Mark Few on Gonzaga's players staying together: ‘They deserve a ton of credit for that'

In an era where player movement is at an all-time high, the Bulldogs managed to bring back seven of their top eight scorers from last season

Photo by Erik Smith, Myk Crawford

As the clock struck 9 p.m. PST on May 1, Gonzaga Bulldogs fans took a collective sigh of relief.

With the transfer portal officially closed, the men’s basketball team's social media posted a team picture of the guys wearing the throwback royal blue uniforms in the locker room. The caption: “We back.”

Specifically, seven of the team’s top eight scorers, including four of five starters, are back. No last-minute transfers or declarations for the NBA Draft from Graham Ike, Ryan Nembhard or Nolan Hickman. Ben Gregg and Braden Huff round out the frontcourt rotation behind Ike, while Dusty Stromer and Jun Seok Yeo will likely compete for minutes on the wing.

“I think my team deserves a ton of credit for staying together,” Gonzaga coach Mark Few said on Gonzaga Nation. "Wanting to play together, valuing Gonzaga, this whole experience, life with the school and here in Spokane. And just playing with each other and sticking together as opposed to putting their name in the portal to go see how much money they can make. They deserve a ton of credit for that because it’s very, very rare.”

The opportunities made possible by name, image and likeness, combined with the freedoms of the transfer portal, have empowered student-athletes like never before. Player movement in college basketball reached record-breaking numbers for the second consecutive offseason, with nearly 2,000 entries in a 45-day window. Many of them still remain undecided on where they’ll attend school next fall. 

While some head coaches started their roster from scratch this offseason, Few is set to return 81.4% of the minutes played from last season, which would be the highest retention rate for the Zags in almost 20 years. In fact, only four other programs in the country will return a higher percentage of minutes played, according to Bart Torvik.

That said, Few and the coaching staff have recognized opportunities to add players who fit the program’s identity through the transfer portal. Pepperdine transfer Michael Ajayi and Arkansas grad transfer Khalif Battle can fill up the scoring column. Emmanuel Innocenti from Tarleton State was a defensive specialist as a freshman. Fans will have to wait to see Colgate transfer Braeden Smith, the reigning Patriot League Player of the Year, suit up in 2025 after his redshirt season.

“What we totally focus on when we’re in the transfer portal is finding the guy that will value that and does understand like, OK we have a track record of not only winning, and if you want to talk about growing your brand, I mean you’re at one of the most popular brands in all of college basketball,” Few said. “But also we have a great track record of moving guys on to the next level. And that’s where you hopefully make generational money.”

“The ones that end up maybe valuing that, and that resonates and they listen, are the ones that belong at Gonzaga because that’s what we base this program on.”

WATCH THE FULL MARK FEW EPISODE BELOW:

Few shared his thoughts on why his team deserves credit for sticking together, why Chet Holmgren is the toughest player he’s ever coached, conference realignment and so much more, on a new Gonzaga Nation episode.

Produced by Thomas Gallagher.

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