Gonzaga lands commitment from Houston transfer, former top-20 prospect Isiah Harwell

Gonzaga’s relationship with former top-20 prospect Isiah Harwell paid off – just a year later than Mark Few and his coaching staff might have hoped.

Harwell, the former Gonzaga target who spent his freshman season at Houston before revealing plans to enter the transfer portal two weeks ago, announced his commitment to the Zags early Sunday evening.

ESPN’s Jeff Borzello was the first to report on Harwell’s decision and the guard later confirmed the news on Instagram, sharing a graphic of himself Photoshopped in a white Zags jersey.

“Go Zags!!!” Harwell wrote in his Instagram caption.

Harwell becomes the first transfer addition for Gonzaga this offseason and joins Few’s roster two years after giving the Zags serious consideration as a five-star prospect at Wasatch Academy.

The 6-foot-6 shooting guard who was considered the 13th-rated recruit in the country by On3.com listed Gonzaga as one of his four finalists, along with Houston, Texas and California.

Kelvin Sampson and the Cougars ultimately received a commitment from Harwell, but the Pocatello, Idaho, native only averaged 13.6 minutes per game as a freshman and saw his role diminish down the stretch of the season, playing just seven total minutes in two NCAA Tournament games against Idaho and Texas A&M.

Houston believed Harwell was compromised by lingering issues from an ACL injury he suffered during his senior season at Wasatch Academy and the Cougars held him out of summer workouts, giving the guard minimal time to ramp up for the team’s nonconference schedule.

“I think the thing that hurt Isiah was we never got a chance to develop him because he had no June, he had no July, he had no August,” Sampson told local reporters during a Zoom call on Thursday. “He tore his ACL and then had complications from it. He reinjured it during the McDonald’s (All-American) Game. Basically he was out May through September.

“September is when practice started, so we felt like Isiah would have a great chance to be in the rotation. Unfortunately he was not available when we were having our toughest practices early.”

Harwell finished the season averaging 3.6 points, 2.0 rebounds and 0.5 assists while shooting 27.9% from the field, 27.1% from the 3-point line and 61.3% from the free -throw line.

He still made an impact in certain spots for a Houston team that earned a No. 2 seed at the NCAA Tournament and advanced to the Sweet 16 before losing 65-55 to Illinois.

Harwell hit double figures in three games, scoring a season-high 20 points in an 80-38 nonconference rout of Jackson State. He had 12 points while matching his season-high in minutes (24) against Baylor before scoring 13 in a Jan. 31 game against Cincinnati.

“Whoever gets Isiah is getting a great kid and there’s a really, really good player in there too,” Sampson said.

Approximately an hour before Harwell’s commitment on Sunday, the guard’s father, Ron, a former Idaho State standout, told The Spokesman-Review his son completed a Zoom visit with Few and top Gonzaga assistant Brian Michaelson. Ron Harwell characterized the call as “a great conversation.”

A projected NBA draft pick entering his freshman season, Harwell is still considered a high-upside player with solid size and tremendous defensive versatility.

Harwell was named the Gatorade Player of the Year in Utah after leading Wasatch to a 25-4 record and Chipotle Nationals berth while averaging 17.4 points, 5.3 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 1.1 steals.

Primarily a shooting guard, Harwell will join a young, talented Gonzaga backcourt that’s expected to include Mario Saint-Supery, a 17-game starter at point guard during his freshman season, and incoming freshman Jack Kayil, a German combo guard currently playing professionally for Alba Berlin of Germany’s Bundesliga.

Current Gonzaga wing Davis Fogle and numerous former Zags reacted to Harwell’s commitment, replying to the guard’s Instagram post on Sunday evening.

“Let’s work,” Fogle replied.

“Yeaaa shordy,” former Gonzaga point guard Ryan Nembhard wrote.

“Welcome,” ex-Zag shooting guard Khalif Battle posted.