SPOKANE, Wash. — “We’re just a bunch of old dogs now,” Matt Santangelo says, and the other woofers at the table smile and nod. The sun has set on another spectacular summer day in the Pacific Northwest. This is the best time of year to be here, but then again, if you’re an old dog — that is, someone who used to play basketball for the Gonzaga Bulldogs — any day is a good day to be in Spokane. Even in the dead of winter, this city’s passion for the Zags runs hot.



No wonder so many of them are here. They came, they won, they left … and then they came back. Several dozen former players live in Spokane full-time, and many more maintain property here or take extended visits during the summer. A half-dozen have gathered tonight at Jack and Dan’s, the landmark tavern that was founded by the father of the O.G. himself, John Stockton, who — you guessed it — lives here. If you go around the table, you can trace the...