Gonzaga’s Hunter Sallis named counselor at Damian Lillard camp, 2023 commit Dusty Stromer to attend

Hunter Sallis is primed to take on a bigger role with Gonzaga’s basketball team this fall. Before he does that, the sophomore guard will wrap up his offseason at Damian Lillard’s exclusive “Formula Zero” elite basketball camp, where Sallis will serve as one of 20 college counselors.

The camp, designed for high school standouts, will be attended by Dusty Stromer, Gonzaga’s only commit in the 2023 recruiting class, as well as four-star guard Kaden Cooper, a priority target for the Bulldogs in the ’23 class.

Blake Buchanan, the standout big man from Lake City High who recently committed to Virginia after naming the Cavaliers and Zags as his two finalists, will also be among the 20 high school players attendance.

The camp, held Aug. 3-7 in Portland, will be led by Lillard, a six-time NBA All-Star with the Trail Blazers and recent Olympic gold medalist, and his longtime coach Phil Beckner, formerly an assistant coach at Weber State.

“This camp is not just some basketball camp,” Lillard said in a promotional video on Twitter. “This is something where we want to take some of the best players, we want to take the guys who are underrated, underappreciated, the tough ones, the dogs. We want to put them all in the same place and just try to make them better when they leave.”

Sallis joins a cast of counselors that will include North Carolina’s Caleb Love, Overtime Elite’s Bryson Warren, Baylor’s Keyonte George, Weber State’s Dillon Jones, Michigan State’s Jaden Akins, Western Kentucky’s Dayvion McKnight, Houston’s Marcus Sasser, Xavier’s Souley Boum, Kansas’ Jalen Wilson, UC Riverside’s Zyon Pullin, Iowa’s Kris Murray, Wyoming’s Graham Ike, Creighton’s Trey Alexander, Furman’s Jalen Slawson, Illinois’ Terrence Shannon, Missouri’s Isaiah Mosley, TCU’s Mike Miles, North Texas’ Tylor Perry and Florida’s Will Richard.

A 6-foot-5 guard from Omaha, Nebraska, Sallis signed with Gonzaga in the spring of 2021 as the nation’s second-rated combo guard, per 247Sports.com, and the second-rated prospect in program history behind Jalen Suggs. Playing behind veteran guards Andrew Nembhard and Rasir Bolton, Sallis averaged 13.6 minutes per game as a freshman while scoring 4.3 points per game and grabbing 2.0 rebounds.

Lillard’s four-day event sets up as a good opportunity for Sallis and Stromer to sell Cooper on a future with the Zags. The 6-foot-5, 180-pound prospect from Oklahoma took his official visit to Spokane on June 24, per 247Sports.com, and was offered by Mark Few’s staff less than a month later.

Stromer took official and unofficial visits to Gonzaga, visiting for a ranked showdown against Texas and returning in February to see the Bulldogs play Saint Mary’s with AAU teammate Jared McCain, a former Zags target who’s since committed to Duke. Stromer is preparing for his senior season with Notre Dame Sherman Oaks in Southern California.