Sound the alarm… ZAGS GOT DUDES!
The amount of excitement I get when I see this video is alarming. Thanks to Seth Davis for coming up with the quote of all quotes.
— Gonzaga Basketball (@ZagMBB) May 6, 2024
Khalif Battle has fully bought into what Gonzaga is wanting out of him as a key scoring bench piece. He has averaged 13.3 PPG on an impressive shooting split of 40.6 FG%/35.3 3PT%/85.7 FT% with Butler, Temple, and Arkansas over the last five years. That’s coming in only 32 starts through 101 career games. His free throw and three-point shooting consistency over that span fills some holes for the Zags.
Here is my prediction for the rotation with the 2024-2025 program.
Gonzaga’s starting lineup:
Nembhard – 12.6 PPG, 6.9 APG, 4.0 RPG, 1.2 SPG
Hickman – 14.0 PPG, 2.7 APG, 2.3 RPG, 1.0 SPG
Ajayi (w/ Pepperdine) – 17.2 PPG, 9.9 RPG
Gregg – 9.0 PPG, 5.7 RPG, 1.2 SPG
Ike – 16.5 PPG, 7.4 RPG
Key rotation pieces:
Battle (w/ Arkansas) – 14.8 PPG, 3.3 RPG
Venters (w/ Eastern Washington in 2022-2023) – 15.3 PPG, 2.8 RPG
Huff – 9.3 PPG, 3.4 RPG
Stromer – 4.8 PPG, 3.3 RPG
The national championship expectations are officially there. The Zags are returning 4 of their 5 starters, 7 of their 8 top scorers from last season’s Sweet Sixteen run. The amount of scoring ability and experience across the board is mind-blowing but they aren’t even done with working the transfer portal. The offense is addressed and a dream would be a defensive-minded big man willing to come off the bench.
Major props to what Mark Few and his coaching staff have done with the combination of new recruits through the hectic portal and the retention of the previous roster.
Arden Cravalho is a Gonzaga University graduate from the Bay Area… Follow him on Twitter @a_cravalho