Report: Gonzaga, Arizona State agree to home-and-home series

Bulldogs and Sun Devils will meet in Spokane on Nov. 10; return game in Tempe, Arizona, in 2025-26

Photo by Erik Smith, Myk Crawford

The Gonzaga Bulldogs and Arizona State Sun Devils have agreed on a home-and-home series that’ll begin this upcoming season on Nov. 10 in Spokane, according to a report from college basketball insider Jon Rothstein. The return game will take place in Tempe, Arizona, during the 2025-26 campaign.

The Nov. 10 matchup is slated to be the first game on the Zags’ 2024-25 schedule and the fifth standalone nonconference matchup. Gonzaga will also take part in the Battle 4 Atlantis from Nov. 27-29 and will notably face Kentucky (Dec. 7), UConn (Dec. 14), UCLA (Dec. 28) and San Diego State (TBA) away from home this season. 

For ASU, which officially became a member of the Big 12 earlier this week, it could face up to three West Coast Conference teams in its non-league slate. The Sun Devils, entering year 10 under head coach Bobby Hurley, will also face Santa Clara two days earlier on Nov. 8 and could potentially meet up with Saint Mary’s in the Acrisure Classic, held down in Palm Springs, California, over Thanksgiving week. 

ASU’s first season in a new conference will be without five of the team’s top six scorers from last season’s 14-18 (8-12 in the Pac-12) squad that finished ninth in the Pac-12 standings. Yet despite nearly 80% of the minutes played in 2023-24 gone, the Sun Devils sit at 67th in Bart Torvik’s 2024-25 season projections — up considerably from where they finished last season (127th).

Perhaps the expectation is that Hurley’s additions will make up for his subtractions. Five-star recruit Jayden Quaintance should go a long way with that cause, as the top-10 high school player from Raleigh, North Carolina, committed to ASU after he was released from his National Letter of Intent with Kentucky. The 6-foot-9 forward could play big minutes right away for Hurley’s squad as a freshman.

The Sun Devils also landed 6-foot-6 wing BJ Freeman (Milwaukee) and 6-foot-1 guard Alston Mason (Missouri State) in addition to retaining 6-foot-3 rising senior Adam Miller, who averaged 12.0 points and 3.2 rebounds last season.

Meanwhile, the Bulldogs returned seven of their top eight scorers from last season’s 27-8 squad, including All-WCC selections Graham Ike, Ryan Nembhard and Nolan Hickman, while adding a handful of talented players via the transfer portal. Michael Ajayi, a 6-foot-7 wing and All-WCC last season at Pepperdine, is a candidate to start on the perimeter; Khalif Battle, a 6-foot-5 grad transfer from Arkansas, can fill up the scoring column. Emmanuel Innocenti, a 6-foot-5 transfer from Tarleton State, is a defensive specialist with the versatility to play multiple positions.

Gonzaga ranks firmly in the top 10 of way-too-early power rankings, polls and projections from humans and computers alike for the 2024-25 season. It’ll strive to make its 26th consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance this upcoming season.

Rothstein’s report came out during the same time the West Coast Conference released its 18-game schedule for its 11 members. Gonzaga’s league opener is Dec. 30 at Pepperdine, followed by a home game against Portland on Jan. 2.