Gonzaga Basketball: Rui Hachimura’s return solidifies Bulldogs as Final Four contenders
Gonzaga’s Rui Hachimura has elected to stay for his junior year, solidifying the Bulldogs as an early Final Four contender.
After coming off another Sweet Sixteen appearance, Gonzaga headed into the off-season with some things to deal with. First was the decision concerning conference affiliation, and then what the key players were planning on doing concerning their personal future.
The first part was handled, with the Bulldogs staying in the WCC. And on Sunday afternoon, another key issue was decided, with sophomore forward Rui Hachimura choosing to forego the NBA and staying for his junior year.
Rui Hachimura is bypassing the 2018 NBA Draft, and will return to Gonzaga for his junior season, the school informed ESPN. The Japanese forward is projected as a lottery pick in 2019. News story: https://t.co/im0PurtiKD
— Jonathan Givony (@DraftExpress) April 8, 2018
Despite coming off the bench this season, the 6’8 wing was the team’s leading scorer in the WCC. No one in the league had an answer for him, whose athletism ranks him up there with the best of the best.
The 2017-18 season was huge for his development, as he played in a true basketball system for the first time in his life. And the language issues for the Japanese player is now a thing in the past.
Hachimura has lottery potential, but there are still things he needs to work on. First is his three-point shooting, which was under 20% for the season. He’ll be playing the “3” spot in the NBA, so that has to improve. Another is his decision making when driving. I would bet any money that he was easily the leader in offensive fouls committed, as he sometimes drives in the paint recklessly.
Those things can certainly be fixed, and Hachimura will have another year to work on it, likely as the starter. Assuming Killian Tillie returns, a good starting five would be:
PG: Josh Perkins
SG Zach Norvell Jr.
SF: Rui Hachimura
PF: Killian Tillie
C: Brandon Clarke (18 ppg transfer from San Jose State)
Due to depth issues up front, the sophomore forward had to play the four spot, which caused mismatches against the WCC, but didn’t show his complete skill set. Now he can play his natural position in both college and the NBA, and dominate most teams.
Next: Preseason Top 25 for 2018-19
Gonzaga is ranked in just about all of the early rankings, and has a No. 1 seed in our 2019 Bracketology. Hachimura officially coming back not solidifies that, but puts the Bulldogs on a shortlist of teams who can win the national title next season.