Key piece of Gonzaga's success, Kyle Wiltjer exceeds expectations

George Schroeder | USA TODAY Sports

SPOKANE, Wash. — It's nothing more than sheer coincidence that the coaches were sitting together at a summer basketball tournament, each wondering if the other had heard anything, when first one phone and then the other buzzed. John Calipari got the bad news — which meant when Mark Few got the call a moment later, he already knew the good news:

After two seasons at Kentucky and several weeks of introspection, Kyle Wiltjer had made up his mind. He was transferring to Gonzaga, and he wanted to make sure and "do it the right way."

"I just made sure to talk to 'Cal' first," Wiltjer says of that day in July 2013. "I just gave him a call and said, 'Hey, I think I'm gonna go to Gonzaga. I think it's gonna be a great fit for me.' "

Twenty months later, if the fit seems nearly perfect — Wiltjer is one of 15 finalists for the Wooden Award as the national player of the year — it's more than just a change of scenery. A contributor on a national championship squad as a freshman at Kentucky, Wiltjer was the SEC's sixth man of the year as a sophomore. But he has emerged as a star at Gonzaga.

But the transfer included a transformation. Wiltjer spent the NCAA's required redshirt year working closely with Gonzaga's strength staff to redefine his body and his game. He'd seen the metamorphosis of former Gonzaga standout Kelly Olynyk during a redshirt season — from scrub to star — and though they're different players, the principle was the same.

"You have a whole year to work on your weaknesses," Wiltjer says. "We're very different players, but we took a similar approach. We both bought in and said, 'Hey, I'm willing to do whatever.' "

For Wiltjer, that meant a back-to-basics regimen that included endless drills designed to build core and lower-body strength and to improve his lateral mobility, with the goal of developing an interior game to go with his perimeter shooting. A year later, the changes are obvious; Wiltjer's frame remains 6-10 and 240 pounds, but it's at least a little more chiseled. And where he tended to linger near the three-point line while at Kentucky — to be fair, it was essentially what he was asked to do — he is clearly more comfortable around the basket on both ends of the floor. But as important, according to Few, as the added physical ability, might be Wiltjer's newfound — or maybe it's hard-earned — confidence.

"Probably more than anything, there's been a mental transformation," Few says. " 'Hey, I can play like I'm 6-10,' you know? 'I can move my feet a little bit. I can get up and protect the rim a little bit. I can get these physically contested rebounds and take a hit down low and deliver,' and all of that."

Either way, or both, the results are obvious. Wiltjer averages 16.6 points and 5.8 rebounds and converts almost 45% of his three-point tries. Though he took a scary tumble Saturday night in a West Coast Conference tournament quarterfinal victory against San Francisco, hurting his left hip, a Gonzaga spokesman says it's "nothing serious" and describes Wiltjer's status as "day-to-day."

That's a good thing, because the junior forward is expected to be a key cog in Gonzaga's annual quest for a run deep into March.

"He's exceeded expectations," Few says, "and even more so than after watching him through his redshirt year. But he's just a piece of this deal."

While Wiltjer was named Saturday as a Wooden Award finalist, the West Coast Conference's player of the year award went to Zags senior guard Kevin Pangos, who is Gonzaga's most valuable player. Almost as important are backcourt mates Gary Bell and Byron Wesley, a senior transfer from Southern California. And Wiltjer is part of a front-line rotation that, with Przemek Karnowski and Domantas Sabonis, already features two powerful big men.

Their combined support makes it much easier for Wiltjer to play his enhanced game. Still, his 45-point outburst Feb. 19 against Pacific is telling. The performance was a combination of dazzling inside moves and silky perimeter jumpers that showed off his full potential as a dominant scorer. It was the first 40-point game by a Zag since Adam Morrison in 2005-06, and it was more points than Morrison ever scored in a game during his prolific college career.

"I couldn't believe hearing his name and my name in the same sentence," Wiltjer said. "That was pretty cool."

And it was evidence of Wiltjer's vast potential being realized.

He might have supplied the last piece to a formidable lineup, but as a "stretch four," using the terminology now in vogue to indicate a power forward who is a skilled perimeter shooter, Wiltjer can cause defenses extreme duress. That's especially true with his new ability to mix it up inside.

The comparisons to Morrison and to Olynyk will continue. They're imperfect — Morrison played a different position, and Olynyk played a more physical game — but still apt. Wiltjer is a better perimeter shooter than Olynyk. His ability to create shots is reminiscent of Morrison. So is his confidence, which Few says was built during the redshirt season, but also came with Wiltjer from his experience at Kentucky.

"Playing at Kentucky, I think, gives him a little bit of swag that he brings," Few says. "It's, 'Hey, I've been here, done that."

And what if he had stayed at Kentucky? Wiltjer says he hasn't contemplated what might have happened. If he has a regret, it's that he didn't play better near the end of his sophomore season, when the Wildcats missed the NCAA tournament and were dumped in the first round of the NIT.

"I know we had some bad losses," he says, "but I wish we had made the (NCAA) tournament, because I think we would have made a run."

It's easy to project, given the Wildcats' constant roster replenishment with future NBA players, that he might have continued in the same reserve role as a perimeter scorer and wouldn't have developed into an all-around player. He says he might have asked Calipari to redshirt in Lexington.

"I really thought I needed a year to work on my game," he says.

Greg Wiltjer says much of his son's confidence has to do with his new role with a new program.

"I see him having fun, having the confidence to stay out there and knowing, 'If I miss a shot, the best players in the world miss shots,'" says Greg Wiltjer, a 7-footer who played at Oregon State and, like Kyle, was a member of the Canadian national team. "It's innate confidence that 'I'm here, I'm in the right place, I'm contributing to this wonderful Gonzaga basketball team.'"

What comes next? With a business degree in hand, Wiltjer is pursuing a master's. Though he's got another year of eligibility left, and seems likely to remain for his senior season, he says he hasn't contemplated the long-term yet. For right now, and always for Gonzaga, the question is about March.

With Wiltjer, Karnowski and Sabonis, the Zags' front line measures up, literally and figuratively, with any other in college basketball. Which brings up a possibility that's tantalizing on several levels: What if, somewhere in the NCAA Tournament, Gonzaga played Kentucky?

Wiltjer remains close to several players, including Willie Cauley-Stein and Alex Poythress. And he retains affection for Kentucky's passionate fan base that appears to be a mutual thing – perhaps because of the way he left the program.

"It would be amazing to meet them in Indy (for the Final Four)," Wiltjer says. "They're a very talented team. We would love the challenge."

The Zags might be up to the challenge. Of course, that presumes a deep run through March and into April – which hasn't been a part of the Gonzaga basketball success story. They're a probable No. 2 seed, but they'll be doubted unless and until they chew through a bracket. With Wiltjer's arrival and transformation, Gonzaga might just have the ingredients to alter that narrative.

"I think our best basketball is ahead," he says. "This team is really good. We're really balanced. The thing I like about our squad is, every player brings something different. That's how it was when we won the championship (at Kentucky). Everyone brought something unique.

"I think we've all bought in. … This team could be special. Right now, it's all talk. Now we have to go when it really matters and ball out."