In the words of David Byrne, "Home is where I want to be." While it's certainly a universal statement, it rings especially true today for Spokane's own Anton Watson. The veteran Gonzaga forward announced yesterday that he'll delay his pro basketball career for one more year to return to Gonzaga for his fifth season.
The Gonzaga Prep alumni has been a fan favorite and contributor since the moment he stepped onto the floor and started as a freshman back in 2019. Excelling at the little things that sometimes get overlooked — like being in position to get deflections on steals — the 6-foot-8-inch forward can impact the game without being a primary scoring option. His reputation is mostly built on the defense side of the floor, though he can put in buckets when the defense is preoccupied with more dangerous offensive GU weapons (he feasted last season on defenders falling asleep while double teaming Drew Timme).
Heck, he's hardly the first college grad to want to delay entering the work world in order stick around his hometown and hang with his buddies longer. Plus, he's almost certainly going to cash in big with NIL endorsements as the most familiar returning Zag and a local guy (despite frankly being a black hole of charisma, especially when stacked against Timme).
On the other hand, both wing Julian Strawther and guard Malachi Smith recently announced their decisions to say goodbye to GU and stay in the NBA Draft. Strawther is expected to get drafted (though his stock seems to have fallen from a possible late-first round pick to more likely a second round pick), while Smith is unlikely to be drafted but might be given a shot at NBA Summer League and is certainly good enough to have a pro career overseas.
Coach Mark Few will certainly turn to Watson to provide veteran leadership on a team that will look a lot different than last year. Gone are Timme, Strawther, Smith, Rasir Bolton, Hunter Sallis, Dominick Harris and Efton Reid. That makes Watson, Ben Gregg, and Nolan Hickman the only real contributors returning from last season. Coach Few dipped into the transfer pool to fill the voids, adding three potentially stellar new players: Creighton point guard Ryan Nembhard (Andrew's little brother), Eastern Washington's star guard Steele Venters and Wyoming big Graham Ike. There will also be potentially impactful new recruits who've yet to see the floor including South Korean standout Jun Seok Yeo and freshmen Dusty Stromer and Alex Toohey.
If forced to wager a guess, I'd expect the starting lineup to be as follows when the Zags tip off the 2023-24 season:
PG Ryan Nembhard
SG Nolan Hickman
SF Steele Venters
PF Anton Watson
C Graham Ike
With the talent assembled, the Zags are unlikely to be anyone's national title favorite entering the next campaign, but they'll probably be a top-10 team when the preseason polls eventually arrive.
For Watson, it's good to be home. Again.
