North Dakota guard Geno Crandall may not be transferring to Gonzaga Basketball after all this season. Are the Bulldogs still 2019 title contenders without him?
When it comes to the 2018-19 NCAA Basketball season, Gonzaga Basketball has been pegged as a Final Four contender, after both Killian Tillie and Rui Hachimura (projected first-round picks in 2019 NBA Draft) decided to return of their junior seasons.
Things got even better for the program when they acquired the services of North Dakota grad transfer Geno Crandall. A three-year starter, Crandall averaged 16.6 ppg and 3.6 apg last season, including 28 points at Gonzaga in December. He was supposed to be another steady ball handler and an experienced point guard to lead the offense when senior Josh Perkins goes to the bench.
Like previous Zag grad transfer Jordan Matthews of Cal, Crandall was supposed to complete his degree this offseason (a very difficult task for any student-athlete to accomplish) before signing up for classes with his new school in Spokane.
But problems have arisen with these plans. Crandall is reportedly still enrolled at North Dakota and is not currently a part of the Bulldogs’ roster. It’s safe to assume that he hasn’t gotten enough credits to graduate and may need another semester before playing at Gonzaga. If that’s the case, he’ll miss most of the Bulldog‘s non-conference schedule, including games against Tennessee, North Carolina, and potentially Duke and Auburn in the Maui Invitational.
It’s a blow to Gonzaga for sure but the cupboard isn’t bare on the perimeter. Here are the other rotation options for them for the first third of the upcoming season.