Gonzaga Bulldogs enter 2023 season with revamped roster, conference uncertainty

From an influx of transfers to a potential move to the Big 12, it was anything but a quiet summer for the Bulldogs

Much has changed since the last time the Gonzaga men's basketball team suited up in the Elite Eight last March — seven new faces have joined the program since then, while a handful of last year's stars have moved on elsewhere.

From roster turnover, conference realignment rumors and recruiting battles, here's a recap of the biggest storylines from the offseason.

MARK FEW LANDS TRIO OF IMPACTFUL TRANSFERS

Photo by Erik Smith, Myk Crawford

Just a few weeks after the crushing defeat to UConn in the NCAA Tournament, the Zags had moved onto the 2023-24 season as they brought in three coveted transfers who are expected to be starters from day one.

On April 7, reigning Big Sky MVP Steele Venters announced he'd make the short move from Cheney to Spokane to join the Bulldogs after three seasons in Eastern Washington. After starting out as a walk-on, the 6-foot-7 Ellensburg native developed into one of the league's best shooters from deep, as he shot 40.3% on 3-point attempts during his EWU career. With Julian Strawther likely gone to the NBA, Venters was a key addition to help fill the void on the perimeter.

Weeks later, Mark Few caught two big fish on the same day in Ryan Nembhard (Creighton) and Graham Ike (Wyoming). Nembhard, the younger brother of ex-Zag Andrew Nembhard, bolstered Gonzaga's backcourt depth fresh off an impressive NCAA Tournament run with the Bluejays in 2022-23. Ike, a 6-foot-9 bruiser down low, averaged 19.6 points and 9.5 rebounds per game in 2021-22 but was forced to sit out all of last season with a lower leg injury.

ZAGS LOSE THREE TRANSFERS

Photo by Erik Smith, Myk Crawford

The double-edged sword that is the transfer portal. Not long after Few landed Venters, Nembhard and Ike, three role players from last season's squad departed in search of greener pastures.

The first domino was Hunter Sallis, a former five-star recruit who transferred to Wake Forest after he never emerged as a starter at Gonzaga. He played 15.3 minutes per game across 69 appearances in two seasons, averaging 4.4 points and 2.1 rebounds. The 6-foot-5 guard flashed on the defensive end, highlighted by his efforts down the stretch against UCLA in the Sweet 16.

Joining Sallis at Wake Forest is Efton Reid, the former LSU transfer who struggled to crack Few's rotation this past season. He averaged 2.1 points and 1.0 rebounds while playing 4.6 minutes per game in a diminished role behind Timme, Anton Watson and Ben Gregg.

Dominick Harris moved closer to home when he joined WCC rival Loyola Marymount in May. He missed all of 2021-22 to undergo surgery for a right foot injury before appearing in 10 games for the Bulldogs this past season.

BYE-BYE DREW TIMME AND LAST SEASON'S STARS

Photo by Erik Smith, Myk Crawford

For all the new firepower Few brought in, he also lost one of the best players in program history to the NBA. Drew Timme became Gonzaga's all-time leading scorer with 2,307 career points and recorded the most field goals made with 910. The 6-foot-10 Texan was also a two-time WCC Player of the Year and three-time consensus All-American.

Along with Timme, who went undrafted before signing a two-way contract with the Milwaukee Bucks in September, Gonzaga lost standouts Julian Strawther, Rasir Bolton and Malachi Smith. Strawther was taken with the 29th pick in the NBA Draft by the Denver Nuggets, as the reigning NBA champions traded back into the first round to take the Las Vegas native. Bolton and Smith didn't hear their names called on draft night, though Bolton signed with the Antwerp Giants of the BNXT League, a first-tier league in Europe that is comprised of teams in Belgium and the Netherlands.

Smith, meanwhile, signed onto the Portland Trail Blazers' training camp roster after making a few appearances with the team at the 2023 Summer League.

ALEX TOOHEY DECOMMITS TO PLAY IN AUSTRAILIA

Regarded as one of the top international recruits in the 2023 class, Toohey was expected to enroll at Gonzaga in June before he decommitted from the program in favor of playing professionally in the Australian NBL. The 6-foot-8 Australian picked Gonzaga over Villanova, Michigan and Davidson after visiting Spokane for a weekend last October, citing the possibility of winning a national championship as his reason for joining the Bulldogs.

Now, Toohey will play for the Sydney Kings as part of the NBL's Next Stars program.

BIG 12 SHUTS DOWN EXPANSION TALKS WITH GONZAGA

Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark :: Photo by Annie Rice/Avalanche-Journal, USA TODAY NETWORK

College sports underwent significant changes during the offseason. The Big Ten added West Coast powers Washington and Oregon after claiming USC and UCLA a year earlier. The Big 12 snatched Colorado, Utah, Arizona and Arizona State for the future, before the ACC added Cal and Stanford.

As conference realignment ran rampant with crazy move after crazy move, many expected Gonzaga and the Big 12 to revisit their prior talks surrounding a potential expansion for the basketball-only school. Commissioner Brett Yormark was keen on making his league the best basketball conference in the nation, with the potential of also taking UConn away from the Big East. But following talks with his member institutions, Yormack backed off from the Zags and Huskies.

"I did have conversations with UConn and Gonzaga, and unfortunately, you know, things didn't work out only because the dream scenario unfolded for us," Yormark said on The Marchand and Ourand Sports Media Podcast in August. "So those conversations are no longer."

The idea of Gonzaga joining the conference was brought up by the league with its television partners. The Big 12 agreed to a massive six-year contract extension with ESPN and Fox worth more than $2 billion, though the contract stated that if the conference were to expand and add a non-Power 5 school, the payout per school would decrease for the league's current members. Without a football program to drive in more revenue, many of the Big 12's members were against adding Gonzaga.

While the future of the Pac-12 remains unknown, the WCC is "actively pursuing" expansion options following BYU's departure for the Big 12, per conference commissioner Stu Jackson. Expect movement on the West Coast in the coming years, whether it be the Pac-12, WCC or Mountain West Conference. 

BULLDOGS GET LATE REINFORCEMENTS FROM OVERSEAS

The Zags bolstered their depth late into the offseason when they added Croatian guard Luka Krajnovic and Serbian forward Pavle Stosic for the 2023-24 season.

Krajnovic, a 6-foot-4 guard, averaged 17.6 points, 4.4 rebounds and 2.6 assists last season for Bosco Zagreb in the Croatian Premier League. He received Most Improved Player of the Year and was named Second Team All-League. 

"Luka is a guard that can really help us," Few said. "He is versatile and has decent size. He also had good experiences playing against older guys back home in Croatia."

As for Stosic, who committed in late Septmeber, he joins the program after three seasons of experience playing internationally in Spain. The 6-foot-8 forward also represented his home country FIBA U18 European Challengers in 2021.

While their roles as freshmen are unclear, the future of the program is in good hands with them on the roster for (hopefully) seasons to come.

GONZAGA IN PURSUIT OF TOP RECRUITS IN 2024, 2025 CLASSES

Zoom Diallo during his official Gonzaga visit.  / Photo by Erik Smith, Myk Crawford

Gonzaga's coaching staff spent numerous weeks hosting and visiting some of the top prospects in the 2024 and 2025 classes.

Asa Newell, a five-star power forward in the 2025 class, visited campus in July before listing Gonzaga on his list of final four schools. The 6-foot-9 recruit is also considering Georgia, Alabama and Texas. Newell, who grades as a top-10 recruit according to Rivals.com and On3.com and is 11th on ESPN's Top 100, has taken official visits with all four schools but does not have a timeframe for his commitment.

Gonzaga's coaches hit the recruiting trail hard in September, most notably to see top-ranked point guard Zoom Diallo in Napa Valley, California. The the No. 19 player in the 2024 class has been a top priority for the Zags for some time now, as they hosted Diallo back in January. Diallo listed Gonzaga among his final six schools, but has seemingly kept his recruitment open since his visit to Spokane.

In addition to the five-star recruits, Gonzaga is also targeting 2024 four-star point guard Trent Perry, who has yet to officially visit, and 2025 four-star Nikolas Khamenia, who will be in attendance for Kraziness in the Kennel. Khamenia took an official visit last fall before receiving an offer from the Bulldogs in April. Both recruits are teammates at Harvard-Westlake (California).

How to watch Gonzaga's 2023 Kraziness in the Kennel: TV channel, live stream