Gonzaga’s Canadian connection got a little deeper on Wednesday night.
The Bulldogs added Florida transfer Xaivian Lee, a Toronto native who gives Mark Few another high-end guard to plug into a roster built for a serious run. Lee was born in Toronto, played high school basketball at Perkiomen in Pennsylvania, and spent three seasons at Princeton before transferring to Florida last season, where he averaged 11.6 points, 4.2 assists, and 3.7 rebounds per game.
Lee’s move to Spokane also came after he was made eligible through a TRO granted in the state of California, and he is projected to step in as Gonzaga’s starting point guard. He’ll be working alongside returners Davis Fogle and Braden Huff, plus transfers Massamba Diop, Chauncey Wiggins, Isiah Harwell, and, if he regains eligibility, fellow point guard Javon Bennett.
That’s a loaded situation for any guard, but Lee arrives with the kind of profile Gonzaga has leaned on before: a Canadian playmaker with real poise and production. If he ends up staying in Spokane for just one season, he still has a chance to join the list of one-year difference-makers who’ve helped shape the program.
And that list runs deep north of the border.
Assuming Lee takes the reins this season, he would become the fourth Canadian-born player to run Few’s offense, joining Andrew Nembhard, Ryan Nembhard, and 2015 WCC Player of the Year Kevin Pangos. Pangos made 24 appearances in the NBA with Cleveland back in 2021-22, while Andrew Nembhard is with Indiana and Ryan Nembhard is with Atlanta.
Lee also shares another Gonzaga-to-Florida link with Andrew Nembhard, and Bulldogs fans know exactly what that kind of guard can mean in Spokane. Andrew Nembhard started alongside Jalen Suggs during Gonzaga’s national championship run in 2021 and later helped lead a team with Chet Holmgren and Drew Timme to a No. 1 overall seed in 2022.
Lee has also already had a look at the pro side of the game, playing for the Cavaliers in NBA Summer League. If he eventually reaches the league, he’d make it four-for-four among Gonzaga’s Canadian point guards.
But Canada’s impact on Gonzaga hasn’t been limited to the backcourt.
Kelly Olynyk and Kyle Wiltjer are both representing Canada in the FIBA World Cup qualifiers, and they helped lead Team Canada past Argentina on Thursday, 86-66. Wiltjer finished with 16 points and five rebounds, while Olynyk added eight points and four rebounds.
Both were stars at Gonzaga more than a decade ago and have remained fixtures for Canada’s Senior National Team. Olynyk was an All-American in 2012-13 after guiding Gonzaga to its first-ever No. 1 ranking, and he just completed his 13th NBA season in 2025-26.
Wiltjer’s NBA run was shorter, with 14 games for the Houston Rockets in 2016-17, but the 6'10 sharpshooter has carved out a long pro career across Europe and Asia. He’s also one of the few Zags to score 20 or more points per game in a season, doing it at 20.4 as a senior in 2015-16.
The Canadian footprint reaches beyond those headline names, too. Brandon Clarke, born in Vancouver, BC, was one of the most memorable one-season players in Gonzaga history during 2018-19 before a seven-year NBA career with the Memphis Grizzlies. Former center Rob Sacre, born in Louisiana but a dual citizen of Canada and the USA, played high school basketball in Vancouver and helped Canada win a Bronze Medal at the 2015 FIBA AmeriCup in Mexico City before spending parts of four NBA seasons with the Los Angeles Lakers.
Mangisto Arop, Bol Kong, and Dustin Triano are also part of that Canadian list, a pipeline that keeps producing for Gonzaga - and now includes Xaivian Lee.
In Other News...
Gonzaga Has One Roster Spot Left And A Tough Transfer Call
Gonzagas summer roster work has not really settled into a neat finish yet. Mark Few and his staff are still sorting through the aftermath of Skylar Wicks reopening his recruitment, a turn that came less than 24 hours after the Bulldogs picked up a commitment from point guard Xaivian Lee. The result is a roster picture that still has at least one opening, with the staff also waiting on eligibility updates for five players before the group feels fully defined.
That leaves Gonzaga in the familiar position of weighing fit, timing and available options all at once. The staff has been linked to potential transfer targets such as Zugic, Carter and Kepley, but the decision is not simply about filling space on the board. It is about whether the Bulldogs can use that last spot to strengthen a roster that is still being clarified, or whether patience makes more sense while the eligibility questions sort themselves out. [Read more 🡒]