Who’s Next? A Look at Gonzaga’s Recruitment Priorities in 2027

It’s that time of year when Gonzaga fans are refreshing their phones waiting for news that may or may not come. Right now, the names generating the most heat are international. Serbian wing Nikola Kusturica, a 6’9 Barcelona academy product who was named MVP of the 2024 FIBA U16 EuroBasket, is weighing his college options with Gonzaga in the mix alongside Kentucky, UCLA, and Michigan.

The Kusturica situation in particular has been a soap opera this week: just days ago, 247Sports dropped a crystal ball prediction pointing toward Mark Pope and the Kentucky Wildcats. Then, 24 hours later, the same analyst yanked it, with reports suggesting Kentucky’s already-bloated roster might be a determining factor.

To be fair to Big Blue Nation, Mark Pope is a man who goes the distance for his recruits. Last September, Pope showed up at the Atlanta apartment of five-star guard Tay Kinney right at midnight, the first legal moment coaches could make an in-home visit. But Louisville’s Pat Kelsey, who had the second slot, was already there.What followed was, by multiple accounts, a very heated verbal exchange on the front lawn, well past midnight, outside a teenager’s apartment. If you’re picturing Lloyd Dobler in “Say Anything” standing in the rain with a boombox over his head, that’s not quite right, but it’s spiritually in the same zip code. Pope got neither Kinney, who eventually chose Kansas, nor did he end up looking like a cool and normal dude anyone would like to play for. The Wildcats ended up going 22-14 last year and finishing 9th in the SEC standings. Pope and co. are certainly building a hell of a brand over there.

Meanwhile, back in Spokane, where the coaches have historically spent their midnight hours sleeping: Gonzaga is quietly building something to look forward to in 2027. The staff already has one high-upside commit locked in and three of the most coveted prospects in the country on the hook. Here’s who’s in it, what they bring, and what their recruitment tells us about where this program is headed.

Dooney Johnson, 6’5 wing, Milwaukee Juneau (WI) — COMMITTED

This one’s already in the bag. Johnson committed to Gonzaga on October 29th.The night Johnson visited, the Gonzaga community was in the middle of rallying behind Tyon Grant-Foster during his eligibility battle, and what the Milwaukee native witnessed in the Kennel made an impression. “It was how they all fought for him and went to court for him and really came together in these tough moments,” Johnson told ESPN. “It made me feel special. It made my family feel special.”

Johnson averaged 25.5 points and 8.2 rebounds per game as a sophomore at Milwaukee Juneau, then helped lead the school to a state championship as a junior. This summer he has been one of the most impressive players on the entire youth circuit: at the Pangos All-American Camp in Las Vegas, one scout described him as “nearly impossible with his explosive rips to the rim” while praising his two-handed passing and improved three-point consistency. He’s currently running with Team Herro near the top of the Nike EYBL standings.

He recently measured close to 6’7, which would make him one of the bigger combo guards in the sport. Recruited hard by Zach Norvell Jr., who made the trip to Milwaukee personally to sell the program, Johnson fits the Gonzaga archetype to a tee: a long, switchable wing who impacts both ends and knows how to win. He’s going to be a name Zag fans get very familiar with over the next two years.

Gene Roebuck, 6’5 wing, La Mirada HS (CA) — Gonzaga Priority Target

The top-ranked prospect in California doesn’t come cheap, and right now a lot of programs are throwing money at Gene Roebuck’s recruitment. UCLA, USC, Kansas, and Arizona State all have offers in. Gonzaga has had him on the radar for over a year, and everything about this summer suggests the relationship is deepening fast.

Roebuck averaged 19 points on 52% shooting as a sophomore at La Mirada, adding 4.1 rebounds and a block per game, and was named MaxPreps Freshman of the Year the season before that. He’s currently ranked No. 53 nationally at 247Sports, but that number is moving. This summer he made stops at the Adidas Eurocamp in Italy and the NBPA Top 100 camp in South Carolina, where he played alongside commit Dooney Johnson and looked every bit like a guy who belongs in the same conversation as the names around him.

Once again, the fit is obvious: a long, high-IQ wing who scores at all three levels and plays within a system. Gonzaga’s development of Davis Fogle has registered with Roebuck specifically: he’s said publicly that playing time as a freshman matters to him, and Few’s track record of trusting young guys and letting them work through mistakes in real time is a genuine selling point. He plans to visit Spokane again in the future, and the Zags like where this is headed.

Jalen Davis, 6’3 guard, Bremerton HS (WA) — Gonzaga Priority Target

This is the one that would sting to lose. Davis is a consensus five-star, currently sitting at No. 15 nationally at 247Sports, and he is having the kind of summer that makes that number look conservative. In the last six weeks alone he’s played in Greece, Italy, South Carolina, and Arizona, and by all accounts impressed scouts at every stop.

His father Miah Davis was a Big West player of the year at Pacific who took the Tigers to the 2004 NCAA Tournament, and has coached the Bremerton program since 2014. The younger Davis averaged an absurd 26.6 points per game this past season, won the Olympic League MVP, and was named tournament MVP after a dominant state championship run.

The case for Gonzaga is pretty straightforward: keep a Pacific Northwest kid close to home, hand him the keys to one of the most efficient offenses in college basketball, and let him play. But the Zags aren’t the only one with that kind of pitch. Danny Sprinkle and Washington are pressing hard, and Houston, Oregon, Kansas, and Stanford all also have offers in. This is a wide open recruitment, and the Zags are going to have to earn it.

DeMarcus Henry, 6’7 wing, Compass Prep (AZ) — Gonzaga Priority Target

The highest ceiling on the board, and the longest odds. Gonzaga extended an offer on May 19th, joining a pile that now includes North Carolina, Arkansas, Kentucky, Kansas, and Ohio State, among more than two dozen programs. Henry is currently ranked No. 11 nationally and No. 3 among small forwards at 247Sports. If he chose Spokane, he would be among the highest-rated recruits in program history.

Henry is the son of the late Chris Henry, the Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver who died in 2009 at age 26 and was posthumously the first active NFL player diagnosed with CTE. His sister Seini plays women’s basketball at Ohio State. His older brother Chris Henry Jr. plays wide receiver for the Buckeyes. The pull toward Columbus is gravitational, and most analysts assume it’s Ohio State’s to lose.

But Henry remains well worth the recruitment efforts for Gonzaga. Henry led Compass Prep in Arizona to a 25-3 record and a No. 4 national ranking this past season, averaging 12.9 points, 8.4 rebounds, and 2.3 assists. On the Nike EYBL circuit this summer the smooth left-hander has averaged 19.3 points on 51% shooting. He is long, versatile, athletic, and tailor-made for how Few wants to play.

Compass Prep is also the same program where Davis Fogle played his senior season, and the relationship between the school and the Zags is genuine. If Fogle’s freshman year serves as any kind of blueprint for what playing time and development can look like at Gonzaga, Henry would be wise to pay attention. Few’s staff will squeeze every drop of credibility out of that pipeline. They’re climbing a steep hill, but they know exactly which path to take.

However this recruiting class shakes out, the throughline is the same one that has defined every Few recruiting cycle worth remembering: length, versatility, high motor, and somewhere in the conversation, the word “family.” Davis could land at Washington. Henry could follow his siblings to Ohio State. But Few has been doing this for nearly thirty years, and he has never once been caught in a fistfight on someone’s front lawn at midnight. And, apparently, that’s not nothing these days.