Gonzaga Basketball: Could Malcolm Dandridge be a viable backup option?

With two scholarships left, could Gonzaga Basketball be on the verge of another addition? Former Memphis center Malcolm Dandridge is someone to watch.

Gonzaga Basketball was in the news last week after making a roster addition out of nowhere. It was Marcus Adams, a top-100 freshman wing prospect that adds shooting and depth at the forward position. That leaves two spots and two specific needs; point guard and center.

The reason why I listed center as a position of need is the past health concerns with the two bigs, Graham Ike and Kaden Perry. Ike, a former All-Mountain West star at Wyoming, missed all of last season with a foot injury. And Perry has been effectively sidelined for the past two years with back issues. Both are back but again, who knows if injury issues reoccur.

At this point in the offseason, there aren’t many options that can play at the level of a top-25 perennial team like Gonzaga. However, there still is one big man available that could be of use to the Bulldogs.

Malcolm Dandridge is a 6’9 and 230-pound center from Memphis. He spent four years as a backup, coming off averaging 5.7 ppg and 3.6 rpg last season. Those aren’t elite numbers by any means but that’s not what Gonzaga Basketball needs. Hopefully, Ike is the star big man for the Bulldogs.

But the reality is that Ike ideally plays around 25-30 mpg at the most. So there’s a good 12-13 mpg available if the team wants to take a sure bet like Dandridge, who can go up against other bigs and compete. He’s also an underrated defender and in certain situations, can play in crunch time when the team needs a stop.

Throughout this offseason, Dandridge has been connected with teams such as Saint Louis, Michigan, and West Virginia, while also potentially going back to Memphis. Yet none of those teams have landed him, potentially opening up Gonzaga as a team to come in and add to the roster.