NCAA Basketball: Top 25 strongest backcourts for 2020-21 season

9. Gonzaga Bulldogs

There aren’t many weak spots associated with the Gonzaga program this season. Coach Mark Few scoured the transfer market prior to the 2019 campaign to find success with Admon Gilder and Ryan Woolridge, but this year he scored top players via both the traditional and transfer routes.

The excitement is immediately revolving around potential top-3 selection Jalen Suggs in the 2021 NBA Draft. Suggs can score from anywhere on the floor and absolutely has the ability to take over a game if his shooting gets hot. Perimeter consistency is an issue, but he has plenty of tricks in his bag to score the ball at will.

Suggs brings a sense of power to the guard position for the Zags, but his fellow freshman Dominick Harris brings the flair and creativity to finish around the rim. He sees the floor well and has flown under the radar a bit relative to Suggs, but Harris is more than capable of being a reliable contributor for the Bulldogs in 2020. He won’t feel the pressure to produce given how deep this roster is, especially with the arrival of Florida transfer Andrew Nembhard.

Nembhard has shown strong development from his freshman to sophomores season and looks to be much more comfortable at the college level. He had a down year scoring from the perimeter, but he is as dangerous as he’s ever been creating plays for his teammates to score. Adding another ball-handler to the roster for Mark Few, with exceptional court vision, has to make the accomplished coach supremely optimistic about the team’s outlook heading into the 2020 season.

These additions are not even taking into account the returns of double-digit scorers Corey Kispert and Joel Ayayi, both of whom chose not to fully pursue NBA draft aspirations. The pair were vitally important to the Zags success in 2019 and will carry even more of the burden this season after four of the team’s top-6 scorers left the program this offseason.

There may be only slight gains for either player given Gonzaga’s backcourt-heavy recruiting class, but the opportunities are there. Freshman Julian Strawther will also add more depth on the wings, but his arrival will likely not signal a huge on-court impact until 2021. Collectively this group is very strong and will complement their frontcourt talents incredibly well to compete for a national title this year.