Gonzaga’s 5 key storylines for 2024-25 college basketball season

Do the Bulldogs have enough to cut down the nets in April?

Photo by Erik Smith, Myk Crawford

The Gonzaga men's basketball program accomplished what few other college basketball teams did this offseason in that Mark Few and the coaching staff retained almost every rotational player from last season while also seeing opportunities for growth via the transfer portal.

Anton Watson is gone after a standout five-year college career. Returning to Spokane are the four other starters from that Sweet 16 team: Ryan Nembhard, Nolan Hickman, Ben Gregg and Graham Ike. Dusty Stromer and Braden Huff return for their sophomore seasons; Steele Venters, an Eastern Washington transfer who missed all of 2023-24 with an ACL injury, is set to make his long-awaited Gonzaga debut. In total, the Bulldogs returned 81.4% of their minutes played from last season — Notre Dame is the only high-major program with a higher retention rate.

The newcomers — Michael Ajayi (Pepperinde), Khalif Battle (Arkansas) and Emmanuel Innocenti (Tarleton State) — collectively add elements and skillsets that didn't exist on the roster a year ago. Ismaila Diagne also fits that description as a 7-foot center who can protect the rim and run the floor end to end.

It was quite the offseason, to say the least, and that's before mentioning how Few helped Team USA clinch the gold medal at the Paris Games as an assistant coach.

With about six weeks to go until fans get their first look at the Zags during Kraziness in the Kennel on Oct. 5, here are five storylines heading into the 2024-25 season.

BIG TESTS EARLY ON

Despite fewer nonleague opportunities than in years past, Few and the coaching staff once again managed to put together quite a slate of high-profile games spread throughout November and December. Excluding the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament, Gonzaga will face four teams that are ranked in the top 25 of Bart Torvik’s 2024-25 projections (all on neutral site courts) and another three against opponents ranked inside the top 100. When factoring potential matchups in the Bahamas, the Bulldogs could also see Indiana (No. 30 on Torvik) and Arizona (No. 10) in a 48-hour span.

It shouldn’t come as a surprise they’ll also see some top-tier individual talent as well. During the first week of the season, Gonzaga will likely have to figure out how to slow down two top 10 recruits from the 2024 class in VJ Edgecombe (Baylor) and Jayden Quaintance (Arizona State). Edgecombe, the No. 5 high school player in the class according to 247Sports, is likely a one-and-done as a projected NBA lottery pick in 2025; Quaintance, the No. 9-ranked recruit, could be a first-round pick in 2026 or 2027.

UConn could have two future first-round picks on its roster in freshman Liam McNeely (No. 10 on 247Sports) and 6-foot-11 wing Alex Karaban. The Bulldogs will get to see the five-star recruit and the rest of the Huskies on Dec. 14 in Madison Square Garden. 

All-American guard Caleb Love could pose quite the 1-on-1 challenge if the Bulldogs see the Wildcats in the Bahamas.

The first eight weeks of the season could tell a lot about the 2024-25 Zags. Most of the roster spent much of last season dealing with adversity and growing pains early on before playing their best basketball leading up to March. Now, they’ll have a chance to put the rest of the country on notice if they can take advantage of their marquee nonleague games.

WHO’S IN THE CLOSING LINEUP?

The five players on the court in the final two minutes of a one-possession game are necessarily more important than the ones who started the game. In fact, don’t be surprised if Few and the coaching staff toy around with the starting lineup throughout the season based on matchups. The Bulldogs can play “big” with Ajayi at the small forward spot, or they can go “small” and put Ajayi at power forward with Battle at small forward. 

The real question — actually a two-parter — is who will be on the floor in crunch time and secondly, who can be the go-to guy when the team needs a basket. Ike was that type of player for the Bulldogs down the stretch of last season, and while he was effective when aggressive, he also dealt with a lot of foul trouble. Hickman and Nembhard had their moments, but closing out games was mostly a group effort with spurts from individuals here and there.

The answer to both parts of the question might just be Battle and his shotmaking ability. 

“He kind of adds that dynamic,” Few said in an interview with Seth Davis. “He can kinda get his own shot whenever he wants to and he’s also very adept at getting himself to the free throw line. So those are some aspects that we didn't really have with last year's team.”

Listed at 6-foot-5 and 185 pounds on the official roster, Battle could play some minutes at the “3” with Nembhard and Hickman in the backcourt, either one of Ajayi or Gregg at the “4” and Ike at the center spot. For the most part, Battle played at either one of the guard spots for Eric Musselman at Arkansas. If Few opts to go that route instead, then the Bulldogs could go big with Ajayi at the “3,” Gregg at the “4” and Ike at center. 

However, that would mean taking out either Nembhard or Hickman in crunch time. Nembhard’s playmaking is essential to the offense’s flow; Hickman earned a lot of trust from the coaching staff with his growth as a junior last season. It wouldn’t be surprising to see both play heavy minutes again as seniors.

In the frontcourt, it’ll be interesting to see how much Ajayi plays at the “4” instead of Gregg. Gonzaga had a lot of success running two-big lineups last season. Gregg will likely be the starting power forward next to Ike on opening day, but whether he plays in crunch time over Ajayi remains to be seen.

NINE-MAN ROTATION?

The Zags don’t normally run nine deep in their rotation, especially not during the postseason. In the past 10 seasons, only one ninth man — Filip Petrusev in 2019-20 — has logged more than 10 minutes per game for Few, and that was mainly in part because Killian Tillie missed a chunk of that season due to injury. Every player from last season’s main rotation played at least 13.5 minutes per game (Jun Seok Yeo was the ninth man at 6.9 minutes per game, though he appeared in 25 games). 

The 2024-25 roster boasts greater depth at pretty much every position compared to last season’s group. In fact, Torvik’s projections would suggest the Bulldogs could even go 10 players deep if they wanted — an unlikely outcome but still a possibility given the right opponent.

In the end, it’s likely that someone, either a newcomer or returner, has to play a more reserved role than what they’ve been accustomed to in their college careers. It’s a good problem to have as a coach, but that doesn’t make it easier to solve.

WILL IT ALL BE ENOUGH?

The Zags have the fourth-shortest odds to win the 2025 national championship at +1800 according to Odds Shark. They’re ranked around the top 10 or top five in most preseason polls and rankings from computers and humans alike.

As such, Final Four expectations have set in from the national media — 75 days before the season even starts. The preseason hype will only get louder in the fall and winter if the Zags capitalize on their competitive nonleague schedule and are in position for a top-two seed in the NCAA Tournament by the start of West Coast Conference play in late December. 

Gonzaga has depth, experience and continuity that most programs don’t have on paper. Some analysts have questioned that there might be a lack of NBA talent on the roster, which has apparently become a big criterion for title-contending teams as of late. But here's a counterpoint — Ajayi was listed at No. 36 on ESPN’s latest 2025 NBA Draft big board, not to mention he showcased his skills in front of numerous NBA scouts and general managers at the NBA Draft Combine this past May.

Ajayi’s official wingspan was measured at 7 feet long at the combine and he’s listed at 6-foot-7 on Gonzaga’s roster. He’s built like a pro and shot 47.0% for 3-point range last season on limited attempts. The coaching staff’s track record of developing NBA players would suggest Ajayi has a chance at playing at the next level after college, especially if he stands out in some of the big nonconference games.

It’ll take more than just the efforts from the Pepperdine transfer, of course. Nembhard and Ike have a chance to pick up right where they left 2023-24 off — if they do and play at an All-American level, the Bulldogs will be near unstoppable on offense. Gregg will need to provide the energy on a consistent basis, especially on the defensive end. Same goes for Huff, as he looks to complement his scoring touch with some improvements on the defensive end. 

If Stromer has more to his game offensively and Venters returns from his ACL injury good as new, then all the stars will have aligned for Few and company. But as unpredictable of a sport as college basketball is, only time will tell if everything comes together.

WHAT DOES THE FUTURE HOLD?

The weeks leading up to the start of the regular season will indicate a lot about the 2025 class. 

Five-star recruit Isiah Harwell, a 6-foot-6 wing from Pocatello, Idaho, will decide between Gonzaga, Cal, Houston and Texas on Sept. 12. He was one of many highly-touted recruits who publicly announced that they’re still considering Gonzaga among their final options in recent weeks.

Nik Khamenia, a top 30 recruit in the class from Harvard-Westlake (California), has the Bulldogs in his final five along with Duke, North Carolina, Arizona and UCLA. Five-star forward Jalen Haralson out of La Lumiere School (Indiana) has Gonzaga in his final nine.

Kingston Flemings, a five-star point guard from Brennan High School (Texas), is set to visit Gonzaga from Oct. 4-6 and will be attending Kraziness in the Kennel. The annual preseason event has become a recruiting tool for the Bulldogs over the years.

However the 2025 class turns out, it seems Huff and Stromer will play a big role in the program’s future, as well as Colgate transfer Braeden Smith who’s set to redshirt this season. 

“He’s going to be a really, really good leader,” assistant coach Brian Michaelson said of Smith. “I saw his voice grow as a leader and I think he’s got a real gift for leadership, which is important at the point guard position, and I think we’re gonna see that when he hits the floor.”

“Those are the two we’re building around,” Michaelson said of Huff and Stromer. “They’re big pillars in what we’re doing. Huge pillars for what we’re doing now and really the guys that are gonna carry this program forward.”