Gonzaga’s Nonconference Schedule: Part 1

Gonzaga’s 2024 Non-Conference Schedule – Part 1

Gonzaga is known for putting together an absolutely brutal nonconference schedule each year. Coach Few has always embraced an “any team, any time, anywhere” mentality, which has led to both thrilling victories and punishing defeats over the last two decades. This approach has also resulted in some unusual games on aircraft carriers and even stranger games on faraway courts that were too slippery to play on safely. The nonconference slate is a rollercoaster for fans, who spend a solid chunk of time during WCC play on spectatorial cruise control, and in recent years, Coach Few has doubled down on his commitment to face the stiffest competition possible early on in the season.

Fans have plenty to look forward to this year. Matchups against Kentucky, UCLA, and UConn will all be huge tests for this year’s squad while their chemistry and rhythm are still in development. There is also some (practically confirmed) speculation about a potential game against Baylor in the early weeks of January. The Zags will once again participate in the Battle 4 Atlantis this November, alongside Indiana, Louisville, West Virginia, Oklahoma, Davidson, Providence, and Arizona. A potential tournament championship showdown between Mark Few and Arizona’s Tommy Lloyd in the Bahamas would provide the marquee matchup of the early NCAA basketball season.

After Kraziness in the Kennel on October 5, the Gonzaga basketball season officially kicks off with games against Arizona State and West Virginia. Here’s what fans can expect:

Arizona State

November 10, McCarthy Athletic Center, Spokane, WA

Bobby Hurley’s Sun Devils showed flashes of brilliance last year but ultimately finished with a 14-18 record and missed the NCAA Tournament, their worst finish under Coach Hurley. Fans called for Hurley’s replacement, but due to instability at the executive level, the search never materialized. This year, Arizona State begins the season as a new member of the Big 12, making it difficult to predict what to expect. Hurley had a busy offseason and brought in impressive talent for a team in transition, but much of the roster consists of either young players or newcomers from the transfer portal, and big losses in the backcourt will be tough to overcome..

The biggest story for the Sun Devils this offseason has been their commitment from one of the best young big men in the country, Jayden Quaintance. Quaintance played in the 2024 McDonald’s All-American Game and averaged 17 points and nearly 12 rebounds per game for Overtime Elite Academy in the 2022-2023 season. He was one of the most highly sought-after big men in the nation and he committed to ASU only after John Calipari left Kentucky, where Quaintance had previously committed.

They also acquired the extremely talented guard BJ Freeman as a transfer from Milwaukee. Freeman averaged 21.6 points per game last year and is expected to play a significant role in Hurley’s offense as ASU attempts to turn things around in a new conference. The Sun Devils return a key player from last year in Adam Miller, a sharp-shooting guard entering his senior season. However, the loss of Frankie Collins, Jose Perez, and Neal Jamiya (Creighton) will be challenging to overcome.

Despite being in the midst of a transitional season with massive turnover from last year, the Sun Devils are expected to be better this year. Fans hope they will find their way back to the tournament by March.

West Virginia

November 27, 11:30 AM, Paradise Island, Bahamas

Speaking of teams undergoing a “transitional period,” the Zags will face the Mountaineers of West Virginia in the opening round of this year’s Battle 4 Atlantis Tournament. There’s no gentle way to put it—the Mountaineers of 2023-2024 were just plain bad, and not even in a likable underdog kind of way. Despite their best efforts to improve, the resignation of Coach Bob Huggins in June of last year plunged the program into disorder and chaos from which it could not recover. College basketball fans rejoiced at the program’s misfortune and ineptitude last season, but the Mountaineers have made some significant changes since then.

The Mountaineers finished last season with a 9-23 record, placing them dead last in the Big 12. It was a tough year for Mountaineers fans, but with former Drake University coach Darian DeVries now at the helm, hopes are high that they can bounce back. DeVries posted a 150-55 record during his six seasons at Drake, and he has a proven track record for turning around teams on the brink of catastrophe.

The Mountaineers will essentially be a brand-new team in 2024 as almost all of last year’s team entered the transfer portal following the disastrous end to last season. Guard Tucker DeVries will join his dad at WVU after a stellar season at Drake, where he was named the Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year and averaged nearly 22 points per game. Illinois transfers Sencire Harris and Amani Hansberry committed to WVU in April and will bring much-needed experience and chemistry to the team in the absence of most of last year’s key pieces. DeVries will also reunite with guard Joseph Yesufu, whom he previously coached at Drake. Yesufu is a bit of a journeyman in the NCAA (WVU will be his fourth school after Drake, Kansas, and WSU) and this will be his sixth year in the league. On a team with so much inexperience playing together, it’s understandable why DeVries would want to bring in a veteran like Yesufu.

The biggest signing for WVU this offseason was definitely former Oklahoma State guard Javon Small. Small was one of the most coveted point guards in the transfer portal, and many schools vied to sign him after he announced his departure from OSU. Using WVU’s last season as a metric for predicting the 2024-2025 season would be misguided. However, few teams in the Big 12 have undergone such a dramatic turnaround this offseason, and it will be interesting to see if the Mountaineers can put all the pieces together. DeVries is an excellent coach who has turned around many teams plagued by injury and turmoil, and WVU could very well become his masterpiece.

More to come later this week on Gonzaga’s nonconference opponents. We’ll wait to do any analysis on a potential Baylor matchup until there is official confirmation that the game will actually take place and as tempting as it is to write up anything on the Few/Lloyd showdown, we’ll save hypothetical games for another time. Hard to believe Kraziness is less than a month away. As the weather in Spokane begins to cool off, the anticipation for Gonzaga basketball kicks in.