Aug. 23—College basketball fans clamoring for a matchup between Gonzaga coach Mark Few and longtime Bulldogs assistant-turned-Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd could get their wish next fall when the West Coast powerhouses compete at the annual Battle 4 Atlantis tournament.
According to a report from CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein, Gonzaga and Arizona are two of the eight teams that have been selected to play at the Nassau, Bahamas-based Battle 4 Atlantis in November of 2024.
The field will also include Creighton, Indiana, Davidson, Oklahoma, West Virginia and Louisville, per Rothstein’s report. No other details, such as dates or official pairings, have been reported.
Few and Lloyd have mutually agreed to avoid scheduling a nonconference series between Gonzaga and Arizona since the latter accepted the Wildcats’ head coaching job prior to the 2021-22 season, but the Battle 4 Atlantis field creates a scenario where the longtime colleagues could meet for the first time as opponents.
The tournament is traditionally held over three days during Thanksgiving week, with opening-round, semifinal and championship games. This fall the Battle 4 Atlantis field features Villanova, Texas Tech, Michigan, Memphis, Arkansas, Stanford, North Carolina, and Northern Iowa.
Gonzaga has played in the tournament twice previously, appearing in 2015 and again in 2019. With the exception of 2020, when it was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Battle 4 Atlantis has been held every season since 2011 with games taking place at Imperial Arena.
Domantas Sabonis’ Bulldogs finished third in 2015, beating in-state rival Washington 80-64 and losing to Texas A&M 62-61 in the semifinal round before closing out tournament play with a 73-70 victory over UConn in the consolation game.
The Zags reached the title game in 2019, beating Southern Miss 94-69 in the opener and clipping Oregon 73-72 in the semifinals to set up a title-game matchup against Michigan, which cruised past GU for an 82-64 victory.
Along with a potential Few vs. Lloyd matchup, the 2024 tournament could feature a variety of intriguing storylines.
New Gonzaga point guard Ryan Nembhard spent the first two seasons of his career at Creighton — one of the eight teams in the Atlantis field — before entering the transfer portal and choosing the Bulldogs over Arizona. Nembhard, not widely considered a first- or second-round pick in the 2024 NBA draft, will have the option to return to school in 2024-25 for his senior season.
Gonzaga has NCAA Tournament history with all seven teams in the Atlantis field, losing in consecutive years to Indiana and Davidson in opening-round games. The Bulldogs beat both Oklahoma and Creighton during their run to the 2021 national championship game and clipped West Virginia in the Sweet 16 on their way to the 2017 title game.
The Atlantis tournament will be the centerpiece of yet another challenging nonconference schedule for Gonzaga. The Bulldogs are scheduled to play Kentucky in Seattle as part of a six-year series with the Wildcats, will travel to San Diego State’s Viejas Arena for the second game of a two-year series with the Aztecs and will pay a visit to New York for a nonleague game against UConn at Madison Square Garden.
