Gonzaga’s roster is finally out, but the picture still isn’t fully clear.
With Kraziness in the Kennel set for Saturday and an exhibition against Arkansas looming less than a month away, the Bulldogs have published their updated 2026-27 roster. It features 11 newcomers and four returners for Mark Few’s team, but the offseason uncertainty that has followed Gonzaga all summer is still very much alive.
That uncertainty centers on four players whose eligibility remains unsettled with the NCAA: international big man Izan Almansa, along with fifth-year senior transfers Xaivian Lee from Florida, Chauncey Wiggins from Florida State, and Javon Bennett from Dayton.
Lee is the only one of the four known to be eligible right now, thanks to a TRO granted in California that has not been stayed by the NCAA. Bennett in Ohio and Wiggins in Georgia both had their lawsuits stayed, which leaves them ineligible until their cases are heard on appeal.
Almansa’s situation is different, but no less murky. The 21-year-old from Spain committed to Gonzaga in May, yet he has still not been cleared because of his professional experience.
Almansa’s path has been a long one. The 6-foot-10 forward played for the G-League Ignite in 2023-24, putting up 10.5 points and 7.1 rebounds per game, then moved to the NBL and averaged 7.6 points across 29 games with the Perth Wildcats.
He later declared for the 2025 NBA draft, got a green room invite for the second round, went undrafted, and eventually returned to Spain to play for Real Madrid. The NCAA’s crackdown on international pros in college basketball has put his status under heavy scrutiny, and there’s still no timetable for a decision.
For now, Gonzaga has all four of those players listed on the roster, which is not unusual for programs planning to use fifth-year seniors. Even so, there’s a real chance the eligibility picture could keep shifting into the season.
The rest of the roster is settled. French point guard Nathan de Sousa, who Few announced was eligible last Thursday, is among the 11 newcomers locked in for this year. Gonzaga’s four returners are Braden Huff, Davis Fogle, Parker Jefferson, and Alonzo Metz.
The jersey numbers tell part of the story, too. Huff will wear No.
32, Fogle No. 4, Jefferson No. 32, and Metz No. 14, all unchanged from last season.
Harwell will keep No. 1, while Diop stays with No. 35 after arriving from Arizona State.
Among the transfers, Lee will wear No. 5 after using No. 1 at Florida. Wiggins has switched to No. 9 after wearing No. 7 at Florida State, and Bennett is back in No. 2, the number he wore at Merrimack as a freshman before spending the last three years in No. 0 at Dayton. If Wiggins is cleared, he’ll be the first Gonzaga player under Few to wear No. 9, a number that had stayed untouched for more than 25 years.
The newcomers’ other numbers are set as well: Luca Foster will wear No. 0, Juwan Ekanga No. 3, de Sousa No.
7, Almansa No. 13, and Carter Nilson No. 30.
De Sousa becomes the second Few-era Zag to wear No. 7 after Tyon Grant-Foster debuted it last season, while Nilson keeps No. 30 in the walk-on line, following Mike Hart and Abe Eagle.
The roster also brings some size. Gonzaga now has two true seven-footers in Massamba Diop, listed at 7-foot-1 and 245 pounds, and Funches, listed at 7-foot-0 and 238. Wiggins is listed just under that at 6-foot-11 and 225.
Foster comes in at 6-foot-5 and 195 pounds, while Ekanga is listed at 6-foot-6 and 207. Bennett is the smallest player on the roster at 5-foot-10 and 165.
De Sousa, at 6-foot-3 and 200, and Lee, at 6-foot-4 and 185, are both bigger than the typical point guard. Harwell is listed at 216 pounds, down from 220 at Houston, while Diop has added weight since his Arizona State days, up from 230 to 245.
Fans will get their first look at this group on Saturday, when Kraziness in the Kennel tips off at 2:00 PM PT on Oct. 3.
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