Gonzaga University was founded in 1887 by Fr. Joseph Cataldo, a Sicilian-born priest. At one time, Gonzaga went by the nickname of "Fighting Irish" in the 1910s to early 1920s. This name was dropped in 1921 favor of the current "Bulldogs" mascot. Although the school's official mascot is a bulldog, fans and media have long used "Zags" and “Gonzos” as alternate nicknames.
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Gonzaga was an NAIA school from 1947 to 1958,[7][8] when they moved to the NCAA as an independent. They were a charter member of the Big Sky Conference in 1963, the only one of the six without a football program.[9] GU moved over to the West Coast Athletic Conference in the summer of 1979,[10][11][12] and the Big Sky added Nevada,[13] now in the Mountain West Conference. The WCAC was shortened to today's WCC in 1989.[14][15][16]
Men's basketball has been the most successful sport for the Bulldogs. Gonzaga home games have been played at the McCarthey Athletic Center since 2004. The Bulldogs opened the arena with a 100-game win streak, the longest at the time in the NCAA, eventually snapped in February 2007 by the Santa Clara Broncos.
The Bulldogs have established a reputation as one of the strongest consistently great teams in men's college basketball, having played in 22 consecutive NCAA tournaments and ascending to the #1 ranking in both major polls during the 2012–13 season. They are generally reckoned as one of the closest things to a major basketball power in a mid-major conference.[by whom?]
Gonzaga last fielded a varsity football team 83 years ago in 1941.[17][18] From 1892 to 1941 (excluding having no teams from 1894 to 1895 & 1900 to 1906), Gonzaga went 129–99–20.
The university had a strong boxing program and shared the national title with Idaho in 1950 with a team composed of Carl Maxey, Eli Thomas, and Jim Reilly.[36][37] Both Maxey and Thomas were undefeated over the course of the season, and Thomas would go on to win the individual championship after another undefeated season the following year. All three were inducted into Gonzaga's Athletic Hall of Fame, with Maxey and Thomas being inducted in 1988 and Reilly in 1989. Gonzaga dropped the sport in 1952,[38] followed by Idaho in 1954, and the NCAA in 1960.[39] Football star Tony Canadeo boxed during his senior year in 1941 at 175 lb (79 kg)[40] and was named team captain.[41][42]
