Gonzaga in contact with elite shooting guard from Big West via transfer portal

Until last year, the Gonzaga Bulldogs had never once shot below 35% from beyond the arc under Mark Few.

Gonzaga’s 33.3% clip from deep ranked 212th in the country, and dead last in coach Few’s Hall of Fame tenure as the head man for the Zags. With five departing seniors and five more players out the door via the transfer portal, Gonzaga has plenty of holes to fill on next year’s roster – and will look for multiple outside shooters to alleviate last year’s shooting woes.

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A known target for Gonzaga to fill this void is Gavin Sykes, a 6’4 shooting guard who lit it up as a freshman last year at Long Beach State.

Sykes entered the transfer portal after earning Big West Rookie of the Year honors and has been in contact with Gonzaga as well as a litany of high-major programs, including Indiana, NC State, Washington, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, and Virginia Tech, according to Tobias Bass of The Athletic.

It’s not hard to see why.

Despite having just one high-major offer out of high school, from Cal, Sykes blossomed into one of the best scorers and shooters in the country last year for Long Beach State. Across 28 games, the 6’4 guard averaged 19.4 points while shooting 53.8% on twos and an outstanding 38.7% from beyond the arc, taking six three-point attempts per game. He also hit 79.5% of his free throw attempts, proving himself as a dynamic three-level scorer in the Big West.

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Sykes played just eight minutes against San Diego State in LBSU’s season opener, and then played 25 minutes off the bench in game 2 against Fresno State. He started every other game after that, quickly establishing himself as the 49ers’ go-to guy offensively.

The 6’4 guard dropped 20+ points in 15 of his 28 games played, with 16 or more points in 20 games. He only missed double figures twice: in that season opener against San Diego State and in a late January game against UC Santa Barbara.

Sykes really turned it on at the end of the season, scoring 28 points at Cal Poly, 39 points at…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/gonzaga-contact-elite-shooting-guard-220819430.html

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Publish date : 2026-04-12 22:08:00

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