Pargo learns to share, and Gonzaga reaps benefits

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. -- Early June, FedExForum in Memphis, Jeremy Pargo had just finished a workout with the Grizzlies, and he was getting ready to shower and head to the next city on his nationwide tour in advance of the NBA draft.

That's how you learn your worth, after all; you go from town to town and let general managers critique you.

Jeremy Pargo now realizes what Mark Few was trying to tell him -- slow it down and see the whole floor. (Getty Images)

So Pargo was sweating and tired after an intense evaluation, but he perked up when Grizz director of player personnel Tony Barone announced that a make from half-court would have the prospect leaving Memphis with a brand-new Lexus.

Barone wasn't serious, of course. The Grizz are a small-market team with a small-market budget. A Bryant "Big Country" Reeves bobblehead was a more likely prize.

But Pargo didn't realize the contest wasn't really a contest. So he grabbed a ball, went to halfcourt, took a couple of dribbles, prepared to shoot and then paused to announce a dilemma that had just occurred to him. Amateur status and all that.

"I might be going back to college," Pargo told Barone. "So if I make it I'm going to need to put this in my brother's name."

As you know, Pargo did go back to college. And that's the main reason the Zags beat Tennessee 83-74 late Sunday in the title game of the Old Spice Classic here at the Milk House, because Pargo went back to college and adjusted his game as much as he did his hairstyle. No longer is he a scorer with a traditional haircut. Now he's a true point guard with a fierce Mohawk, and I think I like this Pargo better than I liked that Pargo.

Mark Few does, too.

"He's one of the premier guards in the country, and this is why he came back, to play in games like this and show that he's a lot better and that he understands the game better," Few said. "He was able to hear things from the decision makers at the next level that reinforced what we were telling him."

And really, that's the key.

Pargo spent the summer hearing the same thing over and over again, that there is little need in the NBA for 6-foot-2 scoring guards, that if he wants to ever play in that league he had better show he can run a team, and if that means scoring less, well, that would be fine. And guess what? He listened, proof being how Pargo -- the reigning West Coast Conference Player of the Year -- ranks sixth in scoring for the Zags.

His points are down.

But nobody cares.