Gonzaga still has room to make one more splash, and the target profile is pretty clear: another guard who can raise the floor and maybe even change the ceiling.
Mark Few’s roster is mostly built out at 12 of 15 spots, with three players still working through eligibility issues in 23-year-old French guard Nathan de Sousa, 21-year-old Real Madrid big man Izan Almansa, and 26-year-old St. Francis transfer Skylar Wicks. If all three are cleared and stay committed, Gonzaga would still have one opening because Alonzo Metz, a walk-on last season, is a “designated student-athlete” and does not count against the 15-man limit under the House Settlement from last year.
The additions of Dayton transfer Javon Bennett and Florida State transfer Chauncey Wiggins already changed the look of the team. Gonzaga has more experience now, more shooting, and more depth. Even so, the Bulldogs are still chasing another guard who could push Bennett into a high-end sixth-man role.
One name in the mix is Jacob Lee, whose stock soared after a huge junior season at Princeton before his senior year at Florida came with more bumps. He put up 11.6 points per game and posted a strong 4.2 assist-to-1.7 turnover ratio, but his three-point touch dipped all the way to 29.2% in the SEC. That’s not ideal for Gonzaga, though the arrivals of Bennett and Wiggins make a pass-first guard with shaky shooting a little more workable.
Eligibility is the bigger hurdle. Lee said he planned to enter the transfer portal after a Colorado ruling gave eligibility to all class of 2022 players, but that was later narrowed to only those who entered the portal in the April window if they wanted to play for a new team in 2026-27.
Lee would need another ruling to land at Gonzaga, and there’s also the matter of his pro situation. He played with the Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA Summer League, and some reports said he signed an Exhibit 10 deal, which could make him ineligible.
Jon Chepkevich reported that Lee is among several players who have not yet executed their professional contract, and the NCAA will weigh that before deciding his case.
Donovan Dent had long been viewed as Gonzaga’s top prize, and less than 48 hours after GU lost Mario Saint-Supery, he announced plans to pursue a fifth year of eligibility. That timing did not feel accidental to many.
Dent is the kind of point guard who can tilt a season: he averaged 7.6 assists per game last year at UCLA, and as a junior at New Mexico he won Mountain West Player of the Year by averaging 20.4 points and 6.4 assists while shooting better than 40% from three. He is the best pure point guard in the portal, but he is not eligible to play anywhere other than UCLA right now.
Dent is part of a lawsuit in California that, if an injunction is granted, would likely allow him to play wherever he wants in 2026-27. If that place is Spokane, Gonzaga would suddenly look like a national championship contender.
Then there is Sean Edwards, who may not have quite the same pure point-guard label as Lee or Dent, but brings the cleanest path to eligibility and the best shooting of the group. At SMU last season, he hit 37.2% of his 4.0 three-point attempts per game and finished with averages of 12.7 points, 5.9 rebounds, 4.9 assists, and a conference-best 2.3 steals.
His career assist-to-turnover mark of 3.4 to 1.5 fits neatly with what Few likes to run. Edwards was part of the Tennessee lawsuit that gave all plaintiffs immediate eligibility and the freedom to transfer wherever they want for this season.
At 6-foot-2, he would start over Bennett, add another perimeter shooter next to Wiggins, and give Gonzaga a steady hand with defensive pop and solid playmaking as it heads into the Pac-12 in 2026-27.
In Other News...
Another Former Gonzaga Big Man Is Tied To Saint-Supery's Next Move
A familiar Gonzaga name is headed to a new pro stop, and this one adds another layer to a Valencia Basket roster that already has a former Bulldog in place. Oumar Ballo, who played for Gonzaga before moving on to Arizona and Indiana, has begun his professional career overseas and now lands with the reigning Spanish champions after earlier stops in Italy and Rwanda.
What makes the move especially notable for Gonzaga followers is the company he will keep there. Mario Saint-Supery, who left Gonzaga to sign a long-term deal with Valencia Basket after Sergio de Larrea headed to the NBA, is already part of the setup, giving the Spanish club another link back to Spokane as it builds around familiar college talent. [Read more 🡒]