'That's truly who he is, is a great player': Braden Huff provides more than just a spark for Gonzaga men's basketball

Redshirt freshman is off to a historic start to his career as he leads the Bulldogs in scoring two games into the season

A year ago, Braden Huff was put in a precarious situation upon joining the Gonzaga men's basketball program. The 6-foot-10 Illinois native committed at a time when it looked like there would be room in the rotation for him the following fall, though as Mark Few brought in more skilled players at his position over the offseason, it was clear Huff's minutes would be few and far between as a freshman.

Instead of looking for a way out, he took the route most four-star recruits don't anymore — he redshirted, which maintained his eligibility status and gave him a year off from competition. Sacrificing immediate playing time as Mr. Basketball in Illinois and a top 100 recruit was a surprise in today's college athletics landscape. With an entire season and offseason to study and train his body for the college game, the move has worked wonders for him and the Bulldogs early in the 2023-24 season.

"The year off was great for me. Definitely at some points it was pretty long, but just to be able to get in the gym and get those extra workouts in, as well as kind of seeing the game from a different point of view, I think was important," Huff said after Gonzaga's exhibition win over Lewis-Clark State on Nov. 3. "Watching a ton of basketball last year and kind of seeing the speed and seeing how it's just different from high school was big for me, and I think it's allowed me to kind of come into this role that that I got this year."

Not many prognosticators could have foreseen Huff excel to this degree in his role off the bench. Through two outings, he leads Gonzaga in scoring at 21 points per game while shooting an efficient 75% from the floor. He's second on the team in rebounds with 7.5 boards per game, an area that his coach has challenged for improvement. Most impressive of all, he's been ultra-productive in just 17 minutes per game.

Gonzaga Bulldogs look ahead to Maui Invitational after dismantling Eastern Oregon

Huff has certainly seized the moment in his time on the floor, especially as a boost of energy off the bench. When Gonzaga trailed Yale by double digits in the season opener, Huff calmly stepped into an open 3-pointer for his official points as a Bulldog, which helped spark a 12-5 run to give Gonzaga momentum. His second triple of the half put the Zags ahead for good, as he finished with a game-high 19 points on 7-for-10 shooting from the floor.

The confidence he carries from the moment he steps onto the floor screams anything but a first-year player. Against Eastern Oregon, he whacked a 3-pointer and finished through contact for a bucket in the paint within 30 seconds of entering the game. He even pulled off a Drew Timme-esque move in transition, as he took a defensive rebound coast-to-coast before finessing his way around the defender for a left-handed hook.

"That guy is great," Graham Ike said of Huff after Gonzaga's win over Eastern Oregon. "Just the way he works. It's obviously shown in the game. That's truly who he is, is a great player."

Huff has had his share of battles against his frontcourt mate in practice, an experience he called "not a lot of fun," but he recognized how those matchups go a long way in his development.

"I know it's gonna make me better," Huff said. "I've just got to keep telling myself that because when [Ike] ducks me and it's not fun, you definitely feel it."

Huff will have plenty of opportunities to go to war with some of the best bigs in college basketball at the Maui Invitational, headlined by Purdue's Wooden Award favorite Zach Edey. The 7-foot-3 big man poses a much more difficult challenge than Gonzaga has seen thus far, and the strategy will have to change from last season's meeting when Edey dropped 23 points in the Boilermakers' win over the Bulldogs in Portland. As a stretch forward, Huff's ability to knock down 3-pointers could be a factor in drawing opposing centers away from the basket to open up the paint for guards to drive inside without heavy resistance. 

Huff's uncanny productivity out of the gate is off to a historic start — his 42 total points is the most by a Bulldog in their first two games since Kevin Pangos had 44 points in 2011. Now, it's all about consistency.

"I will be curious as the year progresses, if he's still productive, how many minutes he's going to get," Adam Morrison said on an episode of The Perimeter. "I think he's got the most skill out of the bigs."

Adam Morrison on Braden Huff: 'He just keeps getting better and better'