Ready for a Gonzaga vs. UConn rematch ... in Seattle?

The Bulldogs will play the defending national champions next season

The Gonzaga men’s basketball team and UConn have agreed to a multi-year series that opens at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle during the 2023-24 season, Gonzaga Nation has confirmed. The series continues with a meeting at Madison Square Garden in New York City in 2024-25.

Official dates and times for both games haven’t been determined.

While the NCAA Tournament champion Huskies defeated the Zags 82-54 in the Elite Eight, the two future meetings won’t be headlined by the same players.

Gonzaga’s top two scorers Drew Timme and Julian Strawther are among the five Zags who declared for the upcoming NBA Draft. Timme and Strawther combined for 36.4 points per game last season. 

The Zags also saw Hunter Sallis (Wake Forest), Efton Reid (Wake Forest) and Dominick Harris (Loyola Marymount) transfer to other programs this offseason. 

Head coach Mark Few and his assistants have reloaded their team with talent by securing the nation’s fifth-best transfer portal haul according to 247Sports. Gonzaga has signed Ryan Nembhard from Creighton, Graham Ike from Wyoming and Steele Venters from Eastern Washington. 

The Zags are also welcoming incoming freshmen Dusty Stromer (ranked 45th in his class by 247Sports Composite), Alex Toohey (148th) and Jun Seok Yeo. 

For UConn, four of its five starters are testing the NBA waters. That list includes the Huskies’ leading scorer Jordan Hawkins and the Final Four’s Most Outstanding Player Adama Sanogo.

UConn head coach Dan Hurley has not landed a player through the transfer portal this offseason, but has still netted several highly-touted recruits. The Huskies have received commitments from incoming freshmen Stephon Castle (ranked 10th in his class by 247Sports Composite), Solomon Ball (43rd), Jaylin Stewart (64th), Jayden Ross (78th) and Youssouf Singa (136th). 

UConn was slotted No. 5 in ESPN’s most recent way-too-early preseason Top 25 poll and the Bulldogs came in at No. 8.