Gonzaga Basketball: Killian Tillie withdraws from 2019 NBA Draft

Killian Tillie the 6′ 10″ forward from Cagnes-sur-Mer, France looks to be returning to Gonzaga Basketball for the 2019-20 season. How big of news is this for Bulldog fans?

Last season Tillie suffered multiple injuries that limited his playing time with Gonzaga. If Tillie can stay healthy this coming season, this could be a huge addition for the upcoming season. Last season the Zag fans only got to see Tillie play fifteen games the whole season. he is a key player for the Zags. Tillie was able to put up 6.2 points per game along with 3.9 rebounds, playing only 16.6 minutes per game in the 2018-2019 season.

Tillie can be a potential all-West Coast Conference player during his time with the Zags as long as he can stay fully healthy. He has a very high offensive skill level and is a solid rebounder. This decision seems to be the right choice for Tillie who during the NBA draft workouts reinjured his ankle and was forced to drop out of the NBA combine.

Gonzaga may have lost Brandon Clarke and Rui Hachimura who have both declared to the NBA draft, the return of Tillie is huge for the Zags. While he may have missed much of last year due to an ankle injury, Tillie has shown that he can be a huge impact player for the Zags. This decision I feel overall will really benefit the Zags in the upcoming season because during his sophomore year Tillie averaged 12.9 points per game and 5.9 rebounds per game. Tillie is also a great free throw shooter averaging 77.3% from the line.

Not only is Tillie great from the stripe, but he has also shown us that his outside shooting ability where he has been able to make almost half of all three-pointers he’s attempted, combined with his high make him a great addition to the Zags team. I feel that this decision to come back to the Zags will help him not only continue to be an impact player but also allows him to improve his shot-blocking ability. If he can stay healthy all season Tillie will really be able to show the NBA recruits what his abilities and strengths are.

While the Zags will be forced to replace a lot of great talent coming into the 2019-2020 season, the return of Tillie, Filip Petrusev and Corey Kispert should be able to form the great frontcourt that the Zags are known for in the 2019-2020 season.

While Tillie may not start right off the bench at the beginning of the season, one thing that we know is that if he can stay healthy for the entire season he will for sure make a huge impact come March Madness.

In a press release, Zags head coach said “Just an absolutely incredible amount of joy and satisfaction to see somebody that worked so hard, had such a great year last year for us, kind of getting back in the fold, He did a great job of staying positive. He had a bad run of luck there. It’s awesome, awesome to see — and you guys can all see if you’ve forgotten, I mean, he’s a hell of a player. ”

Having Tillie back on the Bulldogs floor will make Gonzaga an even bigger threat for opponents this season than it was without him. He gives the Zags another veteran player on the team that can teach the younger players the game and how Mark Few’s systems works..