Around Spokane, no news was considered good news when the transfer portal deadline passed.
Without any last-minute draft or portal entries out of Gonzaga to speak of — except for Ben Gregg, who many expected to graduate this spring anyhow — the Bulldogs turned their attention toward acquiring experienced talent to round out their 2025-26 roster.
Bringing back the dynamic frontcourt duo of Braden Huff and Graham Ike was a big win for Mark Few and his coaching staff, in addition to retaining 6-foot-5 guard Emmanuel Innocenti and 7-foot center Ismaila Diagne. But as the calendar flipped to May, the Zags had yet to make a splash in the portal. As such, the relief Gonzaga fans once felt in late April was being replaced by stressful thoughts.
The Bulldogs’ fortunes soon changed, however, when they landed their first transfer signee of the offseason in former Arizona State guard Adam Miller on the same day that three-star recruit Parker Jefferson committed to the Zags. Miller, a 6-foot-3 guard, knocked down 42.9% of his 3-point attempts while putting together the most efficient season of his career in 2024-25. Jefferson, a 6-foot-10 forward, was ranked by 247Sports Composite as the No. 164 recruit overall and No. 26 center prospect in the class of 2025.
The additions of Miller and Jefferson were enough to vault Gonzaga up three spots to the No. 21 spot in the latest version of CBS Sports’ college basketball rankings. That was the biggest shift of any team featured in Gary Parrish’s Top 25 and 1 list.
The Bulldogs were viewed by Parrish as a fringe top-25 team earlier this offseason, though that was before Huff and Ike had officially rejoined the mix. Likewise, other credible outlets and media personnel have moved the Zags up a tick or two in their post-portal-entry-deadline power rankings. Gonzaga checked in at No. 21 in Jon Rothstein’s top 45, while ESPN had the Zags at No. 22.
CBS Sports’ Top 25 And 1
1. Houston
2. St. John’s
3. BYU
4. Purdue
5. UConn
6. Texas Tech
7. Michigan
8. Duke
9. UCLA
10. Arizona
11. Kentucky
12. Iowa State
13. Louisville
14. Michigan State
15. Florida
16. Oregon
17. Kansas
18. Auburn
19. Arkansas
20. Tennessee
21. Gonzaga
22. Texas
23. Illinois
24. Alabama
25. Wisconsin
26. Ohio State
MORE GONZAGA NEWS & ANALYSIS
This post was originally published on this site be sure to check out more of their content.
