NCAA Basketball: Analyzing top 4 teams for 2021 five-star center Nathan Bittle

Gonzaga Bulldogs

Gonzaga has their eye on basically every elite big man in the class of 2021, with offers out on both Chet Holmgren and Paolo Banchero, a Seattle native who has been linked to GU for years now.

The Zags already have one big man committed in the class of 2021, Kaden Perry, and it seems unlikely they will have room for two more – although Zag fans would be foaming at the mouth to land three of these four big men in 2021.

It’s not hard to see just how smoothly Bittle would fit into Gonzaga’s offense. As a stretch-five, Bittle could operate at the top of Gonzaga’s hi-lo offensive attack, feeding the ball into either Perry or Oumar Ballo, a 6’11 big man with a massive wingspan and excellent finishing ability around the rim.

Drew Timme will likely be gone by then, assuming this upcoming season goes well for the breakout star, and a frontcourt of Bittle, Perry, Ballo and potentially Anton Watson (if he is still around) and Pavel Zakharov would once again give the Zags one of the elite frontcourts in the entire country as they look to break through and win a national championship in the coming years.

Of course – the Zags are likely keeping their hopes up for Holmgren – who went to high school with incoming freshman Jalen Suggs – and Banchero, a local kid who would usher in a new era of Gonzaga recruits in the Seattle area, a spot that has been dominated by the University of Washington.

That could push Bittle to commit elsewhere, as the uncertainty surrounding Gonzaga’s other offers could push him to pick a safer spot where he would almost certainly play right away. That’s not to say he wouldn’t be a great fit at Gonzaga – he would – but the school’s ability to recruit the best of the best may actually work against them in this case.