Mark Few on Gonzaga's matchup vs. Washington: 'They've taken full advantage of the transfer portal'

The Bulldogs and Huskies will look drastically different this time around

When the No. 7 Gonzaga Bulldogs and Washington Huskies square off Saturday, it will have been exactly one year since the in-state rivals last met in Spokane.

Drew Timme and Julian Strawther combined to score 40 points in the Zags' 17-point win over the Huskies, who were led by a trio of double-digit scorers in Keion Brooks Jr., PJ Fuller II and Cole Bajema. 

Fast forward through an eventful offseason for both programs, and Brooks Jr. is the only aforementioned name that will be suiting up for Saturday's game. In fact, only five players who played in last season's matchup will be present for the next installment of the rivalry at Alaska Airlines Arena at Hec Edmundson Pavillion, as the Bulldogs and Huskies revamped their respective rosters through the transfer portal.

"They've taken full advantage of the transfer portal and some NIL situations," Mark Few said of the Huskies. "So they really max those things out and they've changed the roster and added some real talent."

Will Gonzaga's Pac-12 dominance continue against Washington?

Washington returned only four players that saw action from a year ago while bringing in an abundance of experienced talent. Mike Hopkins snagged three new starters entering their fifth-year of college basketball: 5-foot-9 guard Sahvir Wheeler (Kentucky), 6-foot-7 guard Paul Mulcahy (Rutgers) and 6-foot-8 forward Moses Wood (Portland). The trio headlines a group of six newcomers that came to Montlake via the portal, which has been an essential tool for team building in the Hopkins era.

Before last summer, Hopkins brought in Brooks Jr. from Kentucky, 6-foot-11 center Franck Kepnang from Oregon and 7-foot-1 post Braxton Meah from Fresno State, all of whom had at least three seasons of experience entering the 2023-24 campaign. Landing talent in the portal has been a consistent theme for the Huskies — they've brought in 16 transfers since 2020 — as the program strives for its first NCAA Tournament appearance since Hopkins' first year at the helm in 2018. The results have been mixed, as Washington finished 16-16 last season following a 5-21 showing 2020-21. 

But the new wave of talent has begun to turn things around for the Huskies (5-3), as well as Hopkins' new philosophies on offense and defense. Wheeler spearheads a selfless group with 6.9 assists per game, second most in the Pac-12, while Mulcahy is not far behind with 6.1 dimes per game. Wood is top-10 in the league with 17 3-pointers and will likely knock down more than 30.9% of his attempts as the season progresses. The instant contributions of the newcomers, with Brooks Jr. still at the helm offensively, has created Washington's most efficient offense since it ranked 61st in KenPom back in 2012.

On the other side, Gonzaga has become quite familiar with the portal as well. Few brought in Ryan Nembhard (Creighton) and Graham Ike (Wyoming) to help fill the voids left by Timme and Strawther, a year after bringing in Efton Reid III (LSU) and Malachi Smith (Chattanooga). Reid and Smith have moved on since, along with Rasir Bolton (Iowa State), leaving Few with just three players who played significant minutes from a season ago.

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