A GRIP ON SPORTS • Today is about loyalty. Commitment. Timing. Money. And how only one of those things really matters in today’s college basketball environment.

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• Life comes at you fast, as an old airline commercial used to proclaim. And it crashed down upon Gonzaga on Saturday morning.

Mario Saint-Supery, the Zags’ starting point guard and a key part of what was expected to be another top-10 lineup, surprised everyone connected to the program by bailing out. On July 11. Three days after linking arms with his teammates and Zag alum Domantas Sabonis at a school event. A day after going through workouts with his now former teammates.

Saint-Supery is returning home to Spain. To play for Spanish ACB club Valencia on a four-year contract that will pay him, according to CBS Sports’ Matt Norlander, “north of $15 million.”

That’s a lot of money. More than Gonzaga was probably able, or willing, to pay, though there has been no indication the Zags were even given a chance to make a counter offer.

Saint-Supery’s father Kiko Fernandez told the S-R’s Theo Lawson his son made “a basketball decision.” Valencia does play in the top European league, which supports that statement to some degree. But if the goal is an NBA career, the path is no harder, and probably better paved, from Spokane, as Sabonis’ career illustrates. The bottom line here, as always, is the bottom line.

Sure, the 20-year-old could have contemplated the efficacy of living so far from home on his long return plane ride from Europe after recently playing in a pair of FIBA World Cup qualifying games for Spain against Denmark and Georgia (the country, not the SEC power). Or he might have just missed sitting down for a real plate of paella.

Saint-Supery played well in those two qualifiers. Which might have been the impetus for Valencia to make a late – for Gonzaga – offer that overwhelmed Saint-Supery and turned his eyes back home. Whatever, that’s the world of the sport these days, which, in a roundabout way, does make this a “basketball decision.”

And makes us wonder if Mark Few is growing tired of spending so much of his time having to deal with that aspect of the modern game.

It was too much, by all reports, for two-time NCAA-champion coach Jay Wright at Villanova. Too much, by personal conversation, for NCAA-champion coach Tony Bennett at Virginia. Is it getting to be too much for Few?

Few is 63-years-old. Has been coaching for more than 40 years. Has taken the Zags from the bottom rungs of college hoops to within a step of grabbing the gold ring. Twice. In his 27 years in charge, Gonzaga has missed the NCAA Tournament exactly zero times. The school is among the top 10 programs in the nation nearly every season. And would have entered his 28th year there if not for Saturday’s news.

Now the soon-to-be Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductee – the ceremonies are in mid-August – has to be wondering if the good outweighs the anguish these days. If the modern game is still, at its core, is driven by the same principles that got him into the profession in the first place. Wright and Bennett, peers and friends, decided it didn’t.

Funny thing, though. All the disappointment concerning decisions such as Saint-Supery’s invoke wailing about loyalty. Commitment. Timing. The same words that were used when Bennett walked away a couple years ago as the season was beginning. And would if Few did the same, even though Gonzaga has a plan in place to move long-time assistant Brian Michaelson into the big office when needed.

If more days like yesterday happen, that time might come sooner rather than later.

• We just spent more than 600 words blathering about, mainly, money. We only need one to describe the amount of money it took the Khosla family to win the Seahawks’ sweepstakes.

Wow.

Yep, that’s the only immediate reaction needed to the group pledging $9.612 billion to buy the franchise from the Paul G. Allen Estate. And become the fourth owners in the Hawks’ 51-year history.

Though it will probably take another billion or so words to dissect the impact the sale will have on the defending NFL champions. And even then, no one will know for sure.

The family – Vinod Khosla, wife Neeru and son Neal – bought a small slice of the 49ers a year ago. They will have to sell that share of their hometown team. They will also have to earn approval from other NFL owners, which could happen as soon as next month. But, more than likely, they will be sitting in the owners’ box when the Seahawks host the Patriots in the Super Bowl rematch Sept. 9.

Which brings up another question. How long does it take for the ultra-rich new owners to look around Lumen Field and decide it needs renovations? Isn’t that what new owners always do, resolve to remodel the house?

Wonder who will be asked to pay for that?

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WSU: You want to know who Major League Baseball asked to test its automated balls and strikes system? The smart folks in Washington State’s Sports Science Laboratory. Henry Krueger has this story on how the lab did just that. And continues to do so. … Elsewhere in the Pac-12, a Colorado State alum has emerged as the NFL’s best tight end – and a huge CSU advocate. … Around the West Coast and the nation, football recruiting never stops for Washington. … Colorado will be relying on a tight end more this season. … Utah’s athletic director had a few things to say about the future. … In basketball news, a former UCLA women’s standout returned home for the first time in a WNBA uniform. … A new Arizona men’s player took a roundabout path to reunite with Tommy Lloyd.

Gonzaga: Want to know how out of the blue Saint-Supery’s decision was? No one broke the news before the Spanish club announced it on social media. Theo Lawson has everything he could learn about it in this story, which we also linked above. … Theo also has back at the NBA’s Summer League last night, this time to cover the game pitting former GU teammates Ryan Nembhard and Anton Watson. … Former Gonzaga pitcher Eli Morgan is back in the big leagues. Kansas City recalled the pitcher Friday and he pitched last night.  

EWU and Idaho: Around the Big Sky, Northern Arizona introduced its new athletic director Saturday. He begins work next week.

Indians: It took 10 innings but Spokane won on the road once again, topping Eugene 7-6 Saturday night.

Velocity: Despite giving up an early goal, Spokane rallied for a 3-1 win over the Oakland Roots on the road Saturday. The victory, coupled with AC Boise’s win over Sacramento, propelled the Velocity into the knockout round of the USL Cup for the first time.

Mariners: The Seahawks’ purchase announcement was probably welcomed in the M’s front office. It took Seattle’s eyes off the inept way the MLB team is playing. The Mariners have lost five consecutive games. The latest? A 6-1 loss at Tampa on Saturday, as the offense was quiet and the bullpen failed. One more game until the All-Star break begins tonight. If Seattle loses, does Jerry Dipoto make a change, giving a new manager a few days to acclimate and a homestand with the woeful Giants and Reds as a soft landing? Win or lose – the preseason A.L. West favorites are 47-49 and a 1½ games behind the Rangers – it may be the best time to kickstart a stretch run. … The M’s moved up a couple of prospects to Tacoma. One is off to a torrid start. … The draft’s first day included Seattle picking a college third baseman with power. Wonder if that was a “need” pick?

Seahawks: We covered, and linked, the sale news above. And Matt Calkins’ column about said sale. The best owners in the NFL? The ones who let the football folks do their thing. Especially when those folks have the track record as Seattle’s do. … The sale is national news. Mainly due to the price tag.

Storm: Ezi Magbegor will miss the next game due to an injury.

Reign: Seattle returns to Lumen Field today to face Portland in a rivalry match.

World Cup: Two quarterfinal matches Saturday set up the final semifinal pairing. In the first one, England beat the crud out of Norway star Erling Haaland, got a huge assist from VAR – the overwhelming narrative of this World Cup – and let its star Jude Bellingham go to work for a 2-1 victory. … In the nightcap another VAR red-card decision cost Switzerland a man and helped Argentina earn a 3-1 victory. … No surprise here. My son predicted it a couple years ago. FIFA is thinking about expanding the tournament to 64 teams as early as the next Cup. That’s good news for U.S. fans. Not many countries can host a tournament that size.

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• A quick update. We won’t be here Monday, unless something odd happens. Our flight back to Spokane doesn’t arrive until the wee hours of the morning and it’s hard to image my nearly 70-year-old body will be up to rising from bed at 5 to put this column together. Until later …

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• Photos: The Spokesman-Review, Getty Images, Tribune News Service