Gonzaga’s nonleague schedule features projected lottery picks, All-Americans, former Zag recruits

Big-time nonconference tests usually come with big-time individual matchups.

Gonzaga’s scouting reports seem to get more challenging by the year, as Mark Few and his coaching staff continue to build nonconference schedules that rank among the most difficult in the country, designed to give the Zags an early feel for the type of competition they’ll see in March.

It’s still to be determined whether there’s a first-team All-American or NBA Draft pick on Gonzaga’s roster this season, but Few’s team will encounter a handful over the next two months as they look to bolster their nonconference resume.

To give a better sense of what the Zags will be up against, we highlighted one player from every high-major team on the nonleague schedule, starting with a Nov. 8 showdown with Oklahoma at the Arena, and culminating with GU’s Dec. 21 nonleague finale against Oregon at the Moda Center.

Nijel Pack, Oklahoma

Turns out it’s pretty hard to make a preseason all-conference team in the SEC one year after the conference had 14 NCAA Tournament representatives and claimed 50% of the Final Four. Despite receiving preseason AP Top 25 votes, Oklahoma didn’t have anyone on the SEC’s preseason first, second or third teams, but Pack might have been worthy of fourth-team honors had the league decided to compile one.

Not unlike a handful of players on Gonzaga’s roster, many will be surprised to hear the 24-year-old Pack is still in college basketball, and some probably aren’t aware he moved to Norman, Oklahoma, after stints at Kansas State and Miami.

Regardless, with 1,745 career points to his name, he’s the most accomplished player on the Sooners’ roster and legitimate 3-point threat who’s made 40.3% from behind the arc the last five years.

Owen Freeman, Creighton

When the transfer portal opened, one of the first name the Zags were linked to was Freeman, who sought out a new home after Iowa parted ways with longtime coach Fran McCaffery. This of course was before GU got confirmation both Graham Ike and Braden Huff would be returning to Spokane, ultimately ending additional contact with Freeman or other portal bigs. Creighton coach Greg McDermott was probably glad not to have the competition and, in need of a skilled 5-man to replace three-time Big East Defensive Player of the Year Ryan Kalkbrenner, tabbed Freeman to be one of his top pickups from the portal.

Freeman surely won’t be able to replicate Kalkbrenner’s impact on the defensive end of the floor, but the skilled 6-foot-10 big man is an efficient low-post scorer, quality rebounder and likely one of the best interior players GU will see during the nonleague schedule.

Moe Odum, Arizona State

Over the years, a number of players have faced Gonzaga multiple times in different uniforms. LJ Cryer (Baylor and Houston), Aidan Mahaney (Saint Mary’s and UConn) and Caleb Lohner (BYU and Baylor) are a few that come to mind immediately. We’re open to a fact-check, but Arizona State’s Odum might be the first player to face the Zags at three different schools.

The 6-foot-2 point guard began his career at Pacific, where he posted solid assist-to-turnover numbers for Tiger teams that were rarely competitive. He transferred to Pepperdine last season and essentially willed the ninth-seeded Waves to three wins in three days at the WCC Tournament, averaging 22.3 ppg and 11.3 apg in Las Vegas before a semifinal loss to Saint Mary’s. Now, Odum will have one last chance to do something about his career record against Gonzaga (0-5) on Nov. 14 in Tempe.

Labaron Philon, Alabama

Philon brings the lowest 2024-25 scoring average to this list and simultaneously the highest NBA ceiling of any player we mention. One of the latest and most surprising NBA Draft withdrawals, Philon pulled his name out at the last minute, ultimately deciding to return to Tuscaloosa, Alabama, for a bigger role in Nate Oats’ program and a lucrative payday.

There are roughly a dozen freshmen currently expected to go ahead of him in the 2026 Draft, depending on the website you consult, but Philon is still a projected lottery selection and should see a huge leap in scoring production with Mark Sears out of the picture this season. A sure-handed point guard, Philon and Alabama will have three big tests against No. 5 St. John’s, No. 1 Purdue and No. 17 Illinois before opening the Players Era Festival against Gonzaga.

Myles Rice, Maryland

Both on and off the court, it’s been something of a wild career arc for Rice. The point guard used a redshirt year at Washington State in 2021-22, followed by a medical redshirt in 2022-23 when he was diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma. After overcoming the life-threatening hurdle, Rice led the Cougars on a surprise run to the 2024 NCAA Tournament, snapping the school’s 15-year drought. He subsequently transferred to Indiana, a school synonymous with basketball success, but saw his scoring and assist numbers dip as the Hoosiers underachieved as a team, failing to make the postseason.

Rice and former WSU teammate Isaiah Watts were two of the early portal pickups for first-year Maryland coach Buzz Williams, who takes over a program that’s coming off a Sweet 16 run. Rice will look to get his career back on track with the Terrapins and exact revenge on Gonzaga, which pummeled Indiana last year in the Battle 4 Atlantis.

? at Players Era Festival

After run-ins with Alabama and Maryland, the Zags could face one of 15 teams on the final day of the Players Era Festival.

We won’t tire you with detailed matchup possibilities for each one, but here’s a brief list of the notable players GU could square off against in what’s likely to be another high-profile game in Vegas: Tennessee’s Nate Ament (All-SEC Preseason second team), Kansas’ Darryn Peterson (USA Today preseason All-America second team), Michigan’s Yaxel Lendeborg (AP preseason All-American first team), Baylor’s Tounde Yessoufou (Julius Erving Preseason Watch List), Houston’s Milos Uzan (preseason All-Big 12 first team), St. Johns’ Zuby Ejiofor (preseason Big East Player of the Year), Auburn’s Tahaad Pettiford (preseason All-SEC first team).

Otega Oweh, Kentucky

In conducting this exercise, we faced the same dilemma Gonzaga might when it encounters Kentucky on Dec. 5. With so many quality options, who should we focus on? Projected lottery pick Jayden Quaintance, a former ASU center Gonzaga played a year ago, was under consideration, but may not be healed from his ACL injury by the time the Zags and Wildcats meet. In a toss-up between him and Oweh, we went with Mark Pope’s veteran guard.

Like Quaintance, Oweh has history with Gonzaga, just not history Zag fans probably care to revisit. The preseason SEC Player of the Year, who’s also made various preseason All-America teams, scored 13 points and pulled down six rebounds when Kentucky erased an 18-point second-half deficit to defeat Gonzaga 90-89 in overtime at Climate Pledge Arena.

Like Philon, he passed on NBA opportunities to return to school, and should once again be the focal point of Mark Pope’s offense after averaging 16.2 ppg in 2024-25. A clutch shot-maker, Oweh can score at all three levels and gets to the basket as well as anyone in the country.

Donovan Dent, UCLA

Many of the players that contributed to UCLA’s narrow win over Gonzaga at the Intuit Dome last season – Tyler Bilodeau, Skyy Clark, Eric Dailey Jr. – are back in Westwood this year. The portal addition that could change UCLA’s ceiling, potentially vaulting the Bruins from second-weekend lock to Final Four contender, is Dent.

Granted, the New Mexico transfer is making a considerable transition going from Mountain West to Big Ten, but there aren’t many offseason lists that didn’t consider Dent a top-five transfer in the sport after he averaged 20.4 points, 6.4 assists and 2.3 rebounds to win Mountain West Player of the Year honors.

Dent will inevitably face a learning curve playing for Mick Cronin – in more ways than one – but with his scoring and distribution, has an opportunity to leave as one of the best point guards the coach has had since arriving at UCLA in 2019.

Jackson Shelstad, Oregon

The list ends with another point guard from the Big Ten … and a name Gonzaga fans are all too familiar with. Three years after listing the Zags as one of his three college finalists, Shelstad will meet them in a highly anticipated Dec. 21 showdown at the Portland Trail Blazers’ Moda Center.

That is if he doesn’t encounter them before that. The junior point guard is sidelined with a hand injury right now, but Oregon expects him to be ready by the Players Era Festival, where the Ducks and Zags could meet on day three in a championship or consolation game.

The West Linn, Oregon, native will be a focal point of Dana Altman’s offense, along with another former Zag recruit in center Nate Bittle, and should be poised to improve on the 13.7 ppg he averaged last year. An All-Big Ten Third Team selection last year, Shelstad probably won’t match Dent’s assist numbers, but he’s a potent 3-pointer shooter (37.9%) in 2024-25) with a knack for making shots in pressure moments.