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After failing to win the National Championship against Baylor and go undefeated, the Gonzaga Bulldogs are ready to make another National Championship run with the addition of five-star recruit Nolan Hickman.
Hickman was committed to the University of Kentucky before re-opening his recruitment last month and committing to Gonzaga on Saturday through social media.
“Quick to call me a pit from the way I play, but ima dawg at heart,” wrote Hickman on Instagram.
Gonzaga still looks to be the No.1 overall team in the nation with the commitments of the consensus No. 1 recruit Chet Holmgren, top-15 recruit Hunter Sallis, four-star Kaden Perry, and Hickman. The team will also have Drew Timme, Andrew Nembhard, and Dominick Harris returning to school next season in hopes of winning a championship.
Gonzaga head coach Mark Few has turned the mid-major school around over the past few years as the Bulldogs have landed twelve top-100 recruits since 2019, according to 247 Sports. Four of those recruits have been five-star prospects, including Jalen Suggs who had a breakout freshman year and is a projected top-five pick in the 2021 NBA Draft.
Entering into the 2021 season, college basketball fans could see a much different Bulldogs team that’s centered around its incoming freshman rather than its upperclassmen like in previous years. Last year upperclassmen Corey Kispert and Joel Ayayi played major roles in the success of the Bulldogs alongside the talent of Suggs and Timme leading them to a 31-1 overall record.
If Gonzaga keeps their recipe for success, fans should expect upperclassmen, Timme and Nembhard, to have advanced roles for this team next year.
Over the past two college basketball seasons, Gonzaga has only lost 3 games with the 2019 season shutting down due to the COVID-19 pandemic and this past season ending at the hands of Davion Mitchell and Baylor. This Gonzaga team headlined by Holmgren should still be in prime position to win the school its first National Championship and change the narrative on mid-major schools being unable to win titles.
