Nearly three months after Gonzaga University men’s basketball’s 2024-25 campaign ended with a Sweet 16 loss to Purdue, a positive outlook for the upcoming season is beginning to take shape.

After their March Madness exit, the Zags hit the ground running ahead of a busy offseason. The GU program was able to hold on to several key contributors, while also bolstering the roster with transfers and recruits. Head coach Mark Few and his staff were quick to hit the transfer portal, adding a host of impact players and future prospects.

Michael Ajayi was the first official addition to GU’s ranks this offseason, with the 6-foot-7 wing player transferring from Pepperdine in late April. The Kent, Washington, native was the West Coast Conference’s leading scorer and second-highest rebounder during the 2023-24 season, averaging 17.2 points and 9.9 rebounds per game.

The highly touted prospect earned an invite to the NBA draft combine, where he impressed in front of scouts on a national stage. Though he had a mostly successful combine, Ajayi opted to return to college and sign with GU.

“[Ajayi and GU] had great communication … When we have great communication, [draft prospects] end up making a good decision,” Few said. “Everybody was on the same page, and he was able to get some great feedback and experience. Now he’s back here and he’s got some practices under his belt and he’s looking great.”

Ajayi’s WCC experience and physical attributes will provide a massive benefit to the Zags this upcoming season. Another incoming transfer with multiple years of collegiate basketball experience is Khalif Battle.

Battle joined GU from Arkansas, where he averaged 29.0 points per game in his last seven contests for the Razorbacks. A skilled scorer with a knack for getting to the free-throw line, Battle represents another significant offseason addition for the Zags.

“The best thing I think we did during this offseason is we added pieces that bring different aspects to the program we don’t have,” Few said. “[Battle’s] ability to get fouled is at the highest level, I think, in college basketball.”

Three other transfers that GU gained this offseason are Emmanuel Innocenti, Braeden Smith and Ismaila Diagne. Innocenti joined the Zags from Tarleton State, Smith came from Colgate and Diagne was an international signee from Real Madrid’s basketball program.

These players represent a forward-looking approach from GU’s staff, with Smith redshirting for the 2024-25 season, while Innocenti and Diagne are unlikely to see many minutes during the upcoming campaign.

Senior wing Steele Venters recently made his return to the court, being a participant in team practices with a reduced training regimen. The former Big Sky Conference Player of the Year sat out all of last season with an ACL injury but is primed to make an instant impact upon his return to the Zag lineup.

The production generated from these new arrivals is paramount for the GU program, but the Zags’ ability to return many key contributors from 2023-24 has also set them up for success. Ryan Nembhard, Nolan Hickman, Ben Gregg, Graham Ike, Braden Huff, Dusty Stromer and Jun Seok Yeo will return to Spokane for the upcoming season, an unprecedented amount of roster retention in modern college basketball.

While this year’s team is slated to face a variety of high-profile opponents, the list of matchups won’t include in-state rival Washington. The Huskies announced they would not  participate in the home-and-home series against GU during the upcoming season, a decision made by new head coach Danny Sprinkle, who exercised a clause in the contract that allowed either team to opt out of the series if there was a head coaching change.

While the Zags will miss out on facing one in-state foe, an old rivalry is being rekindled within the WCC. The Washington State Cougars and Oregon State Beavers announced they would join for at least the next two seasons, following the dissolution of the Pac-12 Conference.

GU will face both of the new WCC member schools home-and-away in the upcoming season, as announced by the WCC.

Elsewhere, the Kentucky Wildcats renewed their matchup with the Zags, despite the departure of longtime, national championship-winning head coach John Calipari. Led by new head coach Mark Pope, Kentucky and GU will meet in Seattle on Dec. 7. Since the series’ debut game in 2022, the Zags are 2-0 against the Wildcats.

GU will also get its third chance against the UConn Huskies in the past three years, when both teams head to New York City to face off in Madison Square Garden on Dec. 14. The Zags have lost their previous two matchups against the two-time defending national champions. With familiar foes such as former Saint Mary’s guard Aidan Mahaney taking the court against GU, the next meeting between the Zags and the Huskies promises to be an entertaining one.

Another repeated opponent for GU in the upcoming season will be the UCLA Bruins, with Rocco Miller reporting for bracketeer.org that the two programs will meet on Dec. 28 in Los Angeles at the Intuit Dome, the newly built home of the Los Angeles Clippers. The Zags have defeated UCLA in four straight games dating back to their Final Four matchup in 2021 and will look to extend their streak.

In addition to these standalone nonconference matchups, the Zags will participate in the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament from Nov. 27-29. The tournament takes place in the Bahamas, and features high-major programs such as Arizona, Davidson, Indiana, Louisville, Oklahoma, Providence and West Virginia.

With an elite and improved roster and a nonconference schedule that features matchups against the defending national champions as well as in-state rivals, the season ahead for GU men’s basketball looks to bring intrigue and excitement.