‘They have the perfect play style.’ Gonzaga picks up commitment from four-star center Sam Funches

Two weeks ago, Sam Funches left an official visit to Gonzaga visit blown away by the school’s rich basketball tradition, player development program and growing trophy collection.

Funches still needed to complete his recruiting tour and pay a visit to LSU, but it’s possible the four-star center from Mississippi had already moved Gonzaga to the top of his list.

Funches’ trip to LSU came and went, but the Germantown High School standout still felt the Zags gave him the best chance to win at a high level and reach the NBA, announcing a commitment to Mark Few’s program on Friday morning.

“I’m just here to play ball,” Funches told On3.com’s Joe Tipton after committing to GU.

The Zags had already addressed the backcourt in the 2026 recruiting class, picking up a commitment from talented German combo guard Jack Kayil – now playing with German pro club Alba Berlin – two weeks ago.

Now they’ll enter their first season in the revamped Pac-12 Conference with one of the top high school bigs in the country. Funches, who chose Gonzaga over SEC schools LSU, Ole Miss and Mississippi State, is a consensus top-10 center in the class of 2026 and ranked as high as No. 8 by On3.com.

“They have the perfect play style for me and they put their bigs in the league,” Funches told On3 of Gonzaga.

The recruiting site also lists Funches as the nation’s No. 82 overall recruit and the top-ranked high school player in the state of Mississippi. Along with his four finalists, Funches was fielding offers from Kansas, Cal, Alabama, Auburn, Arkansas, Oklahoma State, Florida State, Vanderbilt, Michigan, NC State, Creighton, Indiana, Penn State, Illinois, Kansas State and others.

“They see me being basically a versatile big who’ll do floaters, shoot threes, play down low and in the mid post,” Funches told 247Sports. “Going to Gonzaga will be good for me as I develop and try and achieve my goals. I want to make it to the NBA and here I get to play against great players and improve.”

With Graham Ike’s eligibility expiring after the 2025-26 season, Funches could have a legitimate chance of breaking into Gonzaga’s frontcourt rotation as a freshman. Braden Huff, a projected starter for this year’s team, is eligible to return for one final season in 2026-27, and the Zags may also lean on come combination of 7-foot Ismaila Diagne and freshman Parker Jefferson.

“Funches is a long lefty big man with two-way tools,” 247Sports Director of Scouting Adam Finkelstein wrote in a scouting report. “At 6-foot-10 with a massive 7-foot-5 wingspan, he has terrific measurables, even as he keeps working to fill-out his frame. He’s a bit narrow in his lower body and still lean through his chest, but has big shoulders and a solid frame to fill-out in time.

“His length makes him a formidable rim protector on the defensive end of the floor (1.7 blocks per game in Pro 16 play), even without the benefit of elite bounce. He also runs the floor and can move laterally fairly well for his size.”

Gonzaga’s taken care of two positional needs with the 2026 recruiting class, but could still add a few more players to round out the group and will host a pair of four-star wings in the coming weeks and months. 

Luca Foster, a 6-foot-5 prospect from Pennsylvania, named Gonzaga as one of his nine finalists and is set to travel to Spokane this weekend for the team’s exhibition against Northwest University. Foster is the nation’s 18th-rated small forward and a top-40 player in the class of ‘26.

The Zags are also set to host four-star Cameron Holmes on Nov. 11 for a game against Oklahoma at the Arena. Holmes, the younger brother of NBA forward DaRon Holmes II, is still considering Gonzaga, Illinois, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Texas and Arizona. Holmes is considered a top-30 prospect in the class of ‘26.