2026-27 Gonzaga Player Profiles: Xaivian Lee
As our Gonzaga Bulldogs prepare for their final tune-up before the 2026–27 season officially tips off Monday, we continue to meet our very new roster. As always, the previous players (if you missed anyone) will be linked below. Today, though, I am excited to write about an offseason addition, a player I wanted badly in the portal last year: Xaivian Lee. He’s another 5th-year man who is currently in the clear, and one we hope stays there, as he is primed to be our court general this season. Let's meet Xaivian Lee.
So for me, this is a really cool get by Coach Few and the staff. While many were fawning over Donovan Dent as the 5th-years started to fight for their right to play, I was over to the side holding my Lee sign high. This is a guy whom I have liked for years; his days at Princeton had me watching Ivy League basketball Friday nights and Sunday mornings, his play contagious.
Now, for those who don't know, he jumped into the portal last season with ties to Gonzaga, but ultimately went to Florida. Depending on who you ask, there were mixed results, but if you dive deeper, it really was just an adjustment period for Xaivian. I'll be honest: he struggled shooting the ball for the first 12 games or so, but here's the silver lining, the rest of his game stayed intact. He took care of the ball, found teammates, and played high-level defense. Then the scoring returned, in the SEC, mind you, which is often considered one of the toughest conferences, leading Florida to a No. 1 seed, and in their NCAA loss, he was really their best player. So how does this translate to Spokane, though?
Well, for one, there shouldn't be much of an adjustment at all. Similar to that Florida squad, he has a dominant scoring big in Braden Huff and a pick-and-roll machine in Massamba Diop. Where the pressure could lighten even more, I believe, is the scoring help he will get from Davis Fogle & Isaiah Harwell, the Gators just didn't have that, in my opinion. Lee will now be starting alongside four guys who could truly go for 15–20 or more on any given night. Of course, scrimmages are taken with a grain of salt, but already in his minutes, you can see his impact on the court. He was far and away the best of the three new guards on the roster.
When looking at his projections, I had to calm myself down a bit from fanboying. As I said before, I am very high on Xaivian as a player. I think he is a classic two-way point guard who is not going to hurt you with careless plays. Looking at last year in the SEC, as the primary ball-handler, he had just 1.7 TOs to 4.2 AST. I don't think it's crazy to think he can put up some really good assist numbers with the guys around him, as we know the Few system can rack them up. Every Zag fan should be as excited as I am to watch Lee in a Bulldog uniform this season, as he can be a massive game-changer on any given night.
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