Few gets his Hall of Fame moment tonight

From news and wire services

Fans can watch Gonzaga head coach Mark Few take his place among basketball's legends tonight when the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame welcomes its Class of 2026 in Springfield, Mass.

The 2026 Hall of Fame Enshrinement Ceremony is set for 4 p.m. today on NBA TV, with a replay at 9 p.m.

Fans can watch NBA TV through participating cable and satellite providers, as well as streaming services including YouTube TV and FuboTV. NBA TV is also available digitally through NBA League Pass and other NBA TV subscription options.

Few was announced as a member of the 2026 Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame Class in April, becoming the first Gonzaga head coach to receive the honor.

Few has spent more than three decades at Gonzaga and more than 25 years as the Bulldogs' head coach, building the program into one of the most successful in college basketball history. He began his Gonzaga coaching career as a graduate assistant in 1989 and became head coach in 1999.

Since taking over the program, Few has guided Gonzaga to unprecedented success, including 27 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances, 23 West Coast Conference regular-season championships and 21 WCC Tournament titles. His teams have advanced to the NCAA Tournament's Sweet 16 13 times, the Elite Eight five times and the national championship game twice.

Gonzaga reached the national championship game in 2017 and again in 2021, when the Bulldogs entered the championship game undefeated at 31-0. Few's teams have also produced numerous NBA players and helped establish Gonzaga as a nationally prominent program.

Few's accomplishments have extended beyond Gonzaga. He served as an assistant coach for the United States men's basketball team at the 2024 Paris Olympics, helping the Americans win a gold medal.

OTHER INDUCTEES

Dawn Staley and the 1996 Olympic women's basketball team paved the way for the WNBA and players such as Candace Parker, Elena Delle Donne and Chamique Holdsclaw.

The team that started the Americans' 30-year Olympic dominance will be enshrined today, along with Parker, Delle Donne and Holdsclaw. Along with Few, they will be joined by NBA player Amar’e Stoudemire, longtime NBA official Joey Crawford, and NBA coaches Doc Rivers and Mike D’Antoni.

“It's taken a long time for that particular team that set the stage for everything that's happened since,” Staley said. “There were players that came before us that didn't strike while the iron was hot. I thought we struck when the iron was hot and provided a way for us to see professional basketball come into existence after. Then for the last 30 years we've had it. ”

Parker and Delle Donne were young, but remembered that Olympic team and its importance.

“The '96 (team) inspired an entire generation of women,” Parker said. “They were the catalyst for all of women's sports to me and professional leagues to go around for an entire year, commit and understand that it’s like gold or nothing and for them to come away with the gold in the fashion they did with the great amount of eyeballs."

It's the second consecutive year that a stellar class of women will be enshrined in the Hall of Fame as Sue Bird, Maya Moore and Sylvia Fowles were inducted in 2025. Parker won three titles in the WNBA with three different teams: Los Angeles, Chicago and Las Vegas. She is the only player in league history to win both the MVP and Rookie of the Year in the same season.

She also won two titles while playing in college for Tennessee under Hall of Fame coach Pat Summitt, plus two Olympic gold medals and two WNBA MVP awards.

Delle Donne won two league MVP awards in 2015 and 2019, the second of which came when she led the Washington Mystics to their lone WNBA championship. Delle Donne became the first player in league history to shoot more than 50% from the field, 40% from behind the 3-point line and 90% from the free-throw line.

Holdsclaw won three straight titles at Tennessee from 1996-98, the first team to accomplish that. The 1998 championship was Tennessee’s first undefeated season at 39–0 and the Vols also set an NCAA record for the most wins in a season. Holdsclaw went on to have an 11-year WNBA career.

Crawford’s numbers were incredible: He officiated more than 2,500 regular-season games, nearly 400 more in the postseason and 50 of those were in the NBA Finals during his 39-year career.

Rivers won 1,194 regular-season games as an NBA coach, which is the sixth most in league history. He also led the Celtics to a championship in 2008.

Stoudemire, who was the only NBA player in this year’s class, was the NBA Rookie of the Year in 2003 and six-time All-Star. He spent the first eight years of his career with the Phoenix Suns, where he teamed with D’Antoni.

Few has won more than 770 games at Gonzaga in his career at the school. He set the NCAA Division I men’s coaching record by winning 81 games in his first three years with the Zags.

CELTICS REUNION

Rivers believes his last great coaching feat was to get Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen and Paul Pierce to present him at the Hall of Fame ceremony Saturday night. The trio led Boston to the 2008 championship that Rivers coached. Garnett and Allen had issues when the sharpshooter left in 2012 to join LeBron James in Miami. They officially made up in 2022 at Garnett's jersey retirement ceremony which Allen attended.

“Those three in particular have had their ups and downs now and the fact that all three agreed to be together on the stage is just absolutely amazing,” Rivers said. “It wasn’t hard. That’s what was so shocking. it wasn’t hard. All three of them immediately, and I called separately they all were quick to be at it.”

MISSING PAT

Holdsclaw and Parker both know that their Hall of Fame coach from Tennessee is smiling down on them as the pair of Lady Vols greats will get inducted together. Summitt passed away in 2016 following a battle with Alzheimer’s.

"I think Coach definitely wrote this in the stars for us to go in, in the same class," Parker said. “So I think she definitely will be around. I know she would be on stage.”

Holdsclaw agreed with Parker on her former mentor.

“She would be so proud of us,” Holdsclaw said.

    Courtesy Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame Gonzaga men's basketball coach Mark Few will be inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame tonight in Springfield, Mass.