PORTLAND, OREGON – MARCH 21: Mario Saint-Supery #17 of the Gonzaga Bulldogs dribbles the ball while being guarded by Tramon Mark #12 of the Texas Longhorns during the first half in the second round of the 2026 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at Moda Center on March 21, 2026 in Portland, Oregon. (Photo by Soobum Im/Getty Images)
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Since 1999, Gonzaga has made the NCAA men’s basketball tournament each season, the third-longest streak behind Kansas and Michigan State. The Bulldogs should qualify again this coming season. Still, their chances to advance deep in the tournament took a hit this week when point guard Mario Saint-Supery signed a contract with Valencia of the EuroLeague.
While the number of players leaving Europe to play college basketball has significantly increased recently due to revenue sharing and Name, Image and Likeness, Saint-Supery is the rare overseas player who has departed the college game and headed back home, presumably for more money and financial stability. Saint-Supery’s four-year deal is worth more than $15 million total, according to CBS Sports’ Matt Norlander.
Saint-Supery, who grew up in Spain and turned 20 in April, averaged 8.6 points, 3.8 assists and 1.3 steals per game as a freshman last season. For most of the season, he was a reserve, but he started the final eight games. He was expected to be the Bulldogs’ full-time starter this season. Saint-Supery this month played for Spain in the FIBA World Cup European qualifiers, averaging 14.5 points and making 57.9% of his shots in two games.
With Saint-Supery gone, Gonzaga is thin at point guard. Jack Kayil, a point guard who committed to Gonzaga last November, decided to enter the NBA draft and was a second round pick, so he won’t be playing in college. The Bulldogs could always look to add a player, possibly a veteran who could have a fifth year of eligibility.
A judge in Ohio last week granted a preliminary injunction allowing 24 men’s and women’s basketball players a fifth year of eligibility. Those players had filed a lawsuit against the NCAA after the organization announced a new eligibility model that takes effect on Aug. 1. Under that model, players will have five years of eligibility following their high school graduation or starting the school year after they turn 19, whichever occurs first. The NCAA did not intend for the rule to apply to players whose four years of eligibility under the old rules expired last season. However, attorneys have fought the NCAA, arguing the rules should include those players.
For now, Gonzaga will not have as much depth as coach Mark Few expected. But the Bulldogs should still be a top 20 team and the favorite in the new Pacific 12 Conference, which debuts this season. The other programs in the new Pac 12 are Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, Oregon State, San Diego State, Texas State, Utah State and Washington State.
Gonzaga returns two major contributors from last season in 6-foot-10 forward Braden Huff and 6-foot-7 guard Davis Fogle. Huff averaged 17.8 points and 5.6 rebounds per game and made 66.2% of his field goals last season, but he only played 18 games after he sustained a season-ending knee injury in practice. When Huff went out, the Bulldogs were 17-1 and No. 8 in the Associated Press poll. They finished 31-4 and won the West Coast Conference regular season and tournament titles before losing to Texas in the second round of the NCAA tournament.
Fogle averaged 8.6 points in just 16.7 minutes per game last season as a freshman, but he had some strong performances down the stretch. He had 13 points, eight rebounds and six assists in the WCC tournament championship and scored 17 points in a first round NCAA tournament victory over Kennesaw State.
Gonzaga is also bringing in a strong transfer class in Massamba Diop (Arizona State), Isiah Harwell (Houston) and Skylar Wicks (Saint Francis). Diop, a 7-foot-1 center, averaged 13.6 points and 5.8 rebounds as a freshman last season. He is No. 5 in 247Sports’ rankings of the top incoming transfers. Harwell, a 6-foot-6 guard, was the No. 13 player in the high school class of 2025, but he averaged just 3.6 points in 13.8 minutes off the bench last season. Wicks, a 6-foot-6 guard, averaged 17.8 points and 6.7 rebounds last season. Wicks, who is 26 years old, has already played for Missouri State, Incarnate Word, University of Texas-San Antonio and Saint Francis.
The Bulldogs signed two freshmen who could compete for minutes, as well, in 6-foot-5 wing Luca Foster and 6-foot-10 center Sam Funches, who are No. 55 and No. 110 recruits in the high school class of 2026, per the 247Sports Composite. They have two incoming players from overseas, too, in French guards Nathan De Sousa and Juwan Ekanga-Ehawa.
Gonzaga has long been successful recruiting international players dating to Few’s early days as a coach in the early 2000s. Tommy Lloyd, who is now Arizona’s coach, was a longtime assistant under Few who was early making contacts in Europe and other regions and identifying players who could fit into Gonzaga’s system. The strategy has worked, as Gonzaga has won at least 25 games in all but two of Few’s 27 seasons as head coach and made the national championship game in 2017 and 2021.
Saint-Supery proved last season that he was another player from Europe who could make an impact with the Bulldogs. Now that he’s gone, Gonzaga is unexpectedly short at a position Few thought he had locked down. Still, the Bulldogs could always add another point guard, even with school starting in less than two months. And with Few’s track record, Gonzaga should be in the national mix again this season, as always.