Drew Timme channeling his inner Dirk Nowiztki and Spider-Man leading Gonzaga to Sweet 16

Drew Timme is passionately leading Gonzaga toward another trip to the Final Four.

Drew Timme showed up for his interview with FanSided in a Spider-Man T-shirt.

“I rock the Spider-Man,” Timme boldly said. “I just love how he is kinda innocent but he just kicks butt so he is always just himself.”

Timme has been his best self kicking butt so far in the NCAA tournament leading Gonzaga back to the Sweet 16 for the 7th straight season with a matchup with 4-seed Arkansas next. Timme has been on fire scoring 57-points on a red hot 23-37 shooting including many off-balance, hand-in-your-face, high-degree-of-difficulty shots that look quite similar to his hero growing up, Dirk Nowitzki.

“I’m a follower of German Jesus Man,” Timme joked. “I really love just the loyalty and swagger he played with. I’m a big loyalty guy and I think that was something that I really looked up to him for just how he stayed so loyal to the city of Dallas and the Mavericks.”

Timme grew up in Richardson, Texas roughly 15 miles north of Dallas rooting for Dirk and the  Mavs. It wasn’t just the loyalty that Nowitzki played with, but even more so the intensity that Timme appreciated and models leading the Zags.

Drew Timme putting his authentic self on display during Gonzaga’s March Madness run

“I think sometimes in sports it’s really hard to show yourself and show how excited you can be about something, how passionate how much something can mean to you,” Timme explained. “That is something that I try to do just to show how much I appreciate all this game has done for me, how much I love it. People call it cocky but it’s just me appreciating the game and the moment.”

Timme is doing his best to appreciate the moment trying to lead the Zags to their first-ever NCAA championship. They have been bridesmaids twice in 2017 and last year losing to Baylor. There are plenty of reasons to believe this is Gonzaga’s time to do it.

“Our uniqueness,” Timme said.  “We are a really great defensive team, especially with a guy like Chet (Holmgren) who is able to protect the rim. I think he is one of the best in the country if not the best at protecting the rim. Our guard play is just amazing. We have a guard like Andrew Nembhard who can really control the offense and the pace but also go get buckets when needed.”

Gonzaga is going to have to do it the hard way to get back to the Final Four. The top four seeds are all still alive in the West Region and a showdown with 2-seed Duke and Mike Krzyzewskicoaching in his final tournament loom.

Whenever the 2022 run is over Timme might be headed to the NBA although many mock draft boards have him as a second-round pick and he does have another year of eligibility left. The skeptics are nothing new and Timme will not change his game to prove a point to NBA scouts.

“I’m always working on my game trying to better myself,” Timme said. “Coming into college a lot of people said I wouldn’t even sniff the court or play at all or even make it. I just tell them to look at what I have done so far and tell me I can’t do something else at the next level. I’ve always been an underdog my whole life people have always been telling me I can’t do certain things. I just keep being me and if you don’t like it I’m not sorry about it.”

Timme shot only one 3-pointer with a hand in his face versus Memphis and made it. He missed the only 3 he took in the opening round and is averaging less than one 3-point shot per game on the season. The NBA wants to see that he can play pick-and-pop and shoot from distance. They are going to have to wait to see it.

“When you play on a team like this one, I don’t need to shoot the ball I don’t need to shoot 3’s for us to win,” Timme said. “I’ll shoot if I’m open, but I’m such a .. .I guess … good scorer down low if it’s the best thing for our team to win, so that is way more important to me than showing people I can shoot a 3.”

Sounds like SpiderMan in basketball shorts with a splash of Nowitzki. Timme is being loyal and bold in his quest to bring a championship to Gonzaga.

Drew Timme is partnering with Dollar Shave Club the Official Razor of March Madness on what Timme called a “match made in heaven” as their first-ever “chin-fluencer.”  

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