstun said.
That sentiment triggered a short conversation with the couple who, by happenstance, were the parents of head coach Mark Few.
"As I was leaving I said 'Hey, I'll see you at the Final Four," Johnstun recalled.
He wasn't lying.
The 64-year-old college hoops fan was recently selected by the NCAA Final Four's ticket lottery, scoring four coveted tickets for the games in Phoenix.
He leaves today, where he'll be meeting his brother and two Boise friends hoping to watch Gonzaga best South Carolina on Saturday to face either Oregon or North Carolina for the national title Monday.
"It's kind of the nose-bleed section," said Johnstun. who paid for the tickets a year ago before being picked recently in the NCAA's lottery ticket system.
Johnstun prepped at Timberline High in Wieppe in the the late 1960s before playing on the University of Idaho's freshman basketball team.
He'd seen Gonzaga play live just twice: As a freshman watching the varsity Vandals lock up with the Bulldogs, and in the early 1980s when John Stockon's GU club took on Idaho in Moscow.
When he sees the Zags play live again, they'll be playing on college hoops' biggest stage.
Johnstun said his Gonzaga interest blossomed in the late 1990s when spring-heeled forward Casey Calvary was on the squad, helping the Bulldogs make their initial NCAA Tournament runs.
"I went to school with (Calvary's) mom in Pierce, Idaho," he said. "That's when I really started getting into them."
Johnstun plans to do a little golfing in Phoenix, some sightseeing and plans to take in the NCAA All-Star games.
"On Monday I'll be watching Gonzaga and UNC play it out for the national title,” Johnstun said. “That's my prediction."
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