Updated list of Gonzaga players playing pro basketball overseas in 2024-25

At least nine former Zags will suit up for professional teams across seven different countries in the 2024-25 season

Aug 10, 2024; Paris, France; Germany power forward Johannes Thiemann (32) battles for position against Serbia centre Filip Petrusev (3) in the men's basketball bronze medal game during the Paris 2024 Olympic Summer Games at Accor Arena. Mandatory Credit: Rob Schumacher-USA TODAY Sports / Rob Schumacher-USA TODAY Sports

While a slew of former Gonzaga men’s basketball standouts prepare for the 2024-25 NBA season, another group of Zags will take on some of the best competition the rest of the world has to offer in leagues across the globe.

Here’s a look at where nine former Bulldogs are continuing their playing careers across seven different countries in some of the top leagues in Europe and Asia.

This list will be updated:

JOEL AYAYI
Signed with French club JL Bourg Basket in May.

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Joel Ayayi’s basketball career continues back home in France, specifically in Bourg-en-Bresse, where he’ll suit up for JL Bourg Basket of the LNB Elite League after one year with Nanterre 92 in the Pro A League.

“It was a culture change for me after six years in the U.S.,” Ayayi said on Gonzaga Nation in July. “But I’ve been able to see my family, play with my little brother, go see some of my sister’s [Valeriane] games. It’s been very fun.”

Ayayi’s most recent NBA stint was in the 2023 NBA Summer League in Las Vegas, where he suited up in three games for the Memphis Grizzlies. That came after he spent much of the 2022-23 campaign with the Osceola (then Lakeland) Magic, the Orlando Magic’s G League affiliate team.

RASIR BOLTON
Signed with Serbian club MMK Spartak Subotica in May.

Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports

Bolton had about as good of a rookie season as one could hope for, as he finished the 2023-24 campaign with the Antwerp Giants as an MVP finalist of the BNXT League, which is regarded as the highest form of basketball competition in Belgium. The 24-year-old averaged 17.7 points per game as the Giants went 21-7 overall and finished second in the Elite Gold division.

Now Bolton takes his talents to Serbia, where he’ll suit up for MMK Spartak Subotica, the champions of the second-tier division in the NLB ABA this past season. With the promotion to the First Division, Bolton and company will be playing stiffer competition than he was use to in Belgium. 

“I went into my first year not really knowing what’s going on, new to Europe, new to the place, new to the city, just going in with an open mind,” Bolton said on Gonzaga Nation in July. “So I think just going into Serbia the same way. Accepting everything that’s going to come with it. The ups, the downs, the good games, the rough games, the tough practices, the summer workouts. Just going in open-minded and trying to stay positive and always staying true to myself.”

AUSTIN DAYE
Re-signed with Taiwan club New Taipei Kings in July.

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Austin Daye, the 15th overall pick in 2009 by the Detroit Pistons, has had quite the run playing professionally in leagues across Bahrain, Israel, Italy, Taiwan and Turkey over the past few years. 

In a four-year stretch from 2018-22, the 6-foot-9 forward won a FIBA Europe Cup, a Lega Basket Serie A championship and an Italian Cup with Umana Reyer Venezia, which signed Daye to two multiyear deals in that span. After suiting up for Victoria Libertas Pesaro, Daye looks to get back to winning ways with the New Taipei Kings, who recently joined the newly formed Taiwan Professional Basketball League after winning the P. League+ championship last season.

Daye, who joined the club in March, re-upped his contract late last month after putting up 14.1 points and 8.1 rebounds per game in 24 appearances last season.

ELIAS HARRIS
Signed a two-year deal with German club FC Bayern Munich in July.

James Snook-USA TODAY Sports

Elias Harris, a former double-digit scorer for the Zags in the early 2010s, has thrived playing professionally in his home Germany, where he’ll continue to play for powerhouse FC Bayern Munich after signing a two-year deal with the team last month.

The 6-foot-8 forward helped Munich clinch its third Basketball Bundesliga championship in four years this past season, as Harris averaged 7.2 points and 3.1 rebounds in the German league. Munich’s success didn’t carry over to the EuroLeague — it finished 13-21 and 15th in the league standings — though it felt comfortable bringing Harris back on a two-year extension. 

Joining the West Germany native is guard Andreas Obst, one of the German national team’s key contributors during the men’s basketball tournament in the 2024 Olympics. 

KEVIN PANGOS
Signed with Italian club Napoli Basket on Aug. 2.

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Kevin Pangos’ basketball career has taken him all around the globe — Spain (twice), Lithuania, Russia and a few international competitions with the Canadian senior national team. Since giving the NBA a shot in 2021, the 6-foot-2 guard has found a niche in Italy, where he’ll suit up for Gevi Napoli Basket of the LBA Serie A after signing a deal with the club earlier this month.

Pangos joins the reigning Italian Cup champions after playing for Valencia Basket in the Spanish Liga Endesa last season. In 2020-21, he was named All-EuroLeague first team with Zenit Saint Petersburg (Russia).

FILIP PETRUSEV
Still with Greek club Olympiacos despite rumors he might join Crvena Zvezda. 

Jeffrey Swinger-USA TODAY Sports

A key contributor on Serbia’s bronze medal team in Paris, Filip Petrusev has a lot of momentum heading into the 2024-25 EuroLeague season with Olympiacos, which advanced to the EuroLeague Final Four last season thanks in large part to the efforts from the 6-foot-11 forward and former Zag Nigel Williams-Goss.

After Olympiacos came up short to Real Madrid in the final, it was reported that Serbian club Crvena Zvezda, who Petrusev played for in 2022-23, was interested in bringing back the homegrown talent for next season. However, that doesn’t appear to be the case as of now, as Petrusev will gear up for his age 24 season.

KILLIAN TILLIE
Signed with Spanish club Unicaja Malaga on Aug. 9.

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After two years of rehabbing in Spokane, Killian Tillie is ready to resume his professional basketball career in Spain, as he signed a deal with Unicaja Malaga of Liga ACB earlier this week.

The 26-year-old Frenchman and former West Coast Conference Tournament MVP made his return to basketball last month with the Boston Celtics in the NBA Las Vegas Summer League, where Tillie averaged 8.4 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1.0 blocks in five games. He hadn’t played organized basketball since March 15, 2022, and after being released by Memphis later that same year in October, he moved back to Spokane to train and stay in playing shape in hopes of receiving another opportunity.

Tillie’s next shot comes with Unicaja, which won its first Champions League title last season and as such, qualified for the 2024 FIBA Intercontinental Cup that’s set for Sept. 12-15 in Singapore.

NIGEL WILLIAMS-GOSS
Heading into his second season with Olympiacos.

Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports

Nigel Williams-Goss is heading into the second year of a two-year deal he signed with Olympiacos in June 2023. Should the 6-foot-2 guard replicate the successes of year one, he’ll likely be with the Greek club going into the prime of his career.

In 32 games, Williams-Goss averaged 7.9 points and 3.0 assists while knocking down nearly 42% of his 3-point attempts. A EuroLeague champion with Real Madrid in 2022-23, the former All-American has played in big games throughout his basketball life and will likely be one of the main reasons Piraeus is successful in 2024-25.

KYLE WILTJER
Re-signed with Italian club Reyer Venice in June.

Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports

After averaging double figures in scoring last season, Kyle Wiltjer re-upped his contract with Reyer Venice of the BKT EuroCup League in June. The 6-foot-10 post put up 12.2 points and 3.5 rebounds per game as Venice went 19-11 and advanced to the semifinal round of the LBA playoffs. Wiltjer has always been known as a deadly shooter since his Kentucky and Gonzaga days, and it’s certainly his strongest skillset heading into his age 32 season.

Case in point, Wiltjer’s lone season in the Chinese Basketball Association saw him put up 16.4 points per game during the 2022-23 campaign with the Zhejiang Lions. He reached the top of the Basketball Champions League with Lenovo Tenerife the year prior. The NBA might not be calling soon, but Wiltjer seems content getting buckets wherever he can.