Ferris' Sean Mallon Signs With Bulldogs
Men's basketball lands top Spokane recruit

Nov. 14, 2001

SPOKANE, Wash. -

Sean Mallon, a 6-8 forward from Spokane's Ferris High, signed a letter-of-intent Wednesday to play basketball at Gonzaga University next year.

"His signing means everything to this program. It means we are now able to recruit on the elite level. He was recruited by the most prestigious schools in America, he was able to say no and say he wanted to come to GU," Gonzaga head coach Mark Few said. "It allows us to keep a local player at home, and better than all of that he's just a great fit for our program and what we need."

Mallon averaged 19.5 ppg and 10.0 rpg last season for the Saxons, Washington State Class 4A State Tournament runner-up. Ferris and Mallon, coached by the late Wayne Gilman who passed away this past spring following the State Tournament run, finished 25-4 overall, third in the District 8 tourney and first in the Region IV tournament. He was named MVP of the State Tournament while averaging 21.8 ppg and 12.8 rpg in the four games.

He was named to the All-Greater Spokane League first team and was the only junior on the All-State team.

As a sophomore he averaged 18 ppg for the Saxons, who went 23-5 overall, won the Region IV tournament and went 1-2 in the State Tournament.

"He's very versatile and skilled for a big player. He has a great feel for the game, shoots it well and is highly competitive. Those are great attriubtes to have for this game, and ones we'll use down the road," Few said.

Few said it is important to keep the local players at Gonzaga.

"It's important to get very, very good players, and Sean is a very good player. With our program at the level it is now at, it's important to keep the local kids at Gonzaga. This is a perfect example of being able to do that," Few said.

Few said the Bulldogs could have as many as two more signees during the current week-long early signing period.