Gonzaga announces four new signings for the 2024-25 season
Gonzaga men’s basketball fans collectively sighed with relief as the transfer portal officially closed Wednesday night.
Just before the clock struck 9 p.m. PST on May 1, the deadline for players to enter the portal, the Bulldogs’ social media team posted a picture of the team with the caption “We back.”
The photo confirmed expectations: Coach Mark Few is bringing back six of his top seven scorers, including four of five starters, from last season’s Sweet 16 team. Steele Venters, who missed all of last season with a torn ACL, was also pictured. Pepperdine transfer Michael Ajayi was not pictured, though the program expects the All-WCC wing to join the team next fall.
There were no last-minute transfers or NBA Draft declarations from Graham Ike, Ryan Nembhard, or Nolan Hickman. Ben Gregg and Braden Huff complete the frontcourt rotation behind Ike, while Dusty Stromer and Jun Seok Yeo will compete for minutes on the wing with Venters and Ajayi. Joe Few and walk-on Joaquim Aruz-Moore round out the 10-man squad.
The roster still has room for more additions. The Bulldogs have four open scholarships following the departures of Anton Watson (graduation), Pavle Stosic (transfer portal), Luka Krajnovic (transfer portal), and walk-on Colby Brooks (transfer portal). Arkansas grad transfer Khalif Battle is scheduled for an official visit this weekend, as the 6-foot-5 guard considers joining Gonzaga’s backcourt next season.
Gonzaga announces four new signings for the 2024-25 season
Despite this, the Bulldogs are in good shape heading into the fall, thanks to a talented and experienced group of returners. Gonzaga is expected to return 81.4% of the minutes played from last season, the highest retention rate since the 2005-06 season when Mark Few brought back seven of his top eight scorers from a team that finished the 2004-05 campaign ranked No. 10 in the AP Top 25 poll. This high retention rate is notable given today’s increased player movement and the trend of one-and-dones.
Last season, only two teams (Florida Atlantic and Columbia) returned at least 80% of their minutes from the previous year. Ten years ago, 10 teams had that return rate. Next season, seven teams are projected to return at least 80% of their roster, with Gonzaga being the only one that made the NCAA Tournament in 2024.
Recently, continuity has become less crucial for winning a national championship. UConn returned less than 43% of its minutes from last season’s title team, which had only 33.2% of the roster from the 2021-22 team. Since 2009, only six national champions returned over 60% of their roster, none higher than a 71% retention rate.
However, all these champions had one common factor: they returned the same starting point guard from the previous season. Seven of the past ten national champions had the same point guard in the starting lineup from the season before. The two exceptions (2023 UConn and 2016 Villanova) won with a first-year point guard and later won another championship with the same guard (Tristen Newton for UConn, Jalen Brunson for Villanova).
This trend bodes well for the Bulldogs, who have had a different starting point guard every season since Josh Perkins. Next fall, Nembhard and Hickman will enter their second year together, bringing stability and experience to the backcourt.
With three All-WCC players (Nembhard, Ike, and Hickman) returning, this is the most experienced and talented group Gonzaga has had since the 2018-19 season when Rui Hachimura, Josh Perkins, and Killian Tillie returned to join Brandon Clarke, a young Corey Kispert, and Zach Norvell Jr. for a run at the Elite Eight. That squad had seven future NBA players and three first-round picks; time will tell if the same can be said about the 2024-25 team.
Regardless, the Zags return the most experienced and talented group in a long time. If history is any indication, they’ll be one of the favorites to cut down the nets next April.
