Gonzaga’s path to landing a high-level point guard just got a lot clearer.
On Tuesday, a judge in California granted a temporary restraining order for 73 plaintiffs, opening a transfer portal window through August 24 and making those players eligible for the upcoming 2026-27 season, pending an NCAA appeal. That group includes two of Gonzaga’s top point guard targets: Donovan Dent of UCLA and Xaivian Lee of Florida.
Lee has now confirmed he plans to enter the transfer portal, according to Joe Tipton of On3. Dent had already said he intended to do the same. For Mark Few and the Bulldogs, that matters because Gonzaga has been hunting for a lead guard to replace Mario Saint-Supery, who stunned the program by returning to Spain in mid-July after spending more than a month working out in Spokane.
The California ruling matters because both guards had previously been caught in a complicated eligibility mess. A federal ruling in Colorado made all members of the high school class of 2022 eligible, which included Dent and Lee, but that decision only allowed transfers for players who had entered the portal in April.
Neither of them had done that. This new TRO gives them a fresh opening to move freely, and if the NCAA does not win an appeal, they could play anywhere this season without penalty.
There are still no guarantees. The NCAA is already appealing a separate injunction in Ohio, and the Ohio Court of Appeals has put a stay on that case, which means players covered by that ruling are currently ineligible until the appeals process is finished. The California case could play out differently, but it’s far from certain that any of these players will actually be cleared this season.
Lee’s situation has another wrinkle, too. He played in the NBA Summer League and may have signed an Exhibit 10 deal, and as of now it is unclear whether the TRO affects that side of his eligibility.
For Gonzaga, the appeal of Dent and Lee is obvious. Both are elite facilitators, and both would fill a glaring need in the backcourt.
Dent was the Mountain West Player of the Year in 2024-25 at New Mexico, putting up 20.4 points and 6.4 assists before moving to UCLA last season. His scoring dipped, and he shot just 25.6% from three, but he still delivered 7.6 assists against only 1.8 turnovers, one of the best assist-to-turnover marks in the country.
Lee, meanwhile, averaged 16.9 points and 5.5 assists at Princeton as a junior before taking over point guard duties at Florida for Walter Clayton Jr. He also had his own struggles from deep, shooting 29.2% from three, but he averaged 4.2 assists and played some of the best defense of his career in a tough SEC.
Either one would be a major addition to a Gonzaga roster that already includes sophomore Davis Fogle, Florida State transfer Chauncey Wiggins, senior Braden Huff, and Arizona State transfer Massamba Diop.
The Bulldogs also added another point guard in Javon Bennett from Dayton, and he would remain eligible even if the Ohio case gets overturned on appeal because he entered the transfer portal in April. Bennett is part of a backcourt group that also includes Houston transfer Isiah Harwell, St. Francis transfer Skylar Wicks, and freshmen Luca Foster and Juwan Ekanga-Ehawa.
If Lee or Dent ends up in Spokane for 2026-27, that backcourt could be one of the best in the country.
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