Nov. 14—Moments after Gonzaga and LSU tipped off Saturday afternoon at Numerica Veterans Arena, Zags player No. 5 used a nifty move to drive past his man and hit a short jumper for the game’s first basket. A bit later, No. 2 pressed full-court, stole the ball and fed a streaking No. 13 for a two-handed slam that sent the packed house into a frenzy.
My apologies, still putting names with faces — and numbers.
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In a bruising game that matched the Zags’ seven veteran transfers — along with holdovers Braden Huff and Davis Fogle — against a talented Tigers team boasting even more seasoned newcomers, it was 22-year-old ex-UCLA guard Donovan Dent who drilled a 3-pointer with a second left to beat 14th-ranked GU, 81-80.
With its electric atmosphere, stomping student section and unmistakable championship intensity, Saturday’s contest felt like most big Gonzaga games.
So why does it all feel so empty?
Is it because the college game has devolved into 20-something rentals battling fellow 20-something rentals? Or maybe the endless roster shakeups that have left fans feeling like they don’t know any players anymore? Perhaps it’s the greed-fueled dissolution of traditional leagues and rivalries? Or is it that we seem to spend more time following eligibility proceedings in courts rather than action on them?
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Whatever the reasons, college athletics — specifically basketball and football — seem broken.
To be fair, this is much bigger than Gonzaga vs. LSU. It’s happening all across the nation, at all levels.
But Saturday’s game at the Arena offered more proof that college sports have lost their way.
Combined, the GU and LSU rosters reportedly earn somewhere north of $30 million. The average age of the Tigers’ starting five is slightly higher than what the San Antonio Spurs trotted out during the NBA playoffs last spring.
Controversial LSU coach Will Wade, who returned this season after the school fired him for alleged NCAA infractions in 2022, added three players with international professional experience and seven college transfers who have combined to play at 21 different schools. That doesn’t include RJ Luis, who spent the past year and a half away from the college game and seemed destined to remain ineligible because of SEC rules. He was granted a preliminary injunction on Friday, and according to social media tried unsuccessfully to catch a plane for Spokane in time to join his teammates. Luis, who began his career at UMass, played two seasons for St. John’s from 2023-25. He eventually played in three NBA preseason games with the Boston Celtics in 2025 before getting cut. He’ll be 24 in two weeks.
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Wade has been steadfast in his recruiting approach, saying in September, “We’re going to be unapologetic. This is who we are. This is what we’re doing.”
Gonzaga’s path to fifth-year transfers hasn’t entirely been its own doing. GU’s returning core of Braden Huff, Davis Fogle and Mario Saint-Supery from last season were all original Zag recruits. But Saint-Supery bolted for a Spanish professional team in July, and heralded German recruit Jack Kayil chose to forgo Spokane for the NBA draft.
Those late departures further pushed coach Mark Few and his staff into the “5-in-5” pool, where they landed Xaivian Lee, Javon Bennett and Chauncey Wiggins, three players who are each playing for their third school. Wiggins, who became eligible on Thursday, played three games for the Boston Celtics at Summer League in July.
GU added two other transfers: Nathan De Sousa, a senior on his last year of eligibility whose resumé includes five seasons playing professionally in France; and junior Izan Almansa, who’s played three seasons of professional basketball, most recently for Real Madrid after not hearing his name called in the 2025 NBA draft.
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Against LSU, several of the first-year Zags had their moments in a game that saw GU surrender a 13-point, second-half lead. Isiah Harwell, the sophomore transfer from Houston, scored 14 points, Almansa had eight points and seven rebounds, and the pesky Bennett came off the bench to provide six points and five assists.
On paper, this Gonzaga roster is big, deep and primed to make another deep NCAA run.
But at what cost? College basketball has nothing to do with college now. It’s hard to imagine any of these guys actually showing up to class or interacting with fellow students at College Hall.
School loyalty used to mean something. But it’s severely one-sided at the moment, with fans paying more and more to watch players — and coaches — come and go at the bounce of a ball. Two nosebleeds to Saturday’s game were going for well over 100 bucks.
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This here-today, gone-tomorrow approach is taking a toll. CBS Sports reported that in 2025-26 only 22 scholarship seniors across the power conferences spent their entire careers where they started.
These new Zags all seem like good guys. They’re obviously talented and will win plenty of games. And their coach has showed loyalty, staying in Spokane for decades while richer programs came-a-calling.
But being a fan in 2026 feels hollow, like we’re only cheering on the jersey without knowing the player wearing it.
Even with NIL and the transfer portal, it doesn’t have to be this way.
A year ago, Michigan State’s Tom Izzo was quoted as saying, “When I go in the portal, the first place I go is my locker room. I want to keep most of the guys on my team.”
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Izzo’s Spartans, who are 4-0 and ranked No. 5, returned nearly everyone from a season ago, picking up just one transfer while losing another one.
That was always the Gonzaga way. Over the years we watched as raw freshmen developed into true Zags — the Ronny Turiafs, the Steven Grays, the Corey Kisperts, the Anton Watsons. Braden Huff and Davis Fogle are following that tradition. Maybe a couple of current GU freshmen still stick around long enough to make that same leap in the coming years.
At least that’s what we ought to be rooting for.
Otherwise, as Jerry Seinfeld once said about professional sports, we’re just rooting for laundry.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: Sports.yahoo.com
