Gonzaga’s nonconference slate for the 25-26 season is absolutely stacked with players who can take over a game by themselves. From proven scorers who already torched the Zags last season to five-star prospects stepping onto the big stage for the first time, this year’s schedule reads like a gauntlet of individual stars as much as marquee team matchups. Before conference play even begins, Gonzaga will have to stare down NBA lottery talent, sixth-year veterans, and guards who make their living blowing up defensive game plans. Here’s a look at some of the most dangerous players Gonzaga will face in nonconference play.
Jayden Quaintance — Kentucky, Forward/Center, 6’9”
I wrote a similar article to this one around this time last year, and Jayden Quaintance was on that one, too. Gonzaga saw Jayden Quaintance early last season when they handled the Sun Devils 88-80, a game where the 17-year-old freshman logged 28 minutes but finished with just 9 points and just 1 rebound. My estimation on his danger may have been inflated then, but there’s plenty reason to suspect it won’t be this year. The Sun Devils spiraled to a 4–16 conference record, yet Quaintance’s year gathered momentum before a torn ACL in February cut it short: he averaged 9.4 points, 7.9 boards, and an absolutely astonishing 2.6 blocks per game, with performances like a 15-point, 12-rebound night against West Virginia hinting at why he’s viewed as a potential NBA lottery pick. His transfer to Kentucky this spring returns him to the program he originally committed to out of high school before reclassifying and joining the dumpster fire that was Sun Devils basketball. He’s still very young but his upside is unheard of, making his recovery one of the most closely watched storylines of Mark Pope’s second season in Lexington.
If healthy, he’ll continue to protect the rim and finish above it (way above it), a presence who forces opponents to recalibrate every possession near the paint. Gonzaga’s frontcourt will need to do everything it can to keep him away from the ball defensively, keeping him moving laterally rather than letting him settle as a shot-blocking anchor. The Zags also carry a rare edge of familiarity: Adam Miller, now in Spokane, was Quaintance’s teammate at ASU, giving them a potentially valuable insider’s view of his game (though, there’s not much that’s secretive about his game, he’s a freak athlete and could have gone in the first round of this year’s NBA draft had he met the age threshold). Kentucky’s system and talent will put him in better positions than Bobby Hurley ever did, making him one of the most formidable opponents Gonzaga could face this season.
Advertisement
Nijel Pack — Oklahoma, Guard, 6’0”
Nijel Pack arrives at Oklahoma as one of the most accomplished transfers in the 2025 portal, a sixth-year guard whose path has run from Kansas State to Miami and now into the SEC. He played only nine games last year before a foot injury cut his season short, but still averaged 13.9 points per game for the Hurricanes and came into the offseason with a proven track record: a first-team All-Big 12 nod at Kansas State, a Final Four run at Miami in 2023, and career averages that hover in the mid-teens as a scorer with range well beyond the arc. Pack’s waiver for a sixth season gives Porter Moser a centerpiece to rebuild around after Oklahoma’s roster churn, and his combination of shot-making, experience, and pick-and-roll craft make him one of the most dangerous backcourt studs Gonzaga will see all year.
For the Zags, the defensive assignments on Pack will be crucial. Adam Miller’s size and familiarity with high-major guards gives Gonzaga one option, but much of the attention will fall to Braeden Smith, who redshirted last season and has yet to log a single defensive possession in Spokane. Smith’s first real test comes against a guard who punishes mistakes from three and thrives when defenders slip under screens, and that matchup will double as Gonzaga fans’ first true glimpse of whether their new young point guard can anchor the perimeter defensively without breaking down. Keeping Pack off balance, forcing him inside the arc, and throwing multiple looks at him will be necessary if the Zags hopes to prevent the kind of perimeter heater that can decide a game.
Advertisement
Donovan Dent — UCLA, Guard, 6’2”
Donovan Dent arrives at UCLA after a junior season at New Mexico that put him in rare company, averaging 20.4 points and 6.4 assists to become the first player in Mountain West history to clear both marks in the same year. He scored 715 points and handed out 224 assists in 2024–25, each among the best single-season totals in Lobos history, and left Albuquerque ranked top-20 all-time in scoring and top-10 in assists. The production came with signature performances: 40 points against VCU, 17 points and 11 assists against Boise State, and another 17-and-11 line against USC. By season’s end he was Mountain West Player of the Year and ESPN’s top-rated transfer, and when he committed to UCLA in March, it carried both the weight of a homecoming and the price tag of a reported $3 million NIL package.
For Gonzaga, Dent is precisely the kind of downhill guard who can expose defensive lapses on the perimeter, a major stumbling block for the first half of last season. His first step is sharp enough to beat most matchups clean, and his ability to finish or spray to shooters forces defenses into quick rotations. That puts heavy pressure on Gonzaga’s backcourt to show they can stay attached in space, and it leaves Adam Miller and Mario Saint-Supery vulnerable to being attacked in isolation. The Zags will need to help early and rotate behind the play, using length from the wings to close passing lanes and close out shooters before the ball can swing that way, because Dent’s command of pace and ball screens makes him capable of controlling the game if given room to operate.
Advertisement
Otega Oweh — Kentucky, Guard, 6’4”
Kentucky’s leading scorer from last season is back for one more run, and the ripple effects will be felt across the SEC. Otega Oweh transferred from Oklahoma and immediately broke out in Lexington, averaging 16.2 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 1.6 steals while earning Second-Team All-SEC honors. He saved his best for the stretch run, scoring 20-plus eight times in February and March, including back-to-back statement games against his former team where he averaged 27.5 points and hit two game-winners. That surge carried him into the NBA Draft Combine, where he showed enough to draw real interest, but ultimately withdrew to return for his senior season. Kentucky head coach Mark Pope has been effusive about Oweh’s offseason growth, pointing to improvements in both playmaking and defensive versatility, calling him a candidate to be the best defensive player in the country.
For Gonzaga, Oweh presents a different kind of perimeter challenge than someone like Nijel Pack or Donovan Dent. He is less of a pure shooter than a relentless downhill guard who thrives on strength and a willingness to improvise in the paint. Expect the Zags to throw length at Oweh from the wing, shading help toward his drives and rotating early to cut off his lanes. If Gonzaga can’t wall him off, Oweh has shown the ability to single-handedly take things over, and as last season proved, he is most dangerous when the lights are brightest.
Advertisement
Owen Freeman — Creighton, Forward/Center, 6’10”
When Ryan Kalkbrenner’s run at Creighton ended, the Bluejays needed a new centerpiece, and they found one in Owen Freeman. A former Iowa standout, Freeman arrives in Omaha as the 2023–24 Big Ten Freshman of the Year and one of the most efficient big men in the country. He averaged 10.6 points, 6.6 rebounds, and 1.8 blocks as a true freshman, then bumped that to 16.7 points and 6.7 rebounds on nearly 64 percent shooting before a finger injury shut down his sophomore season. Few players in college basketball improved more year-over-year: his post-up efficiency leapt from the middle of the national pack to sixth overall, and he became the nation’s most efficient transition finisher, shooting 93 percent in those opportunities. Those numbers explain why Gonzaga made a serious run at him in the transfer portal before he chose Creighton, setting the stage for what has quickly become the most anticipated mid-major clash of the 2025–26 season.
Freeman represents exactly the kind of positional mismatch that hurt Gonzaga a season ago: a mobile, physical big who can punish them inside while also running the floor. At 6’10”, 245 pounds, he is both imposing and efficient, with touch on the block and a motor that thrives in transition. For the Zags, the key may be the presence of Tyon Grant-Foster, pending waiver and eligibility clearance, who could defend from the 4-spot and give Gonzaga a lockdown defensive piece they lacked last year. Otherwise, the burden will fall on Graham Ike’s strength in the post and Braden Huff’s ability to stretch Freeman out, forcing Creighton’s guards to carry more of the offensive load.
Advertisement
Michael Rataj — Baylor, Forward, 6’9”
Gonzaga’s first look at Michael Rataj last season was a brutal reminder of how a single player can win a game on their own. In Corvallis, the Oregon State forward put the Beavers on his back with 29 points and 7 rebounds in 38 minutes, carrying them to a gutsy overtime win in Oregon, a loss that ultimately galvanized Gonzaga’s midseason defensive face-lift. Even when Gonzaga flipped the script in the return game, a 98–60 rout once Emmanuel Innocenti was in the starting five, Rataj still led Oregon State with 15 points, underscoring his role as the hub of their offense. He finished the year averaging on 48/35/79 shooting splits, earned First Team All-WCC honors, and became one of the most sought-after transfers in the country before committing to Baylor.
Baylor is in full rebuild mode this season, but Rataj is a vital and essential piece of the puzzle — a proven scorer who can steady a roster built on new faces. What makes him dangerous isn’t raw athleticism so much as the way he bends matchups: too quick for bigger defenders, too strong for smaller ones, able to space the floor while still manufacturing points inside. Gonzaga has already experienced what happens when he catches fire, and even with Innocenti and — waiver permitting — Tyon Grant-Foster available as defensive counters, the Zags will need to treat him as a central threat rather than a secondary option. His consistency and versatility make him the type of senior who can swing a game almost quietly, the sort of presence that championship-caliber rebuilds are built around.
Advertisement
Tounde Yessoufou — Baylor, Guard, 6’5”
Scott Drew has made a career out of finding explosive, high-motor guards who can tilt a game with effort and athleticism, and in Tounde Yessoufou he may have landed his next star. A consensus five-star from St. Joseph High School in Santa Maria, California, Yessoufou averaged 32.3 points per game as a junior (not a typo), carried his team to back-to-back CIF State Championship appearances, and hit a buzzer-beater over Sierra Canyon to reach the SoCal Open semifinals. ESPN rated him the No. 2 player in California and one of the top wings in the 2025 class, a unanimous five-star with NBA lottery potential in 2026. His production matched the hype: at least 26 points per game in each of his first three prep seasons and an 86–15 record during that span.
Yessoufou’s game is defined by pressure from the opening tip. He drives possessions forward with a straight-line force that puts defenders on their back foot and pushes games into uncomfortable rhythms. Even when his shot isn’t there, he keeps finding ways to bend defenses, turning broken possessions into foul shots or second-chance points. That disruptive style could be Baylor’s best weapon in a rebuilding year, because it forces opponents to play faster and sloppier than they’d like. For Gonzaga, the key won’t necessarily be stopping Yessoufou outright but making sure his energy doesn’t dictate the tempo of the game, because once it does, the rest of the Bears can feed off his momentum.
