How far will Gonzaga go in 2024-25? ‘They have the pieces to be a Final Four team’

Expectations are sky-high for the Bulldogs heading into the 2024-25 college basketball season

Khalif Battle / Photo courtesy of Gonzaga men's basketball X/Twitter account

After helping USA Basketball clinch the gold medal at the Paris Games as an assistant coach, some expect another shining moment is in store for Gonzaga men’s basketball head coach Mark Few this spring as he helms quite the experienced and talented squad in Spokane heading into the 2024-25 season.

Expectations were bound to be sky-high for the Bulldogs after seven of the top eight scorers from last season’s Sweet 16 team announced their return in May, including All-WCC players Ryan Nembhard, Nolan Hickman and Graham Ike. Ben Gregg, the 6-foot-10 Oregonian who played a big role in the starting lineup as a junior a year ago, is also back for his senior season. Braden Huff and Dusty Stromer are each expected to take a jump in year two, both on the court with their skills and as building blocks for the program’s future.

The incoming transfer class adds depth, versatility and overall scoring ability to Few’s rotation. Michael Ajayi, a 6-foot-7 transfer from Pepperdine, led the West Coast Conference in scoring and earned all-conference honors — all in his first season of Division-I basketball. The former JUCO standout has risen up NBA Draft boards since he tested at the combine back in May.

Khalif Battle, a 6-foot-5 grad transfer from Arkansas, adds even more scoring pop to the mix. He averaged 29.6 points over his final seven games with the Razorbacks last season and shot 35.3% from downtown while finishing second in the SEC in free throws made with 186.

Both transfers offer skillsets the Bulldogs didn’t have on the roster last season, though that doesn’t mean their respective transitions to Gonzaga won’t come without some adjustments. Ajayi and Battle led their respective squads in usage rate last season, per KenPom.com, though neither experienced much team success; the Razorbacks (16-17) missed the NCAA Tournament while the Waves (13-20) were a non-factor in the WCC race.

The Zags, fresh off the program’s ninth straight Sweet 16, have expectations of making another deep postseason run in 2025. How the newcomers mesh with the returners will go a long way in those aspirations coming to fruition.

“They have the pieces to be a Final Four team,” former Gonzaga All-American Dan Dickau said of the 2024-25 roster. “I think they’re about one of nine teams that you can say that about.”

“You’re bringing in a big-time talent to the roster,” Dickau said of Ajayi. “Pepperdine wasn’t very good last year. He wants to put himself in a position to have an opportunity to play at the next level. And he was almost drafted this past offseason. Having a winning pedigree really enhances yourself in the eyes of NBA evaluators.

Khalif Battle … to me is the one I really want to see fit," Dickau said. "He can score and he’s big, and it sounds like he’s a willing defender. And he’s got experience. He wants to play on a team that goes deep in the NCAA Tournament. You put those things together, it makes you think he’s willing to sacrifice a few points here or there to be a part of a great team.”

Dickau shared his early Final Four picks for the 2024-25 college basketball season and much more on a new Gonzaga Nation episode.