SPOKANE, Wash. — After the dust settled from who is staying and going to the NBA Draft, we have a better idea of each college basketball team's roster.
That also results in more early preseason top 25 rankings. Some college basketball reporters have Gonzaga in the early teens. Others have them in the top 10.
Are both too high?
CONSIDER WHAT THEY'RE LOSING
The Zags lose key players Rui Hachimura, Brandon Clarke, Josh Perkins, Zach Norvell Jr., Geno Crandall and Jeremy Jones.
Last season those guys accounted for 79 percent of points, 86 percent of the assists and 69 percent of the rebounds
HOPE SURROUNDS KILLIAN TILLIE
A lot of the hype is built around the return of Killian Tillie.
That's a lot to hedge your bets on. In the last two seasons he's had a hip injury, a stress fracture on his right ankle, a partially torn plantar fascia in his right foot. Then he sprained his left ankle this offseason at an NBA workout.
It's unfortunately just been one thing after another. We have no idea how healthy Tillie is going to be next year.
Obviously we wish him the best, but it's just a big uncertainty.
OTHER KEY PLAYERS RETURNING
Corey Kispert and Fillip Petrusev are guys returning that need to make an impact.
Kispert is the returning leading scorer for this team, albeit with 8 points per game. He started all but one game last season.
Petrusev could end up being the man this season. Head coach Mark Few told us as the year went on he was able to trust him more. He was just the odd man out when Tillie was healthy.
That won't be the case this year. He could very well be a first round NBA draft pick next year.
THE NEW GUYS
The biggest get in terms of experience and production was transfer guard Admon Gilder from Texas A&M.
He didn't play last season though because of a blood clot in his arm. But in the season prior he averaged 12.3 points per game and shot about 40 percent from three-point range.
They are getting a ton of freshman that make up a top 15 recruiting class next year.
The class includes Anton Watson, Drew Timme, Brock Ravet, Martynas Arlauskas, Oumar Ballo and Pavel Zahkarov.
The biggest concern is Gonzaga hasn't had to rebuild like this in quite some time.
There will be depth to this squad, but besides Gilder it's going to be a bunch of unproven depth. There are some ready to come in and play right away, but these aren't one and done guys.
They are going to need time to develop.
WHO WILL PLAY POINT GUARD
A lot of the top teams in the country have guards who have been in the system with at least a year under their belt.
Many of those dudes have more talent than what Gonzaga currently has and even more than who they might get.
The Zags want transfer guard Derryck Thornton out of USC.
He visited the university this May 28 to May 30, but he hasn't committed.
Once a top 20 recruit in the 2015 class, he was not great last season.
He averaged 8 points a game on 38 percent shooting and 29 percent from range. He did pass pretty well, averaging 4.3 assists per game.
If he commits, how much does he move the talent meter?
If he doesn't commit, you have guys like Greg Foster, Joel Ayayi or Brock Ravet.
Who knows what you'll get.Foster and Ayayi haven't played much and Ravet hasn't played in college yet.