Gonzaga commit Alex Toohey loved Mark Few's recruiting pitch: 'The way they develop (players) ... that's big'

Toohey, a 6-foot-8 wing from Australia, brings much-needed versatility to the Bulldogs' 2023-24 team

PORTLAND — Last summer, Alex Toohey was pretty sure he knew where he wanted to play his college basketball.

He won’t say now which school he had in mind, but it wasn’t Gonzaga. At that point, Toohey, who committed to the Bulldogs in November, hadn’t heard from coach Mark Few or his staff.

But after the Australia native showed off his skillset at the NBA Academy Games in Atlanta in early July, one of his coaches told him he might want to hold off making any decisions.

“I was pretty close to heading to a school just before that, and then one of my coaches said, ‘you never know, in two weeks, everything could change,’” Toohey recalled. “And yeah, everything did change after that.”

Toohey, who is back in the U.S. this week, preparing to play for the World Team in Saturday’s Nike Hoop Summit in Portland, led his Canberra Global Academy team in Atlanta in scoring while shooting better than 60 percent from the field. He also finished second on the team in steals and fifth in rebounding.

College coaches took notice. Among the schools to reach out to the 6-foot-8 wing in the following days were Duke, Michigan, Illinois, Villanova and Gonzaga, according to a 247Sports article from the event.

Alex Toohey is playing in the Nike Hoop Summit this weekend in Portland / Photos by Taylor Balkom

The Gonzaga interest immediately resonated with Toohey. More than three years earlier, during the 2018-19 season, his high school team at the time came to America for a traveling tour that saw them play against a few U.S. high school teams and visit several colleges. One of the stops was Gonzaga.

Toohey, 15 at the time, remembers not only touring the Zags’ facilities, but playing a game against then-Gonzaga commit Brock Ravet and Washington’s Kittitas high school. While Ravet never wound up appearing in a game for the Bulldogs, Toohey, who didn’t play due to a broken arm, was in awe that he got to witness a high-major player in person.

“We actually went to the school, which was funny, so got to see the school,” Toohey said of Gonzaga. “We played against one of their commits back then and thought it was ridiculous that he was going to such a high (level) school.”

Fast forward to last summer and it wasn’t just the Gonzaga name that had Toohey intrigued, but Few’s recruiting pitch. Toohey pointed to the team’s track record of developing international players and sending them off to achieve NBA success, specifically current Los Angeles Lakers forward Rui Hachimura, who went from averaging 2.6 points per game as a freshman with the Zags in 2016-17 to averaging 19.7 in 2018-19.

“Seeing how they work with those guys that maybe weren’t the best player in the world at the time, but definitely helped prove that they were some of the best guys,” Toohey said. “So the way they work with players and help develop them, that’s big for me.”

Toohey was drawn to Gonzaga’s style of play, as well. He said Few’s uptempo, free-flowing offense is similar to Australian basketball.

He also believes it will provide an ideal fit for his diverse skillset. Versatility is Toohey’s calling card. He described himself as a wing who is comfortable playing in the backcourt in a bigger lineup or at power forward if the team needs to go smaller.

“I probably see myself as being like one of the bigger guards, probably a three, being able to shift down to the two if we go a bit bigger, and if we play small ball, being able to play the four,” Toohey said. “But they seem to play pretty much three guards and two bigs, so I like myself being in those lineups, for sure.”

As for how quickly Toohey might be able to crack the Gonzaga lineup, he acknowledged that nothing has been guaranteed. Plus, the Bulldogs’ roster is currently in flux, with three players having entered the transfer portal and star forward Drew Timme expected to turn pro (although he has not yet officially declared for the draft).

Toohey believes he’ll arrive on campus ready to contribute from day one, but he harbors no expectations about his playing time. His goal is just to do what he can to help the team win; after all, he cited Gonzaga’s team success as one of the reasons he chose the program.

“I think just being ready to try and play from the start if that’s what they need,” Toohey said of his mindset. “And just competing, trying to earn minutes, earn my spot, and just help the team win, no matter how much I play.”

He’ll look to give Gonzaga fans a taste of what he can bring to next year’s roster during Saturday’s showdown with America’s top high school players.

“Just showcase that I think Gonzaga got a pretty good guy,” he said of his goals. “Hopefully put on a few shows for them when they come around here.”

(Photos by Taylor Balkom)

Photo by Taylor Balkom

Photos by Taylor Balkom

Photo by Taylor Balkom