Anton Watson only knows Gonzaga basketball.
He grew up watching the team in Spokane, attended Gonzaga Prep High School in Spokane, and started playing at the university in Spokane two years ago. Yes, there's a clear pattern here.
And who could blame the 6-foot-8, sophomore forward for wanting to stay at home in eastern Washington? The Bulldogs are one of college basketball's perennial powerhouses, in spite of the mid-major conference they play in. Plus, Watson and his teammates are currently chasing perfection and immortality on the game's biggest stage.
With two more wins in the NCAA Tournament, Gonzaga (30-0) would become the eighth undefeated national champion in Division I men's history, and the first team to accomplish the feat since 1976 (32-0 Indiana).
"[Playing through COVID] was honestly difficult at first, but I think the coaches really helped with that, just keeping us focused," Watson told the JR SportBrief show on Wednesday. "I know at the beginning of the season, we didn't really know if we were about to play, and last year got cut short before March Madness. So, [head coach Mark] Few just kept telling us, 'We're going to play this year.' He told us that right from the beginning. 'We're going to play, we're going to make it happen.' And I think that just went to everyone's head, and we just have the mindset to go win it all...
"I don't think Coach Few is a big fan of social media, so he has no problem blocking out [the outside noise]. There's a lot of talk about who we play, the whole season, and our conference. But I don't think it matters now. We've made it to the Final Four. So, I think that's all that matters. It's whoever is the last team to win it all."
On Saturday night (8:34 p.m. ET tip-off) in Indianapolis, top-seeded Gonzaga will face UCLA, which became the fifth No. 11 seed to ever reach the Final Four and just the second team to go from the First Four to the Final Four.
The Bulldogs didn't experience any traffic on their road to the Final Four. In four West region games, they averaged 88 points on offense, with an average margin of victory of 23 points. On top of that, they've won 29 of their 30 games by 10-plus points, and had at least four double-digit scorers in 25 games.
The entire conversation between Watson and JR can be accessed in the audio player above.
You can follow the JR SportBrief show on Twitter @JRSportBrief and Tom Hanslin @TomHanslin.