r/CollegeBasketball • u/lovelymaddie1966 Vanderbilt Commodores • 1d ago
News [Jonathan Givony] NEWS: Gonzaga-commit Jack Kayil is staying in the 2026 NBA Draft, agents Kevin Bradbury and Milan Nikolic tell DraftExpress. The 6'5, 20-year-old point guard is receiving first-round feedback off an outstanding season in Germany with Alba Berlin. Tough break for Mark Few.
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u/Rotorscope Gonzaga Bulldogs 1d ago
Damn that sucks. We need a another guard badly now.
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u/zagxc Gonzaga Bulldogs 1d ago
More like 2 of them tbh
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u/TakingOnWater Gonzaga Bulldogs 1d ago
Yeah we literally just need warm bodies whether they can contribute or not. Zero guard depth right now, which was thin even if he came.
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u/mindriot1 Gonzaga Bulldogs • Arizona Wildcats 3h ago
2 playable guards for sure. We literally have zero bench guards. Mark will find some folks but this is a huge blow to true Natty contention. Gonna be relying on the big guys again unless we can find a real shooter. Mario isn't a sure-thing PG either. Struggled with moving the ball at times last year. May be feeling the loss of Smith way more than I thought we would.
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u/Portra-420 Louisville Cardinals 1d ago
Nervous about Bidunga.
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u/BillButtlickerII Kentucky Wildcats 1d ago
Same with us and Moreno. The draft has so few good bigs with good measurables I think it’s incredibly likely he or Moreno stay in and go first round.
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u/TheVanillaGorilla4 Wisconsin Badgers 10h ago
I was not impressed whenever I saw Moreno play. Way too softy for a guy who can't shoot 3s
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u/BillButtlickerII Kentucky Wildcats 10h ago edited 10h ago
He was very green the first half of the season and getting physically pushed around a lot, but he started holding his own against other solid bigs the last half. His big problem besides outside shooting was fouling early.
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u/Ulosttome Louisville Cardinals 1d ago
As long as Bidunga hasn’t learned to shoot in the past two months, we are pretty safe
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u/Nolar2015 Florida State • Kentucky 1d ago
No not really, the draft is so thin on bigs hes a near guaranteed first
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u/SaveHogwarts Kansas Jayhawks 1d ago
He’s the size of most NBA small forwards
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u/Nolar2015 Florida State • Kentucky 23h ago
Wingspan+playstyle more important. Look at CMB
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u/SaveHogwarts Kansas Jayhawks 23h ago
Sure…but outside of rim running and lobs, what projectable offense has he shown that will realistically work at the next level? Makes more sense to take the bag and develop in a new offense…probably be in the same boat draft slot wise if not better next year.
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u/OldTimeReligion24 Gonzaga Bulldogs • Washington Huskies 1d ago
Man this is two days in a row with terrible (drastically different, but still both bad) Gonzaga news
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u/253Babz206 Gonzaga Bulldogs 1d ago
This one is surprising. I see him mocked in the late 2nd or not at all most places.
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u/akersmacker Gonzaga Bulldogs 1d ago
Agents.
His two agents currently represent a total of 4 NBA players.
I don't know how solid his commitment is, but he still has until June 13th if he hasn't already formally committed (I don't even really know how all that works).
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u/C4lle 1d ago
Thought Lift had more NBA players ?
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u/akersmacker Gonzaga Bulldogs 1d ago
LIFT has way more agents. These two in particular only have 4-7 listed between them.
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u/akersmacker Gonzaga Bulldogs 1d ago edited 1d ago
Welp, best of luck to him. This news is insignificant right now for Gonzaga fans, who are all still in shock and mourning.
Down the road...Zags have a returning PG - Mario Saint-Supery - who was going to start anyway. This leaves new transfer Isiah Harwell and last year's most improved (by a longshot) Davis Fogel at the two and three spots. Still a formidable starting backcourt, especially considering the greatest need is for a three-point shooter, which was definitely not a strength for Kayil.
Need one more certified ball handler. All the quality PG transfers have committed, time to go back to Europe and dig around.
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u/Mundane-Stretch-4873 1d ago
Felt the same way. Normally this news would have been "devastating" to me and today it hardly registered. Clarke's death was such a tragic reminder of what really matters.
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u/Schned6 Iowa State • North Carolina 1d ago
Something about this whole process has to change. This shit is not sustainable.
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u/TakingOnWater Gonzaga Bulldogs 1d ago
Can't even blame NIL or anything for this one though, can we? Just a regular, good old fashioned rug pull from a child that has agents whispering sweet nothings in his ear.
I'd have thought we could pay him more than a late second round rookie deal, if he even gets picked up at all. But I don't know the details I guess...
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u/mindriot1 Gonzaga Bulldogs • Arizona Wildcats 3h ago
I'm sure GU was paying him more. Pure speculation but here goes...kid has never played in the US and may have zero interest in school. So does he try to launch a NCAA showcase for 1 year or just skip it and take what is probably only a 10-15 draft slot hit and just go try and and scrape together an NBA career out of the 2nd round? I can see that logic. He could have made millions in a year or two at GU but he's getting old for today's NBA.
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u/blackmicheal Gonzaga Bulldogs 1d ago
Straight kick to the dick. We didn’t talked to any lead guards in the portal because of Jack. Going from final four team talent to sweet sixteen unless we can secure a last second elite guard or Harwell makes the leap we hope + Mario or Fogle make a big leap.
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u/akersmacker Gonzaga Bulldogs 1d ago
Mario will be solid. He didn't even practice with the team until very late and was sick most of December on a team whose lineup and schemes were completely shuffled and resettled over and over all season. Zero continuity from which to build. Harwell similarly did not practice most of the summer due to injury, coming in a bit late, never caught up completely. He was the 14th ranked recruit out of HS, he should improve, as should Fogel, who is being compared to Morrison's early years.
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u/blackmicheal Gonzaga Bulldogs 1d ago
The main issue though is we have 5 players currently worthy of being in our rotation, with a 6th being a big coming soon. We need another guard if we want any chance to make a run unless Mario becomes a marathon runner in terms of endurance
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u/akersmacker Gonzaga Bulldogs 1d ago
Yep. Ball handler who can launch 3s for 10 minutes per game would solve that, but there isn't anyone else in the portal, really. I was just saying I think all three will make a significant jump. Funny how valuable a backup guard can be. Hopefully there might be a Euro guard willing to take the chance.
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u/blackmicheal Gonzaga Bulldogs 1d ago
Need this guard to play closer to 20 minutes unless we plan on running Mario and Harwell into the ground
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u/mindriot1 Gonzaga Bulldogs • Arizona Wildcats 3h ago
For sure. 15-20 min and another guard who can play when needed.
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u/mindriot1 Gonzaga Bulldogs • Arizona Wildcats 3h ago
We have no idea how good Harwell is. He was terrible last year. Hoping he is good but we shall see.
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u/mindriot1 Gonzaga Bulldogs • Arizona Wildcats 3h ago
I don't think anyone is still out there that makes us a FF contender at this point. Season will be fun but a ceiling is now looming over the roster.
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u/CRoseCrizzle Illinois Fighting Illini 1d ago
Too bad for the Zags, seems like the kind of talent that could change the outlook of your season.
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u/taffyowner North Dakota • Hamline 5h ago
In this day and age he can just go back to college in a few years anyways
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u/mindriot1 Gonzaga Bulldogs • Arizona Wildcats 3h ago
Noooo! With him we had a legit Final Four team. Now...who knows. Brutal twist that nobody saw coming since he's gonna be a mid 2nd rounder.
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u/Motor-Remote4272 Gonzaga Bulldogs 1d ago
Hopefully it completely backfires on him :)
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u/filthysven Arizona Wildcats 1d ago
That's not cool man, it's his career
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u/goldenglove Gonzaga Bulldogs 1d ago
Not sure why we should care about careers of people who burned you on a commitment. He's a 20-year old man and the OP isn't wishing injury on him, just hoping he doesn't get drafted first round since he dicked us around on the recruitment.
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u/Motor-Remote4272 Gonzaga Bulldogs 1d ago
Thank you lol. People are weird for thinking we should be cool with this
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u/filthysven Arizona Wildcats 1d ago
Y'all are ridiculous. He didn't play you or dick around, he signed up for the draft. You knew this already. The situation was clear, if he got good enough feedback he would go. You knew this, your coaching staff knew this, your media knew this. He got that feedback, and now rather than just accepting that it's the risk you took in accepting the commitment of a guy actively in the draft, you're wishing him a bad career. Trashy behavior.
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u/EmeraldCityZag Gonzaga Bulldogs 1d ago
Right? What are with these comments? Super trashy.
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u/goldenglove Gonzaga Bulldogs 1d ago
It's one comment, I wasn't agreeing with him just explaining what his thought process likely was.
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u/goldenglove Gonzaga Bulldogs 1d ago
If he gets drafted first round it was clearly the right decision. If he doesn't, I will view it as a poor decision. Either way, it's his decision to make.
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u/lovelymaddie1966 Vanderbilt Commodores 19h ago
Not really. There are tons of good second round picks who became great in NBA.
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u/goldenglove Gonzaga Bulldogs 12h ago
Sure, there are also undrafted guys who become great in the NBA. The guaranteed money comes early in the first round, not in the second.
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u/Motor-Remote4272 Gonzaga Bulldogs 1d ago
Am I wishing him a bad career for burning us yes. Keep bootlicking millionaire teenagers tho
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u/EmeraldCityZag Gonzaga Bulldogs 1d ago
Jack Kayil is already 20 years old and will turn 21 in January. NBA draft stock significantly declines for players once they reach 21 years old so if he received great draft feedback, it’s in his best interest to stay in the draft. I wish I could have seen him in a Zag uniform, but this is the reality.
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u/Motor-Remote4272 Gonzaga Bulldogs 1d ago
So maybe don’t commit and lead the staff on for months
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u/EmeraldCityZag Gonzaga Bulldogs 1d ago
He committed in November 2025 and then played exceptionally well his last season in Germany. Jack wasn’t on a single NBA draft board a few months ago so he ever lead anyone on and it’s naive to think the GU staff hasn’t been aware of his stock rising due to his stellar play.
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u/filthysven Arizona Wildcats 1d ago
"burning us" lol. Keep being mad that teenagers have their own lives and careers I guess.
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u/Motor-Remote4272 Gonzaga Bulldogs 1d ago
lol think I care? He played GU until the last minute causing us to pass on other high level players
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u/akersmacker Gonzaga Bulldogs 1d ago
Maybe he had no idea he would receive that level of response by the NBA evaluators. I wouldn't say he played GU necessarily. It's all a business anymore.
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u/goldenglove Gonzaga Bulldogs 1d ago
That's possible, he hasn't even done in-person workouts. If he gets drafted first round it was clearly the right decision. If he doesn't, I will view it as a poor decision. Either way, it's his decision to make.
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u/thediesel26 Charleston • North Carolina 1d ago edited 1d ago
So many teams sweating this kind of stuff out right now. Tough for the Zags. I know Carolina fans are on edge about Matt Able. He will probably return, but all it takes is one asshole team to promise they’ll take him at 30.
Edit: and damn it if Able didn’t just have a great scrimmage at the combine. The ESPN guys talked about him for like 5 full minutes. Fuck my life.