SALT LAKE CITY — A former Gonzaga Bulldog may be reunited with the Zags on Saturday, but as a coach this time, not a player.
Former Bulldog Rem Bakamus, who graduated from Gonzaga in 2017, currently serves as a graduate assistant coach with the Baylor Bears, who will face Gonzaga if both teams win their first-round games.
"I'm excited to see Coach Few," Bakamus said. "I don't know if he's as excited to see me."
The former Bulldogs guard said he did not know how to react to the news that he may face his former team.
"I always had this feeling we were going to end up with this kind of match up," Bakamus said. "But, it's just a little weird if I see those guys on the other side of the court."
He also said he had been texting with Coach John Jakus, who served as the Director of Basketball Operations at Gonzaga during Bakamus' playing career, who now also serves as an assistant coach at Baylor.
"We just knew it, I don't know why. We had that feeling," Bakamus said.
The Bulldogs come in as a No. 1 seed, and Bakamus said he has watched all of Gonzaga's games,and he feels that they are the best team in the country on offense.
"They are a scary, scary team this time of year," he said. "Especially coming off of a loss, they are very, very dangerous."
Bakamus said he misses his playing days as a Bulldog, and that he reached out to Jakus for a coaching position so he could stay close the game he loves.
His time with Baylor has been different, but he has grown to like his time in Waco so far.
"It's been great for me," he said. "I got to learn from a great staff at Gonzaga and now here at Baylor."
He plans to keep coaching, he said, and sees his time at Baylor as a sort of coaching try-out in Baylor. He wants to continue coaching for as long as he can.
"It's definitely what I want to do, and coming here has definitely helped that decision," Bakamus said. "I'm going to chase the dream forever now."