Of all the things Kelly Olynyk experienced during his first season with the Gonzaga Bulldogs, the NCAA tournament ranks at the top.

Olynyk and the Bulldogs had their season end Sunday with an 87-65 loss to the Syracuse Orange in Buffalo, N.Y. The Bulldogs, who were ranked No. 8 in the West Regional, beat the No. 9 Florida State Seminoles 67-60 on Friday, but couldn’t get past the No. 1 Orange and into the Sweet 16.

Just being there was cool, said Olynyk, but he couldn’t hide the disappointment in his voice.

“It was an amazing tournament to be a part of,” said Olynyk, a 6-foot-11 forward, after the Bulldogs flew into Spokane on Sunday night. “There’s around 300 Division 1 teams and only 65 get a chance to be a part of it.

“It’s where stories are made and players are made — it was amazing.”

Olynyk, who graduated from South Kamloops in June, had four points and four rebounds in 15 minutes against Syracuse, after grabbing four boards in 10 minutes against FSU.

“I was all right,” Olynyk said. “There’s always stuff I could do better and there’s always more I could do to help the team.”

In terms of college basketball, there is no bigger event than the NCAA tournament. Olynyk, who at this time last season was leading the South Kamloops Titans to a third-place finish at AAA provincials, enjoyed his time at the tournament, and can’t wait to get back there.

“I’d like to go play in it next week,” said Olynyk, referring to the Sweet 16, with a chuckle. “But I’m excited — it’s something I looked forward to all year. Now that we know what it’s all about, it will be fun in the next couple of years.”

Olynyk and the Bulldogs were the subject of a lot of press attention across Canada leading up to the tournament, especially considering the Zags’ roster features four Canadians — Olynyk, North Vancouver’s Robert Sacre, Vancouver’s Bol Kong and Edmonton’s Manny Arop.

But there was a lot of attention on Olynyk and the Bulldogs all season. Gonzaga wasn’t expected to do much, not with a bunch of unheralded youngsters leading the way.

The Bulldogs got off to a hot start, winning the Maui Invitational in November, and rising to the top-15 in the national rankings. A 76-41 pounding at the hands of the Duke Blue Devils at Madison Square Garden on Dec. 19 brought the Bulldogs back to earth a little, but they went on to win 20 of the next 22, and the West Coast Conference regular-season title.

Gonzaga, which ended up 27-6, couldn’t close out the WCC postseason title, losing 81-62 to the visiting St. Mary’s Gaels on March 8. The loss was the reason Gonzaga got a tougher ranking at the tournament than it expected.

“We had a few expectations at the end,” said Olynyk. “The team, we had expectations that a lot of people didn’t have, so it’s tough to go out like that. But we had a great season and we’ve got to remember the 27 wins . . . and put this one away.”

Olynyk played in all 33 of the Bulldogs games, playing anywhere from one minute to 22. His best game was an 81-78 victory over the host Portland Pilots on Jan. 9, when he made his first three-pointer en route to 13 points, and also grabbed seven rebounds.

He plans to stick around Spokane for at least another month so he can finish his classes. After that, Olynyk doesn’t know what he’ll be up to. He said he’ll be in Kamloops for a couple of weeks during the summer, but likely will be based in Spokane so he can work on his game.

“I’ll be training, weight-lifting and doing individual work,” he said. “I might be in Kamloops for a few weeks here and there — we’ll see how it goes. I’m going to have to work on my game and keep improving.”

mhunter@kamloopsnews.ca