College Hoops Top 50

Last Year: 27-8; 14-2, Second in the West Coast Conference, lost in the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA Tournament

Head Coach: Mark Few (25th Year; 716-143 at Gonzaga, with 23 NCAA Tournament appearances)

Projected Starting Lineup

PG Ryan Nembhard – 6’0″, 180 Senior

G Nolan Hickman – 6’2″, 190 Senior

W Michael Ajayi – 6’7″, 228 Senior

F Ben Gregg – 6’10”, 230 5th-year Senior

F/C Graham Ike – 6’9″, 250 Senior

Experienced Reserves

G Dusty Stromer – 6’6″, 200 Sophomore

G Emmanuel Innocenti – 6’5″, 198 Sophomore

G Khalif Battle – 6’5″, 185 5th-year Senior

F Jun Seok Yeo – 6’8″, 218 Junior

F Braden Huff – 6’10”, 250 Sophomore

Freshmen

C Ismaila Diagne – 7’0″, 237 / Senegal

Last season, there were some dark days for Gonzaga basketball. For instance, a couple of weeks after the new year, the Bulldogs played their way out of the AP top 25 poll for the first time in eight years. Following a choppy non-conference slate, people were questioning – even aloud, even in stories for major publications – whether the Zags would qualify for their 25th straight NCAA Tournament. It all seems a bit silly, in retrospect. Empires don’t fall so easily. 

The Imperator Marcus Head coach Mark Few’s team held itself together through the stormy seas of winter, and by early February things were looking considerably better in the Kennel. Gonzaga set about absolutely bludgeoning their way through West Coast Conference play, and took a break halfway through the league slate to beat Kentucky in Lexington. A rare home loss against rival Saint Mary’s was repaid with a convincing bit of revenge in the regular season’s final game, the Zags finished their regular season with 24 wins, and they earned a five seed in the tourney which has been their constant destination for a quarter century. Their ninth consecutive Sweet Sixteen appearance was just icing on the cake. 

Soon, the Zags will even be moving on to a highly profitable reanimated corpse they’re calling the Pac-12. Since Gonzaga has no plans to fade away anytime soon, Few enters this new year – and a reworked WCC – with one of his trademark fully-loaded rosters. In a lot of ways, these Zags will be quite similar to last year’s model. Replacing Spokane, WA, legend Anton Watson will be difficult, but there have been some upgrades elsewhere. Michael Ajayi, a former JuCo star who exploded onto the WCC scene at Pepperdine last winter, has jumped ship to Spokane. Khalif Battle, a 1,300-point scorer who averaged almost 15 points per game in the SEC last year has arrived from Arkansas. 

The bedrock upon which these Bulldogs are built, though, is the extraordinary pick-and-roll duo of big man Graham Ike and point guard Ryan Nembhard. Everything Few’s team hopes to accomplish will flow around them, and that’s because by the end of last year, Ike & Nembhard had become all but unstoppable. It really started to become apparent at Rupp Arena, as Ike absolutely went to work in the second half against the Wildcats on a number of smooth setups from Nembhard. Despite being in foul trouble the whole game, Ike went for 23 points, and Nembhard added nine assists. “This win was definitely a step in the right direction,” Ike said at the time. “We closed the game out like we were supposed to, and it’s just a great feeling.”

Ike’s junior season was a triumph in more ways than one. He had been forced to redshirt two years ago at Wyoming following a knee injury; this after missing a significant chunk of his freshman season rehabilitating a knee injury from his high school days. Overall, Ike’s debut as a Bulldog couldn’t have gone much better. A classic post-up big man and go-to option, Ike seems to power up the more he’s fed. In part out of an abundance of caution – and owing to his team’s strong depth up front – Few limited him to just 24.1 minutes per game last year, but Ike still led the WCC in points scored on the season. A great deal of what makes Ike such a special scorer is that he’s not just a dunker. His touch, patience and footwork make Ike a mismatch against nearly any frontcourt player. He actually attempts the majority of his shots between about five and eight feet from the rim, maneuvering for clean looks at the rim and often turning an opponent’s tactics back on them. 

In Nembhard, the Zags have one of America’s finest playmakers. In his first campaign after arriving from Creighton, Nembhard bested Gonzaga’s all-time record for assists in a season. He ranked sixth nationally with 243 helpers, and Nembhard handed out exactly three assists for every turnover he committed. He didn’t launch as many triples last winter as he had as a sophomore with the Bluejays, but Nembhard became a more prolific mid-range weapon than ever before. A classic floor general to the same degree that Ike is a prototype post scorer, Nembhard gets his guys into good looks and coolly chooses his own chances when they’re presented. Over the Zags’ final 18 games last season, Nembhard averaged 12.7 points and 7.8 assists on 47.0% shooting and 38.9% from downtown; he could very well produce those numbers right the way through the upcoming campaign. With a year’s experience together and a summer of further development, the chemistry between Nembhard and Ike figures to be better than ever.

Adding a further layer of excitement and chemistry will be Nolan Hickman, a rising star in his own right. After getting all sorts of on-the-job training his first two seasons, Hickman was asked to step into a primary role last fall. Hickman turned in a smooth, highly-efficient performance, complementing Nembhard as one of the better secondary facilitators you’ll find. There are times when Hickman makes the game look fairly effortless. He glides as much as sprints, and the fluidity of Hickman’s movements is mirrored in his ballhandling and the decisions he makes. He shot the ball well from everywhere last season, and Hickman’s jumper has improved tremendously since his arrival in Spokane. He was a 30.8% shooter from downtown as a rookie, but last winter Hickman sank the third-most triples in the WCC at a 41.3% rate. He’s also made a reliable 44.2% of his mid-range tries through three campaigns. With Hickman back to co-captain the Bulldog offense alongside Nembhard, Few has one of the most proven and potent backcourt duos in the country. 

Two different guys return at forward after supporting Ike’s efforts last year, and one of them may be about to step out as Gonzaga’s next great forward. While he was developing behind the scenes two years ago, sophomore-to-be Braden Huff was described by Zags icon Drew Timme as “most annoying redshirt I’ve ever played against.” Last winter, Huff began to show how he earned such praise. The versatile 6’10” youngster has perimeter skill, a soft touch inside, range on his jumper, and the savvy to utilize whichever talent the defense is struggling to stop. The former Illinois Mr. Basketball put together some eye-catching performances as a rookie, and dominated at times during the early part of Gonzaga’s schedule. He scored 17 or more points nine times in his debut, and Huff for 25 or more twice. A highly skilled player who happens to have the good size and better feet to play in the post, Huff has lots of mismatch potential. He made an absurd 60.3% of his mid-range tries as a freshman, per Bart Torvik, and he rattled home 22 triples despite averaging less than 14 minutes per contest. If Huff can prove himself defensively and on the glass, his elevation to a much larger role may not be very far away. 

The fact that Few also added proven bucket-getter Khalif Battle to the mix almost feels like overkill, but the folks in the Kennel are cool with it.

The more experienced forward Few is returning has been with the Zags for four years already, and Ben Gregg had surely paid his dues in earning a starter’s role last season. A power forward who offers some of everything, Gregg came alive after the new year last winter. Beginning with a 15-point, 11-rebound, five-assist effort against San Diego, Gregg went on to average 10.4 points and 6.2 boards on 41.5% shooting from distance over Gonzaga’s final 18 games. His productivity near the basket last year was outstanding given what a solid deep threat he is; Gregg shot 77.1% bear the rim, per Bart Torvik, and splashed 40 triples in 35 games played. He came up big during Gonzaga’s NCAA Tournament run, also, as Gregg tallied 27 points and 14 rebounds combined against McNeese and Kansas. He will have to hold off another charge for big minutes from Huff, but Gregg has been battling since he stepped onto campus and won’t be stopping anytime soon. 

New to the wing for Few but not to the WCC, Michael Ajayi has transferred in from Pepperdine to help bolster the Bulldogs’ attack. In his debut after making the jump from junior college – he had previously played for Pierce College in Lakewood, WA – Ajayi was sensational for the Waves. He led his new conference in scoring average and finished second in the league (and 20th nationally) in rebounding, earning Ajayi first-team All-WCC honors. He tried out for scouts ahead of this year’s NBA Draft, and though Ajayi generated some buzz, his decision to play another year in college gives Gonzaga scoring options all over the floor.

A devastating slasher off the wing who can finish near or above the rim, Ajayi was also very good creating looks off the bounce from all around the painted area at Pepperdine. He shot 44.3% on mid-range attempts, and despite the jump in competition last season, Ajayi sank an excellent 46.8% of his deep balls. All of that production came as a centerpiece for the Waves, but if Ajayi can fit his game into Few’s rotation and maintain his elite efficiency, it will make the Zags a truly potential outfit. 

Five Stats Which Tell The Tale (with national ranks)

84.5 – Points Per Game (8th)

51.8% – Team FG Percentage (2nd)

9.8 – Turnovers Per Game (29th)

33.6 – Opponent 3FG Percentage (176th)

36.1% – Team 3FG Percentage (68th)

The fact that Few also added proven bucket-getter Khalif Battle to the mix almost feels like overkill, but the folks in the Kennel are cool with it. At Arkansas last year, the former Temple star began in something of a super-sub role but became completely indispensable late in the year. Over the Razorbacks’ final nine games, Battle went wild. He scorched Missouri for 42 points in mid-February and followed that effort up with 36 and 34 against Vanderbilt and Kentucky, respectively. He finished the year scoring 20+ in four straight games, and over his red-hot stretch, Battle posted 26.7 points per contest. A major part of Battle’s success was his propensity for getting to the charity stripe; he piled up the second-most attempts and makes from the line in the SEC last year, where he is an 85.7% career shooter. He loves to drive the ball aggressively at defenders, and Battle can make tough shots through contact. He’s also made 35.3% of his triples over the parts of five seasons he’s played in college so far, and Battle will add even more proven firepower to a stacked Zags attack. 

Last winter, the Zags were quite excited for the debut of 4-star shooter Dusty Stromer. As it turned out, Stromer was thrown straight into the fire. When highly-anticipated transfer Steele Venters arrived from Eastern Washington last year, and the Bulldogs had been hoping to play him for significant minutes. Unfortunately, not only did Venters miss last winter’s action with a knee injury, he’s now dealing with an Achilles injury which will knock him out for the upcoming campaign.

Without Venters to rely upon, Stromer was in the starting lineup from the first moment he played as a Zag. At times, he looked like a freshman. Still, Stromer’s rookie year displayed his considerable promise, also. He only scored in double figures five times, but Stromer looked good stepping into his deep jumper and flashed his solid understanding of where to be on the court and where to pass the ball. Even with his rookie ups and downs, Stromer cashed in 35.8% of his triple tries. With more freedom to roam and find his spots this year while the veterans attract most of the other team’s attention, Stromer ought to fare even better left to do the things he does best more comfortably. 

Five Out-of-Conference Games to Keep an Eye on

N UConn – December 14

N Baylor – November 4

N Kentucky – December 7

N UCLA – December 28

N Indiana/Louisville – November 28

Tarleton State transfer Emmanuel Innocenti will battle third-year Zag Jun Seok Yeo for reserve minutes as well. Following his international notoriety in recruiting circles, Korean prep star Yeo debuted in Spokane last fall. With so much quality ahead of him at forward, though, Yeo’s minutes were spotty. There won’t be much less competition this year, but Yeo is looking to assert himself. He can score in isolation and has developing range as a shooter. Innocenti became the Texans’ top playmaker by the end of his freshman season. Intriguingly, Innocenti also stands a sturdy 6’5″ and led TSU in both rebounding and steals in addition to assists on the year. With such a varied skillset, Innocenti looks a whole lot like a guy who will only do a wider range of winning things with the Zags. Colgate transfer Braeden Smith will also benefit from marinating in Few’s system; he plans to redshirt this year as the team’s heir apparent at the point. It’s also possible that Ismsila Diagne will take a redshirt. The seven-foot rookie played for a pro team in Spain, and will be an intriguing addition up front whenever he starts to play. 

After sailing clear of the rumors of their demise last winter, Gonzaga is locked and loaded for another huge season. They’ve loaded up an intense slate of matchups before wading into WCC play, too. The Zags will face fully ten teams with NCAA Tournament aspirations before opening up league play. Make no mistake whatsoever: this is another of those Zag teams completely stuffed full of tremendous players. Their aspirations have been national for a long time now, but especially with this group and their move to the Pac-12, Gonzaga is aiming ever higher. Expect to see them deep in March – as usual.