is going to the Pac-12 as it is still
being called in 2026. The Zags will
be the only non-football school in
the conference at least right now.
The conference right now has eight
schools listed who will make it
coming up. They have to add at least
one more university who plays football.
Gonzaga begins their non-league schedule
on November 4 against Baylor. They
play six non-league games for the WCC
begins on December 30 at Pepperdine.
This schedule will be tough so we will
see how good they are. Besides Baylor
they are followed by Arizona State,
West Virginia, Kentucky, Connecticut
and UCLA.
The Zags won't look tgecssme as far
as high profile players they do bring
back most of the roster from last season.
At point guard will be Ryan Nembhard
who set a Gonazaga record in assists
last year averaging 6.9 per game while
scoring 12.6 points a game. Again be
important to have the ball in his hands
again.
Shooting guard will be Nolan Hickman
who averaged 14 points a game and
shot 41.3% behind the 3pt. line. At small
forward will be Michael Ajayi who averaged
17.2 points a game and shot 47% behind
the 3pt. line in limited attempts. May see
him take more shots behind the arc this
season. Ajayi average 9.9 rebounds
last year placing him se Ind in the WCC.
Ben Gregg is expected to be the starting
power forward after taking over the role
during last season. Graham Ike returns
at center where he averaged 16.5 points
a game along with 7.4 rebounds. The
previous two years Ike played at Wyoming.
The bench will be made up of five guys
mainly depending on the rotation. Often
teams will go with eight do the last two
might not get as many minutes. Braden
Huff at forward averaged 13.5 minutes a
game as a true freshman last year scoring
9.3 points a game. Coming in his second
season he most likely will have a bigger
role.
Another one coming into his sophomore
season will be small forward Dusty
Stromer. He averaged pretty good
playing time last year at 23.5 minutes a
game. Stromer averaged 4.8 points
a game however we should see that
go up this season. Another key bench
player is Khalif Battle a point guard
well as shooter. Depending on the
situation he might be the first off the
bench and could start as well. Battle
is an experience player as Gonzaga
will be the fourth school he plays for.
Last season his only at Arkansas he
averaged 14.8 points a game. Battle
starts or comes off the bench he is
a solid newcomer to the Zags.
Emmanuel Innocenti is expected to
be the ninth player in the rotation.
A transfer from Tarleton State where
he played one year as a true freshman
and started 33 games. Tarleton State
is in the WAC and Innocenti averaged
6.6 points and 6.4 rebounds a game.
Steele Venters guard/forward missed
most of last year with an ACL injury.
The Zags were hoping to have him
this season however he tore his left
Achilles tendon so will miss another
season. The Zags have five other
reserves so we will find out if one
of them will be part of the rotation
or not. Go Zags!
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