Why this Washington native could be Gonzaga’s ideal transfer portal addition

Mark Few and the Gonzaga Bulldogs retained three key contributors from last year’s roster and added two excellent transfers to build a starting lineup that can compete with anyone in college basketball in 2026-27.

The problem? They hardly have anyone else on the team – and the guys they do have have a combined zero games played at the collegiate level.

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Mario Saint-Supery, Davis Fogle, and Braden Huff will all start for the Zags this upcoming season, with Arizona State transfer center Massamba Diop and Houston transfer wing Isiah Harwell stepping into the starting five alongside them.

Real Madrid big man Izan Almansa, 21, is an experienced player – but has never played college basketball. He’s joined on the bench by redshirt freshman Parker Jefferson and a pair of 4-star freshmen in the 2026 class, wing Luca Foster and center Sam Funches.

As such, Gonzaga desperately needs more experience and more guard depth in order to compete in the new-look Pac-12 and get back to the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament.

Enter Tijan Saine, a Washington native and senior guard who is widely considered the best point guard – and one of the best players – still available in the transfer portal.

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Who is Tijan Saine?

Saine is a 5’11 point guard from Everett, WA, who was a three-time All League selection at Mariner High School. Despite a decorated career, Saine ended up walking on at DII Western Washington in Bellingham, redshirting in the 2022-23 season.

He then won GNAC Freshman of the Year in 2023-24 by averaging 10.9 points and 2.3 assists, and returned to earn First Team honors in 2024-25 when he posted 17.3 points, 4.0 assists, 2.8 rebounds, and 1.3 steals in 21 games with WWU, shooting a blistering 39% from three and 89% from the line.

That led Saine to hit the transfer portal, where, amongst a handful of D1 offers, he ended up heading to Ogden, UT, to play for Weber State in the Big Sky.

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Saine picked up right where he left off, posting 17.5 points, 4.3…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/why-washington-native-could-gonzagas-203700852.html

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Publish date : 2026-06-13 20:37:00

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