With all of these potential 5th-year seniors available for next season in college basketball, one team many are watching is the Gonzaga Bulldogs. They lost both ball-handlers from last season, with Braeden Smith transferring to Notre Dame and freshman guard Mario Saint-Supery electing to return to Valencia, Spain, to play overseas.
Saint-Supery’s surprise decision just over a month ago meant that Gonzaga didn’t have a real point guard on its roster. But thanks to the courts, there are players (for now) who can fill those voids. And on Wednesday, the program got a commitment from a former all-conference player.
NEWS: Dayton transfer guard Javon Bennett has committed to Gonzaga, his agent Harrison Gaines told @On3. ⁰⁰The 5-10 senior averaged 15.8 PPG this past season. He was recently granted a fifth year of eligibility through the Ohio ruling. https://t.co/qD1DfPRTpr pic.twitter.com/WHRNHz50eY
— Joe Tipton (@JoeTipton) August 5, 2026
Javon Bennett is a 5’11 guard who spent the last three years at Dayton. He has 125 career starts, including his freshman year at Merrimack. Bennett is coming off career-high numbers of 15.8 ppg and 2.9 apg, shooting 40% from the field and 35% from three-point range.
Among his top individual outings last season, Bennett had 10 games of at least 20 points. One included 25 points on the road at George Washington, along with 27 in the Atlantic 10 Tournament win over St. Bonaventure. He earned All-Atlantic 10 honors and was one of the top guards in the conference last season.
Going from the Atlantic 10 to the Pac-12 should be an easy transition for Bennett. However, he’s playing on a preseason top-20 team and a program with high expectations, year in and year out. As of now, he’d be projected to start for the Bulldogs, but they’ve reportedly been in the mix to land other possible 5th-year guards, including options such as Donovan Dent and Xaivian Lee.
But there are a lot of hoops (pardon the pun) for these guys to go through, and even with an injunction, it’s still not 100% that Bennett himself will be able to play next season. But Gonzaga’s hunt for ball-handlers is one of the biggest offseason storylines to watch for the rest of the offseason, and they managed to get a notable name.
Now, we see who they look to add next.
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