We’re accustomed to seeing the Gonzaga Bulldogs atop the West Coast Conference, however, that has not been the case the past two seasons. In 2023-24 the Saint Mary’s Gaels snapped Gonzaga’s 11-year streak of winning the WCC Regular Season Title — which the Zags had won 22 of the previous 23 seasons at the time. The Gaels went on to win the WCC last season by three games over the Zags, marking the first time in Mark Few’s career in Spokane that he had gone consecutive seasons without winning the conference.
While the WCC is certainly getting more competitive, this should be a year that Gonzaga proves itself to be head and shoulders above the field. We’ll get into why the Bulldogs have the firepower not just to run through the conference, but also contend nationally. But, for starters, Saint Mary’s is in line to take a huge step back. That veteran roster of the Gaels that’s been so dominant the last two seasons has finally departed, and they’ll have to turn to a much less talented and inexperienced roster.
On the Gonzaga side, this team is loaded with returning talent, a strong transfer class, and some dangerous incoming freshman. Braden Huff and Graham Ike return as experienced upperclassmen that give the Zags arguably the best big man combo in the country. Steele Venters, a sharp shooter from Eastern Washington, transferred in two years ago, but has suffered a season-ending injury in the preseason each of the past two years. He’s finally healthy, and while he may not be the player he was when he averaged over 15 points for Eastern Washington, he provides a veteran shooting threat.
The backcourt is stabilized by mostly veteran transfers, highlighted by Adam Miller (Arizona State), Jalen Warley (Florida State) and Braeden Smith (Colgate). All of them bring plenty of experience playing significant minutes. The most notable addition comes in Tyon Grant-Foster, who has been in college basketball forever, and recently made a name for himself at Grand Canyon. Originally a Kansas recruit, Grant-Foster averaged over 20 points per game at GCU when the Antelopes made a tournament run in 2024. He dropped to 14 points per game last season, but was playing through injury.
Grant-Foster had been waiting all offseason to be cleared by the NCAA to play for Gonzaga this season, and we finally got the news that he’s good to go. Now healthy and motivated, he should provide elite wing scoring for the Zags. The cherry on top is a highly-rated freshman class that includes the likes of Maria Saint-Supery, Davis Fogle and Parker Jefferson.
KenPom has Gonzaga ranked as the No. 8 team in the country, with the only other teams in the WCC ranking in the top-100 as Saint Mary’s (55th) and San Francisco (84th). The Bulldogs have elite talent and terrific depth, and while we can argue if they have enough to contend nationally, there’s no discussion when it comes to the WCC. It would take cluster injuries and a severe underperformance for Gonzaga not to win the WCC this season, and I’m willing to lay juice that they return to the top of the conference.
