Gonzaga Basketball 2025-26 Season Preview
- CoachDay
- 2 days ago
- 3 min read
The college basketball season has finally arrived, with much of the nation tipping off Monday. Over 350 teams all start 0-0 with different goals in mind. For the Gonzaga Bulldogs, the endgame remains the same... win a national championship. The Bulldogs have become a national powerhouse in the 21st century with accolades aplenty, including two national runner-ups, nine straight Sweet 16 appearances, producing multiple first-round picks, and so many awards.
Yet again, Coach Mark Few and his staff have assembled a roster full of talent that looks ready to compete with anyone. So how does Gonzaga finally reach the pinnacle of the sport? Do they finally have the squad that sets them up to be the last team standing? For this preview, I’m going to give five keys to Gonzaga cutting down the nets in the final game of the college basketball season in Spring 2026.
First, let’s meet our 2025-26 Gonzaga Bulldogs, a mix of familiar and new faces to us Zag fans.
In my overall college basketball preview (link here:https://www.barstoolbreakdown.com/post/barstool-breakdown-2025-26-college-basketball-season-preview), Gonzaga checked in at 16th, with multiple players being named to All-Squads, including Graham Ike on the All-Squad. All fans should check that out too. It shows that the Zags got dudes! As always. So how do we get to the promised land? Well, let’s discuss…
Braeden Smith & Mario Saint-Supery both look ALL-WCC
Reports all fall have been about how impressive Saint-Supery has been, pushing for not just rotational minutes but even the starting spot at PG. This needs to continue throughout the season. Whether Smith or Saint-Supery are in the game, the offense can’t stall. If the two can be interchangeable, the Zags will be unguardable.
Steele Venters & Adam Miller average 40% or better from 3FG
We know all about our ability to score inside with Graham Ike & Braden Huff. Then you add in the slashing, scoring style of Tyon Grant-Foster... defenses will have to make choices. Most likely, that means leaving Venters or Miller open. If they can make teams pay and find a 40% clip, this makes the offense even more versatile.
Last year’s team wasn’t as sharp from three as we needed to be. With a healthy Venters and a capable Miller, that should change greatly.
Top 25 in Defensive Efficiency
With the wings of Tyon Grant-Foster & Jalen Warley, this team’s defense should be much improved from years past. Coach Few has already stated how this may be one of the most athletic teams he’s ever had.
The patented 1-2-2 three-quarter press with Grant-Foster, Warley, & Innocenti able to play that top spot… WOW. Their length will give a lot of teams fits. You then throw in that size with the bigs we have in the half court, we need to expect more out of the Zags defensively this year.
Earn a 3 seed or higher in March
We saw how much seeding matters this past March, when the Zags brought the eventual runner-up Houston to the brink in the second round. This year, if we want to go all the way, we need to earn a higher seed.
That happens two ways:
Win some big games in the non-conference... and we’ll have our chances.
Dominate the WCC.
Last year there were too many hiccups in conference play. That can’t happen if we want to win it all.
Rotation extends to 9 or 10 players all season
We need the depth to show up. When you look at the past few national champions, yes, they had top-tier players, but their benches were elite too.
The Zags look, through early reports, to have lots of potential depth, with Saint-Supery looking sharper than expected. I believe there’s a possibility we could see 10 deep early on in the season, even in close games. But all the real ones know Few shortens that bench late every year. This needs to be the season where the 9th or 10th man forces him to keep it extended.
Well we have a clean slate starting tomorrow night at 6 p.m. PT. This season is unwritten, how the Zags want it to go is all on them. The talent is there to make a deep run in March, so could it finally be our season, Zags fans? I BELIEVE!
Let’s bring the positive energy and vibes as always for our dudes. Let’s get this thing going…
GO ZAGS!