The Gonzaga Bulldogs 2026-27 roster is four spots short of filling their 15 possible scholarship/walk-on spots. But don’t fret, the coaching staff, specifically Director of Basketball Operations Jorge Sanz, is on the hunt to fill that gap over in Spain.
Per multiple reports, FC Barcelona’s 6-9 wing Nikola Kusturica’s interested parties are Gonzaga, Kentucky, UCLA, Arizona, Duke, Louisville, and North Carolina. The Zags under coach Mark Few and the Wildcats under coach Mark Pope are the favorites to secure the commitment.
The 17-year-old Serbian is a top 2028 NBA Draft prospect who already has EuroLeague and Spain’s Liga ACB experience at such a young age. In fact, Kusturica is the youngest player in FC Barcelona’s history to score a basket during a Liga ACB contest at 16 years old. He’s considered to be one of the top physical specimens with a bright future coming out of Europe.
In FC Barcelona’s U-18 NextGen EuroLeague championship win over Real Madrid, the long frame of Kusturica stood out after contributing 20 points, 10 rebounds, and two assists. He’s a pure shot and playmaker with a ridiculously high ceiling once he puts on weight with whatever college program he chooses, only at 180 pounds at the moment.
It sounds as if this would be a two-year situation for him with the NCAA. The need/fit with Gonzaga makes the most sense given this multiple seasons in college probability. He would potentially come off the bench in a sixth man role for his first year with the Inland Northwest program and blossom into a starting role for the 2027-28 campaign for the Zags.
Kusturica is currently preparing to represent his home country of Serbia at the FIBA U-17 World Cup, which is taking place from June 27 to July 5 in Istanbul, Turkey.
Arden Cravalho is a Gonzaga University graduate from the Bay Area… Follow him on X @a_cravalho
