Gonzaga’s recruiting footprint in Wisconsin keeps growing, and the latest name on the board is one of the state’s rising wings.
The Bulldogs have extended an offer to Joey Kohnen, a 6-foot-5 wing from Slinger High School in the 2028 class. Kohnen said on Instagram Friday afternoon that Gonzaga offered him, and he noted conversations with coach Brian Michaelson and general manager Kurt Bambauer.
That puts Gonzaga in the mix with a long list of schools already involved. Wisconsin, Michigan, Iowa, Iowa State, Nebraska, Butler, and Notre Dame have also offered Kohnen, who spent the summer with Team Herro - the same AAU program as Gonzaga signee Dooney Johnson, a 2027 5-star guard from Milwaukee.
Kohnen is listed as a 3-star recruit by 247Sports and sits at No. 116 in the 2028 class there, but the composite ranking has him much higher as a 4-star at No. 64.
ESPN has him at No. 53, while Rivals places him at No. 96.
With his high school junior season just getting started this winter, those numbers figure to keep moving.
As a sophomore at Slinger, Kohnen put up 15.7 points, 4.0 rebounds, 1.8 assists, and 1.3 steals per game. A broken ankle cut into his summer AAU run, limiting him to only a few appearances, though he returned to play five games at Peach Jam with Team Herro’s 16U team. There, he averaged 13.2 points, 4.4 rebounds, 2.2 assists, and 1.8 steals per game.
Basketball runs in the family, too. Kohnen’s older brother, Jack, is a 2027 prospect who committed to Iowa State this summer, and the two brothers have been a force for Slinger over the past few years.
Kohnen is now the second player in Gonzaga’s 2028 class to land an offer from the Bulldogs, joining 6-foot-5 guard Jordan Mize. Mize stars at Sierra Canyon in California and is a consensus 5-star recruit, ranked No. 22 in 247Sports’ composite. His offer list already includes Kansas, UCLA, Alabama, Tennessee, Washington, Oregon, and Creighton.
Gonzaga is also keeping tabs on a couple of other familiar names. One is Seattle-area guard Quentin Mosby, who is headed to IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida, after starting his high school career in Seattle. Mosby is No. 61 in the composite rankings at 247Sports and has offers from Washington, Stanford, Georgia Tech, Utah, and Northwestern.
The other is Kinston Knueppel, the younger brother of Charlotte Hornets guard Kon Knueppel and 2027 4-star recruit Kager Knueppel. Kon played at Duke with Cooper Flagg in 2024-25, and Kager is committed to join the Blue Devils in 2027-28. Kinston does not have a Duke offer yet, but Notre Dame, Marquette, Wake Forest, Butler, and Davidson are among the schools showing interest.
Gonzaga will have at least one recruit on hand for Kraziness in the Kennel next Saturday, Oct. 3, when 2027 4-star wing Gene Roebuck is set to attend. Whether the Bulldogs can add more visitors remains to be seen, but the staff will try to make the most of a weekend that has traditionally worked well for the program.
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