NCAA Basketball: Duke, Gonzaga, and WVU rise in latest WTE ’23-24 power rankings

12. Gonzaga Bulldogs

What was Arizona’s loss turns out to be Gonzaga’s gain, as they won the Ryan Nembhard sweepstakes over a week ago to find its lead guard. He’s the younger brother of former Bulldogs Andrew Nembhard and Ryan could be an even better guard from a scoring standpoint. He averaged 12.1 ppg and 4.8 apg despite being the 5th option on offense at Creighton and will have a much large role at Gonzaga.

But he wasn’t even the only pickup for the team on that day. The Bulldogs also landed Graham Ike, a 6’9 and 240-pound big man from Wyoming. He missed this past season with a foot injury but as a sophomore averaged 19.5 ppg and 9.6 rpg and led the Cowboys to the NCAA Tournament.

Another star the program landed was Steele Venters, who averaged 15.3 ppg at Eastern Washington and was named Big Sky Player of the Year this past season. He’s a 6’7 wing that shot 40% from three-point range in three years and will replace the outgoing Julian Strawther as a projected starter.

Losing both Strawther and All-American big man Drew Timme are tough blows but to the program’s credit, they not only already found capable replacements but also a lead guard to run the offense in Nembhard. They still need to find out whether Anton Watson and Malachi Smith are back for an extra season if they do, Gonzaga will have a good chance to make it nine straight Sweet 16 appearances in 2024.