Gonzaga men's basketball season preview 2024-25: 3 biggest games, key players to watch, predictions and more

Gonzaga coach Mark Few is among the five active coaches with the most NCAA Tournament wins entering the 2025-25 season. He's ranked fourth, behind John Calipari, Bill Self and Rick Pitino while being chased by Dan Hurley.

Luckily, Few’s winning stretch could sustain the next year, as the majority of his scorers return after a successful 27-8 season. Moreover, the program has added talents like Michael Ajayi, Khalif Battle and Emmanuel Innocenti through the transfers portal.

With that, let's look at the top games the Bulldogs will enter in the coming season.

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Gonzaga men's basketball season preview 2024-25: 3 biggest games, key players to watch, predictions and more

Gonzaga's 3 biggest games in the 2024-25 season

Even though Mark Few and the Zags’ longtime assistant-turned-coach Tommy Lloyd (Arizona) have agreed mutually to not schedule non-conference games together, the annual Battle 4 Atlantis tournament could give fans what they want.

The Bulldogs are one of the eight teams selected for the tournament, alongside Arizona, Creighton, Davidson, Oklahoma, West Virginia, Indiana and Louisville.

The Bulldogs head for a Kentucky Wildcats matchup on Dec. 7. The Zags have maintained the core of their roster and added complementary players to fill the annual voids. Meanwhile, the Wildcats are in their infancy due to new coach Mark Pope and an entirely new roster harboring fresh faces from top to bottom.

The Zags have agreed a multi-year series with the prestigious UCLA Bruins for the 2024 and 2025 seasons. The games will be played at neutral sites, in Los Angeles and and Seattle.

Named the ‘West Coast Hoops Showdown’, the Dec. 28 game will be one of Bulldogs’ toughest matchups, as the notion behind the series is to preserve west coast basketball ties within the changing landscape of college hoops.

Key Gonzaga players to watch out for in the 2024-25 season

The Bulldogs will feature a re-run with All-WCC selections Ryan Nembhard, Graham Ike and Nolan Hickman in the 2024 season, allowing them to do the most damage. Nevertheless, portal addition Michael Ajayi could immediately grip the starting role behind his near 18ppg at Pepperdine.

Moreover, Emmanuel Innocenti’s defensive acumen and comfort in playing at multiple positions could put him into various lineups.

Gonzaga predictions for the 2024-25 season

The Zags are seen as a top-10 squad in multiple way-too-early rankings and projections.

Despite the exit of Anton Watson, they are technically running it back for the next season. However, they will have to prove early that their off-season moves deliver what they expected of them, especially, as the entire collegiate circuit now leans on the portal for additional talents.

Once that's ensured, the Bulldogs are aligned to a better record than the previous season and a higher chance of lifting the NCAA title.