Edwards reflects on Gonzaga's Final Four odyssey

“Unbelievable.”

It’s a word Kalispell’s Ryan Edwards uttered a lot when trying to describe last weekend’s experience as a member of the Gonzaga men’s basketball team at the Final Four in Glendale, Arizona.

“It was hard to picture,” Edwards said. “‘Are we really going to the national championship?’ This is stuff you dream about as a kid. It still hasn’t quite sunk in. We were just in the national championship. It’s honestly unbelieveable. That feeling was great.”

Edwards, a 2013 Glacier High School graduate, and the Bulldogs were a few missed shots from knocking off perennial power North Carolina to win the school’s first national championship, falling to the Tar Heels 71-65 in the title game. But, Gonzaga led with less than two minutes to play and was within one point with as late as 26 seconds to play.

The run, the deepest in Gonzaga history, is part of a sterling period that Edwards has been around for, which includes two Sweet 16 appearances and an Elite Eight.

“We felt really good,” Edwards said. “We liked what we saw from the beginning and it fell in place.”

Placed as the top seed in the West bracket, Gonzaga gutted out wins over South Dakota State and Northwestern in the first two rounds in Salt Lake City. The Bulldogs slugged through a tough matchup with West Virginia in San Jose, California to return to the Elite Eight for the second time in Edwards’ career, when they got the benefit of an upset on the other side of the bracket, facing off with 11th-seeded Xavier.

Gonzaga rolled Xavier, leading by 20 points midway through the second half on the way to an 83-59 victory to advance to the first Final Four in school history. To cap off the victory, Gonzaga coach Mark Few put in the entire bench, including Edwards, to ride out the last minute of the win.

“It was cool,” Edwards said. “It was only like 48 seconds or something like that. Nothing crazy. It was stilll cool to go out there. My brother was out there, so him seeing me on the court was pretty cool.”

The celebration greeted the Bulldogs in Spokane shortly after the team arrived back on campus.

“It was unbelievable,” Edwards said. “We got back at 12 (midnight) and there was 300 people sitting outside of our gym. It’s just crazy. The community around here is one of a kind.

“We only went back to class for a day and a half. I only have one class on Mondays. I walked in and people started clapping. I was like, ‘Holy cow. This is crazy.’

“I only went to one class because we left early for the Final Four, but everywhere you go people are saying congratulations.”

Gonzaga arrived in Phoenix early to an entirely new tournament experience. Even more than the earlier round of the NCAA tournament, there are a string of media availabilites, photo shoots, pep rallies and banquets to attend for every team at the Final Four.

“We were there for three days before we played,” Edwards said.

“For two and a half days we felt like superstars. It felt like, ‘Is this really real life?’ All the stuff they were giving us and all the things we were doing. It was kind of hard to focus in on what the main job was, which was to win the national championship.

“It was tough, because we had to keep focusing in on the game with all the stuff we were doing. In my free time, I was able to go see my family. It was tough.

“But when it got to Friday night, we said it’s time to go now. Turn your phones off, dial in on what you need to do and get the job done on Saturday. That was our mindset. Enjoy it, enjoy the process, but when it comes to Friday night we had to hone in and focus on what we needed to do.”

Even the playing court is different at the Final Four. While the old “Hoosiers” scene would still ring true about the height of the baskets and the length of the court, there is little else that resembles a normal arena. The Final Four was played in University of Phoenix Stadium, designed to host the NFL’s Arizona Cardinals, not a more modestly sized court.

“The backdrop is so far behind,” Edwards said. “I airballed my first three shots (in practice) and I was like, ‘What is going on?’ Once you figure it out — because there’s nothing behind you, it’s kind of hard to get the depth perception right on the hoop — once you figure it out, it became muscle memory again.

To illustrate the size difference, Gonzaga’s McCarthey Athletic Center holds 6,000 unruly fans. The Final Four held more than 10 times that amount.

“We practiced in there the day before, it was completely empty and just seeing that was crazy,” Edwards said. “Walking on the floor and seeing 78,000 people was a sight I’ve never seen in my life. It was so many people.

“We came out and there was fire with red and blue flames. It was really cool. It was quite the production.”

While the final score didn’t pan out in the Zags favor, there is little doubt about the accomplishment of getting that far.

“We were one minute away from the national championship,” Edwards said. “It hurts.

“What we’ve done for the community, Spokane and Gonzaga in general, is crazy. Everyone is so happy here. No matter where we go people are saying congratulations, it’s great.

“It was very emotional in the lockerroom. We realize what we did was very special ... They threw a little pep rally for us. Even though we aren’t quite to the stage where we can accept it, we still know other people are happy for us.”

Now, with the season complete, Edwards is transitioning back from Bulldogs reserve center to being a 7-foot-1 broadcast and public relations major.

“I went to five classes in the month of March,” Edwards said.

“I was so far behind it was ridiculous. I went to class today and was wondering, ‘What are we learning?’

“Getting back in the loop of things is crazy. But it’s nice because now we don’t have to deal with three hours of practice and lift every day. We get to focus on our school work for the next few weeks and get back dialed in.”

The future is still uncertain for Edwards. He will graduate from Gonzaga in May, still holding a year of eligibility on the court. He said he is undecided on playing another season or heading into the workforce.

Until then, he’ll be focusing on finishing his degree and recovering from an unbelieveable experience.

“It was a long season,” Edwards said. “We went the full distance you could. I don’t even play a whole lot but I do all the practices and stuff. It really puts a toll on your body. It will be nice to get a break for sure.”