SPOKANE, Wash. — The Gonzaga men's basketball team is on its way to San Francisco and fans are not far behind.
On Tuesday, the men's team hopped on a charter bus outside the McCarthey Athletic Center and headed out to the airport. In a second bus alongside them was the cheer team, family, band and Gonzaga staff.
Soon to follow is fan Dan Liebhardt.
Liebhardt has lived in Spokane for 12 years and has adopted Gonzaga's men's basketball team as his own.
"I think as a Spokane person, having the Zags being this good is a pretty big deal and it's not going to last forever and it's one of those things I don't want to miss, you can't miss," Liebhardt said.
This isn't Liebhardt's first trip to see the Zags on the road. Liebhardt also went to see the men's team face off against Duke in Las Vegas.
"It was a great game," Liebhardt said. "I'm hoping the two will see each other again in the Elite 8 this weekend. That is a match up I'd be looking forward to."
Also looking ahead to this weekend in California is fan Rick Clark
Clark has a special relationship with Gonzaga, being a 2019 alum after going back to school at 44.
"I was a drop out," Clark said. "But I wanted to re-dedicate myself to getting an education that would help me break the cycle of poverty my family experienced."
Gonzaga gave the Spokane-native an opportunity to attend the university of his dreams and on a $34,000 scholarship. Being a student, Clark was able to go to games and stand in the student section. That's when he learned how big Gonzaga fans truly were.
"It was so fun," Clark said. "And that just took the excitement to a whole 'nother level."
Now graduated, Clark started a non-profit for people in the community experiencing homelessness called 'Giving Back-Packs.' Clark said that after giving a presentation in Gonzaga player Rasir Bolton's class on name, image and likeness and how to use that to help the community, Bolton wanted to help out the cause.
Clark and Bolton began to build their friendship through working on the non-profit together. Now, Bolton's family is offering to give Clark a chance to travel with the team during March Madness.
“They’ve invited me to some of the other games in the tournament so I got to go to the Portland games and then they said 'Hey Rick, can you make it to San Francisco? We’ve got a ticket for you,'' Clark said. "And so I said I could find a way to make it to San Francisco."
Clark said his first time in a stadium bigger than the McCarthey Athletic Center was the Moda Center in Portland.
"I got goosebumps," Clark said. "Then, watching Timme go insane in the second half of that last game brought tears to my eyes. A grown man, almost crying because of basketball."
Clark said on the road to California, his entire carry-on will be Gonzaga gear, including several shirts he'll post online and ask his Facebook followers to choose from. He said it's one of his game traditions.
"I'm not superstitious, but a lot of people are," Clark said. "Since the Zags won the last two games, people want to be a part of picking out my t-shirt. I'm having fun with it so I'll post it and let them decide and we'll see what happens," Clark said.
Thursday, when the Zags take on Arkansas, Liebhardt and Clark will be in the building, hoping to see the team advance to the Elite 8.