NCAA Basketball: Ranking the 8 teams for 40th Maui Invitational Tournament

5. Gonzaga Bulldogs

We’re entering the part of the list where everyone left is going to get not only preseason top-25 votes but also in the top 10 for the 2023-24 season. Of the five, the one with the most questions is the Gonzaga Bulldogs, mainly because of the lack of depth in the backcourt.

The frontcourt should be fine, which is interesting since the team lost one of the best NCAA Basketball players in Drew Timme. The All-American big man and WCC Player of the Year is gone but they replaced him with Graham Ike, a star transfer from Wyoming. And with forward Anton Watson back for a 5th year as well as Ben Gregg off the bench, the Bulldogs inside are good.

Gonzaga brought in Eastern Washington transfer and Big Sky Player of the Year Steele Venters as the starting wing, with Nolan Hickman and Creighton transfer Ryan Nembhard starting in the backcourt. However, only top 50 incoming freshman Dusty Stromer is the other true guard on the roster. So they’ll have to play either Nembhard 35+ mpg next season or have freshmen Jun Seok Yeo or Kansas transfer Marcus Adams Jr. play out of position.

This still has the potential to be one of the best-scoring offenses in NCAA Basketball and coach Few always has his teams ready to win a couple of big non-con games in November. But the depth concerns could be a factor with 3 games in 3 days for them.