SPOKANE, Washington – In collegiate basketball, the days of an offseason are gone. Almost 2,000 Division I athletes switched teams this year by using the transfer site. While coaches used to be allowed to take time off, they are now working harder than ever to recruit players through the portal.
The Gonzaga Bulldogs are favored to win the 2025 NCAA Men’s National Championship since they are entering the transfer portal from the receiving end this year rather than the leaving end.
According to Jeff Borzello’s ESPN Way-Too-Early Top 25, the Zags are expected to be among the top teams in the country for the 2024–25 campaign.
As of May 13, ESPN’s Way-Too-Early poll had Gonzaga at No. 3, up from No. 4 the previous week.
According to Borzello, Mark Few will reassemble the club that performed like a top-10 or top-15 squad during the last two months of the season, with the exception of Anton Watson.One of the strongest inside-outside combos in the nation consists of Ryan Nembhard and Graham Ike. The Zags will also welcome Michael Ajayi from Pepperdine and welcome back former Eastern Washington transfer Steele Venters, who missed the previous season due to injury. Venters will provide perimeter pop. Khalif Battle, an Arkansas transfer who averaged 29.6 points in his last seven games, was also just added.
Houston, at No. 2, and Kansas, at No. 1, are the only teams ranked higher than the Zags.
GU’s starting lineup according to Brozello is expected to include Ryan Nembhard, Nolan Hickman, Michael Ajayi, Ben Gregg, and Graham Ike.
For Gonzaga last season, every player but one was a starter. If Ajayi from Pepperdine withdraws his name from the NBA Draft pool by 8:59 p.m. PT on May 29, the inclusion will give an already strong team further depth. But Ajayi isn’t guaranteed a starting position; Venters is coming off an injury and should be fully recovered by the end of the summer. Should Venters continue where he left off, the two might compete for the starting position.
Ike led the Zags in scoring and rebounds the previous season, averaging 16.5 points and 7.4 rebounds per game.
With 236 assists in 34 games against Kentucky, Nebmhard set the record for the most assists in a single season and was GU’s top assist producer with 6.9 assists per contest. Nembhard also had a nightly average of 12.6 points and 4 rebounds.
The Bulldogs’ sharpshooter from the previous season was Nolan Hickman. With an average of 14 points per game, he led the team in three-point percentage (41.3%).
Ben Gregg gave GU the much-needed spark in the midst of the season as he pushed his way into a starting lineup. In 23.6 minutes a game, he averaged nine points and shot 54.1% from the field.
Ajayi averaged 17.2 points, 9.9 rebounds, and 0.9 steals per game last season, making him the Pepperdine Waves’ best player. He also had scorching three-point and field goal percentages of 47% and 46.7%, respectively.
After averaging 15.3 points and shooting 37% from three pointers on the previous season at EWU, Venters was named the Big Sky Conference MVP.
Even while the stars are resting, this team’s bench guys, including Dusty Stromer (4.8 ppg) and Braden Huff (9.3 ppg, shot 59.8% from the field), provide even more depth and will keep opponents at bay.Khalif Battle, an Arkansas transfer who averaged 14.8 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 40.6% field goal and 35.3% three-point shooting from beyond the court, was also added by Gonzaga.
Only two scholarship players and one walk-on were lost by GU this season because to the portal.Along with walk-on Colby Brooks, scholarship players Luka Krajnovic (who played in 16 games and averaged 8.3 points per game) and Pavle Stosic (who played in 14 games and averaged 3.3 points per game) left the squad.
Playing close to home in Seattle, Lunardi has the Zags dancing as the No. 2-seed for the first time since 2015.
In this scenario, Gonzaga’s first-round opponent would be Iona, ranked fifteenth. A victory in the first round would guarantee a rematch with the victor of Michigan State, ranked seventh, and Wake Forest, ranked tenth.
Gonzaga has the tenth-best odds (+2200) to win the National Title, according to play MGM (play $100 to win $2,200).The Zags are ranked 13th with +3000 odds on Vegas Insider and 18th with +4000 on Vegas Insider for the ultimate victory.
All of them are only forecasts and educated estimates for the offseason, but given how the Gonzaga Bulldogs concluded their season in the Sweet 16, it’s possible that they will come to pass for the 2024–25 squad.
