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Corey Violette loves seafood. In fact, each summer the Gonzaga University basketball player comes “home” to Maine to spend a few weeks at the family cottage on Portage Lake to see family and for a little home cooking.
“I just hang out in the outdoors. Go out fishing and [water] skiing. And I eat a lot of seafood. I gotta have some lobstah,” Violette said putting on a “Murder She Wrote,” Cabot Cove accent.
Violette was born in Gray and lived in the state until he was about 7. His father, Michael, is from Madawaska and mother, Mary Ellen, is from Ashland. Violette’s grandmother, Theresa Violette, still lives in Madawaska and his grandparents, Edward and Geneva Morin, live in Ashland.
His mother’s sister, Pat Lyons, is the principal of Hermon Elementary School and lives in Hampden. An uncle, Dr. Mark Morin, lived in Hampden until relocating to North Dakota last month.
After a move from Maine to Rhode Island, Violette’s father, an electrical engineer (degree earned at UMaine), took his family west to a job with Micron in Boise, Idaho, when Corey was about 13.
Violette, a sophomore at the Spokane, Wash.,-based university, has grown a bit since then. He was the Idaho Class A-2 player of the year his senior year at Bishop Kelly High School and was a second team all-state selection his sophomore and junior years.
He’s now a 6-foot-8, 255 pound power forward for the Zags and he is earning national notoriety. During last week’s West Coast Conference championship game against Pepperdine, Violette scored all of his 16 points in the first half to keep Gonzaga in the game while All-American guard Dan Dickau struggled with just two points.
“That was an interesting game because the middle was wide open. And I kept getting the ball. But Dan got it going in the second half,” Violette said.
Indeed. Dickau scored 27 points in the second half and Gonzaga won the conference tournament.
But back to Violette. He has a reputation, according to ESPN announcer Chris Marlowe who called the game, of being something of a black hole. Meaning whenever he gets the ball the next action is a shot and his guards, Dickau and Blake Stepp (24 points vs. Pepperdine), don’t get it back. Violette laughs at the notion.
“Against Pepperdine I was so wide open. But the guards sometimes give me a hard time. It’s good natured,” he explained.
It’s easy for Violette and company to laugh about things. These are good times for Gonzaga. Previously known as the school that produced Utah Jazz star John Stockton, Gonzaga has become America’s NCAA tournament darling the last three years. It is the little school that could, having reached the tourney’s Sweet 16 the last two years. That success was no fluke and neither are the team’s 29-3 record and a No. 6 ranking in the polls this year.
“The team chemistry is great,” Violette said. “And we have a lot of ways to hit people. In the first game of the [conference] tournament we had [five] guys in double figures.”
Violette, an electrical engineering major, was heavily recruited by western schools. Once he stepped on the Gonzaga campus he knew where he was going to play college basketball.
“I had seen the runs they’d made [in the NCAA tournament]. When I went up there on a visit, the guys were good guys I could really relate to. I got a chance to play with them in an open gym pick-up game,” Violette said.
After a season playing behind graduated All-American Casey Calvary, Violette is averaging almost 13 points and eight rebounds per game. He can run the floor on the break and is not bashful about shooting and will attempt 3-pointers. Violette so impressed ESPN’s Marlowe, who watched him for the entire tournament, that the announcer predicted Violette would have a longer NBA-career than Dickau. Marlowe explained that he wasn’t slighting the guard but Violette had a well-rounded game that included size, (Dickau is listed at 6-1 but appears to be smaller), quickness and strength.
“That’s very flattering. Dan’s a phenomenal player. And he’s a good guy. For as much attention as he gets, he stays right down to earth. That’s pretty amazing,” Violette said.
The Zags didn’t receive as high a seeding as they had hoped for going into the NCAA tournament. Prior to Sunday night’s selection show, Violette said a third seed would be good. Instead the selection committee awarded Gonzaga with a sixth seed. They were also sent to the toughest region in the tourney, the West. Five other conference champions await them, including Thursday’s first-round opponent Wyoming, champs of the Mountain West Conference.
“Potentially our team is dangerous because of the different ways we can hit you. We believe every shot is going in,” Violette said.
Violette said he missed his family’s annual return to the state last summer, opting instead for the weight room and gym at Gonzaga. But he plans to return this year.
“I’m going to try to get back there this summer. I’ve got to get some seafood,” he laughed.
Don Perryman can be reached at 990-8045, 1-800-310-8600 or dperryman@bangordailynews.net
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