Mark Few and Gonzaga are already digging into the 2028 class, and the newest name on the board is one with plenty of familiar bloodlines.
The Bulldogs were in this weekend to see Kinston Knueppel, a 4-star guard from Milwaukee, WI, according to Dushawn London of 247Sports. Knueppel is one of the more closely watched guards in the early 2028 cycle, and Gonzaga has now become part of that picture as it keeps building out its next wave of targets.
Knueppel’s family ties are hard to miss. He is the younger brother of Kon and Kager Knueppel.
Kon spent the 2024-25 season at Duke, where he was one of the best freshmen in the country before later going up against his former teammate Cooper Flagg for Rookie of the Year last year with the Charlotte Hornets. Kager, meanwhile, is already committed to Duke in the 2027 class after sharing the summer with Gonzaga commit Dooney Johnson on Team Herro in the Nike EYBL circuit.
Kinston spent this summer with Team Herro as well, playing in the 16U division and stuffing the stat sheet. Over 13 games, he led the team in minutes at 30.2 per game, while also pacing the group in rebounds at 5.4, assists at 3.2, blocks at 0.7, and three-point percentage at 36.2%. He finished third on the team in scoring with 12.8 points per game.
That production lined up with a strong high school regular season at Wisconsin Lutheran, where he averaged 10.3 points and 3.5 assists while shooting 47.2% from three.
At 6-foot-5, Knueppel is rated No. 41 in ESPN’s 2028 rankings, No. 49 at Rivals, and No. 92 at 247Sports. His offer list currently includes Davidson and Wake Forest, and this week’s visits included Gonzaga, Davidson, Notre Dame, Marquette, and Butler.
He has also talked with Purdue, Louisville, and Illinois, and told Rivals he wants "to go somewhere I can develop my game, but I want to win. I want to play for a winning coaching staff and a winning program."
Knueppel is now the third 2028 prospect Gonzaga has been publicly linked to, joining 6'5 shooting guard Jordan Mize of Sierra Canyon and 6'2 combo guard Quentin Mosby of IMG Academy.
Mize is a consensus 5-star and sits at No. 22 in the 247Sports composite. Gonzaga has offered him, along with Kansas, Alabama, Tennessee, UCLA, Oregon, Creighton, USC, TCU, and Arizona State.
Mosby, who currently plays in Florida but grew up in the Seattle area, is ranked No. 61 in the composite and holds offers from Washington, Stanford, Georgia Tech, Utah, and Northwestern.
The Bulldogs also have one 2027 recruit lined up for Kraziness in the Kennel on Oct. 3: 4-star wing Gene Roebuck. Another 2027 target, Jalen Davis from Bremerton, is scheduled for a visit on Nov. 7 when Gonzaga opens at home against New Mexico State.
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Gonzaga Has A New EuroLeague Name Fans Will Want To Track
Mario Saint-Superys move to Valencia Basket gives Gonzaga another name to follow overseas after the guard left Spokane following one season in the program. He joins a long list of former Bulldogs building careers abroad, with 18 other ex-Gonzaga players set to compete professionally outside the United States in 2025-26, a reminder of how far the programs reach now extends beyond the college game.
Among the most notable familiar faces in Europe are Nigel Williams-Goss and Filip Petrusev, both part of the EuroLeague landscape for 2026-27. Williams-Goss is running the show as algiris Kaunas lead guard, while Petrusev has settled in as a frontcourt piece for Dubai Basketball, giving Gonzaga fans a pair of high-level watches as the new season unfolds. [Read more 🡒]