NCAA Basketball: 25 biggest offseason winners heading into 2021-22 season

The Bulldogs’ historic season came to a crashing halt against Baylor in the title game. But to the credit of the program, they rebounded quite nicely, even better than expected. They first had to deal with the expected departure of stars Jalen Suggs and Corey Kispert, as well as all-around guard Joel Ayayi.

But that was it for the team in terms of “bad” news. Gonzaga was able to hold onto starting guard Andrew Nembhard, as well as All-American big man Drew Timme, who could’ve left after his national breakout campaign. Then came a trio of five-star commitments in the offseason, led by No. 1 overall prospect and former Minnehaha teammate of Suggs, Chet Holmgren.

Holmgren’s arrival actually overshadowed another top-10 overall prospect Gonzaga landed in Hunter Sallis, who would’ve been the highest-ever commit to the program. But neither of them were big surprises if you were tuned into the recruiting battles. The surprise came with Nolan Hickman, a Seattle native who de-committed from Kentucky and ended up picking the Bulldogs, even while Nembhard is still around.

This doesn’t even include the pickup of Iowa State transfer Rasir Bolton, who led the Cyclones with 15.5 ppg and 3.9 apg. He very well might not even start for Gonzaga next season due to the amount of depth they have in the backcourt. With Timme anchoring the defense and Holmgren as the unicorn seven-footer around the perimeter, this team is a near-consensus No. 1 preseason team for the 2021-22 NCAA Basketball campaign.

Things couldn’t have gone better for the program in terms of talent accumulation.