COEUR D'ALENE, Idaho — Gonzaga's head basketball coach Mark Few changed his plea to guilty Friday in connection to a DUI he was charged with in September.
According to court records, Few pleaded guilty to the DUI on Oct. 15. Sentencing documents show Few was ordered to pay a $1,000 fine, complete 24 hours of community service by Feb. 1, 2022 and complete a year of unsupervised probation. Few must also complete an alcohol and drug information class, along with a victim impact class, in the next 90 days. He must also have a ignition interlock system installed in his vehicle. The judge also ordered that his license be suspended for 90 days starting Oct. 6. Few will be given temporary driving privileges starting Nov. 5 to get to and from work.
Court minutes from Few's court appearance, Few's attorney Dennis Thompson said he had already completed the alcohol and drug information class and the victim impact class.
"Mr. Few appears before you very humbled, this was very out of character," Thompson said. "He had spent a long day out in the sun and thought he was ok to drive, but he was not. It's not a mistake that he will make again."
Few later said during his court appearance, "I'm very, very sorry. It won't happen again."
A Coeur d’Alene police officer cited Few for the DUI on Sept. 6 after stopping him at the intersection of North Fourth Street and East Hanley Avenue.
According to the police report, Few was stopped “after he was called in as driving erratic and speeding. Mark exhibited several signs of intoxication. Mark refused to complete field sobriety tests but provided breath samples of 0.119 and 0.120. Mark was issued a citation for driving under the influence.”
Few issued the following statement the next day:
"I believe as a leader and role model, I am expected to set only the best example," he said. "The decisions I made yesterday do not exemplify this standard and for that, I sincerely apologize to you all. I recognize that operating a motor vehicle after consuming any amount of alcohol exhibits poor judgment.
"Regardless of the outcome of the pending investigation, I will never allow such a lapse in judgment to occur again. Please know that I am committed to learning from this mistake and will work to earn back your trust in me.
"I deeply regret disappointing any of the members of the community, the young men and women who comprise my campus community, and the University as a whole. In particular, I am sorry for the hurt that I have caused to those more important to me — my family, my players and my program.
"I am exceedingly grateful to those who continue to offer support to me, especially my wife and children. Thank you."
Few was given a three-game suspension to begin at the start of the Gonzaga basketball season. Few will miss the team's two exhibition games against Eastern Oregon on Oct. 31 and Lewis-Clark State on Nov. 5 and first game of the regular season against Dixie State on Nov. 9.
Few, who has guided Gonzaga to the NCAA tournament in each of his 22 seasons as coach, is the winningest active coach by percentage at .834 (630-125). Under Few, the Zags have appeared in the national championship game twice, in 2017 and 2021.