This signing was a long time coming. Elite combo guard Mario Saint-Supery from Spain will be heading overseas to Spokane to chase his NBA dream with the Zags. Through the NCAA and the new NIL regulations, the 19-year-old can do so despite having already played professional basketball with BAXI Manresa in the Liga ACB in Spain. He will have approximately a 500,00 euro or $586,000 buyout due to his early departure, according to BasketNews.
Before that, Saint-Supery played for Unicaja in the Liga ACB, the same team that Killian Tillie currently plays for, and Domantas Sabonis played for from 2012-14 before coming to Gonzaga.
With BAXI Manresa this past season that just recently ended, the 6-3, 172-pound prospect averaged 7.7 points on a shooting split of 43.6 field goal percentage/32.7 three-point percentage/82.5 free throw percentage, 2.5 assists, and 2.1 rebounds in 15.3 minutes per game. He also debuted with the Spanish senior national team in the FIBA EuroBasket 2025 Qualifiers.
At the FIBA U-18 EuroBasket with Spain last summer, he broke onto the scene while averaging 21.4 points (ranked No. 3 in the tournament), 6.3 assists (ranked No. 2 in the tournament), and 5.4 rebounds per game (ranked No. 29 in the tournament). The basketball IQ he possesses is off the charts.
Saint-Supery contours his body well when attacking the rim and is crafty for such a juvenile player. When leading the break, he keeps his head high and can visualize where his teammates are going to end up on the floor. The teenage prodigy has gradually gotten better as a playmaker and more physical as his season went along.
Given his vast experience against former college stars and NBA players in professional basketball, this is a steal for Gonzaga coach Mark Few, and he should be expected to make an immediate impact. Adding an already battle-tested ball-handler despite his young age like this makes the 2025-26 group that much better. He will have four years of college eligibility.
The roster moves to having 12 scholarship spots filled (Braeden Smith, Steele Venters, Emmanuel Innocenti, Jalen Warley, Braden Huff, Ismaila Diagne, Davis Fogle, Graham Ike, Parker Jefferson, Adam Miller, Tyon Grant-Foster, and Mario Saint-Supery).
Saint-Supery and Diagne should get along well on the court together with both coming from Spain. Diagne played for Real Madrid’s U-18 team and with the club in the Liga ACB as well as the EuroLeague prior to coming to the Pacific Northwest.
Arden Cravalho is a Gonzaga University graduate from the Bay Area… Follow him on Twitter @a_cravalho
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