Had to take some time to cool off, gather everything together. Point guard Mario Saint-Supery announced on his Instagram that he’s leaving the Gonzaga Bulldogs program to return to his home nation of Spain. The 20-year-old will now play for Valencia Basket in the Liga ACB for a reported north of $15 million on a four-year deal, according to CBS Sports’ Matt Norelander, making him one of the highest-paid players in all of Europe.
These conversations with the Valencia club had to have been going on for a while, based on the vast amount and multi-year investment between both parties.
Making this decision at this point in the offseason shows a lack of loyalty and character from a more than talented floor leader who was expected to have a national breakout season with the Zags in his sophomore campaign. Gives off vibes of when Serbian forward/center Filip Petrusev left Gonzaga after the 2019-20 season to play for the ABA League’s Mega Basket, which was handled better and occurred before the Name, Image, and Likeness or NIL era. Saint-Supery coming back to Spokane, Washington, for Sacramento Kings forward/center Domantas Sabonis’ ceremony earlier this week on July 9, after playing with Spain in the FIBA World Cup qualifiers in Madrid, as well as the country of Georgia, is really an inconsiderate action.
He blindsided coach Mark Few. It puts the staff in a hole, scrambling to find more help at the lead guard spot with a decimated NCAA transfer portal pool. Not to mention hurting his former teammates, especially regarding sophomore wing Davis Fogle and sophomore center Massamba Diop’s NBA Draft stock. Saint-Supery was practicing with all the Zags just 24 hours before and gave the out-of-the-blue news late last night, per Spokesman-Review’s Theo Lawson.
This looks to be the future now when dealing with international prospects, bidding wars with EuroLeague teams who have more funds than the Pacific Northwest institution. NIL in the NCAA has hurt the integrity of college basketball. There needs to be rules or a non-interference clause in these contracts to prevent something like this from happening in the future.
Gonzaga’s updated roster count is now at 13 of the 15 potential spots filled. The new starting lineup looks like:
Guard Nathan De SousaSophomore guard Isiah HarwellSophomore wing Davis FogleRedshirt senior forward Braden HuffSophomore center Massamba Diop
Don’t put the pressure on the 2027 commit, four-star point guard Dooney Johnson, to reclassify and head to college a year early. That will ruin the momentum that he’s currently building and developing as a future Zag at the high school level. It’s too much of a load to abruptly put on someone who is getting prepared for his final run with Milwaukee Juneau after capturing the school’s first-ever WIAA boys basketball state title. The search for help in the backcourt will most likely come from assistant coach/Director of Basketball Operations Jorge Sanz in the overseas market, using Saint-Supery’s previous scattering of money left on the table as leverage.
Utterly shocked by Saint-Supery’s inopportune act. Much, much worse than the former Gonzaga commit from Germany, Basketball Bundesliga’s Alba Berlin/New York Knicks combo guard Jack Kayil’s choice to keep his name in the 2026 NBA Draft earlier this summer.
Arden Cravalho is a Gonzaga University graduate from the Bay Area… Follow him on X @a_cravalho
