Gonzaga Basketball: Jalen Warley joins Braeden Smith in 2025 transfer class

Gonzaga Basketball boasts one of the best backcourts in the country for the 2024-25 season, led by starters Ryan Nembhard, Nolan Hickman, and Khalif Battle. It’s important to note that all are seniors and will be gone after this season, no matter what. And in the world where recruiting never stops, the Bulldogs have been looking at who will be on next year’s roster.

For the most part, the high school recruiting has been completed. The team did land top-40 guard/wing Davis Fogle but lost out on top targets Kingston Flemings and Isiah Harwell, both of whom will be going to Houston. However, Coach Mark Few was still able to add to the roster.

Jalen Warley is a 6’6 combo guard who spent the first three years of his career at Florida State. In 90 games, he has a career average of 6.0 ppg and 2.9 apg, coming off a career-high 7.5 ppg and 2.8 rpg on 42% shooting as a starting guard. He had originally transferred last offseason to Virginia, where he was projected to start. But the sudden retirement of Coach Tony Bennett opened a 30-day window for the players to enter the portal, with Warley being the only one deciding to do so.

Warley is set to redshirt for the rest of the year and play his senior campaign during the 2025-26 season. He’s the second redshirt guard joining the Gonzaga roster, with former Colgate guard and Patriot League Player of the Year Braeden Smith (12.5 ppg, 5.5 rpg, and 5.6 apg) already on the team and choosing to sit out. 

With sophomore Dusty Stromer also on the roster, it’ll be interesting to see what Gonzaga Basketball does in the offseason. Are they done roster building, and will Warley and Smith be the next starting backcourt? Or will someone we don’t know yet will join the fold? That’s to be determined.