The Gonzaga Bulldogs were among the final three schools vying for New Mexico point guard in the transfer portal. However, the 6’2″ player from Riverside, California, has made shocking decisoin
According to Joe Tipton of On3, Dent also considered Kentucky and Gonzaga, along with UCLA. When he first entered the portal, he was contacted by Louisville, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas Tech.
There was some speculation that the Mountain West Player of the Year might follow his former coach, Richard Pitino, to Xavier after Pitino took over for Sean Miller, but instead, Dent will remain near home for his final year of college basketball.
Dent was one of the top guards in college basketball this season, averaging 20.4 points, 6.4 assists, 2.3 rebounds, and 1.4 steals per game. He played a key role in leading the Lobos to a first-place finish in the Mountain West and helped secure an upset over No. 7 seed Marquette in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Now, he will bring his skills to Pauley Pavilion, providing Mick Cronin with arguably his best pure scorer since taking over the UCLA program in 2019.
This is a tough blow for Gonzaga, which saw nearly all of its guards from the previous season leave, with Ryan Nembhard, Nolan Hickman, and Khalif Battle out of eligibility and Dusty Stromer entering the transfer portal. Emmanuel Innocenti is expected to return, while redshirts Braeden Smith and Jalen Warley, along with freshman Davis Fogle, are set to compete for spots on Mark Few’s roster.
However, Gonzaga will likely remain in the hunt for other high-profile guards in the transfer portal, with North Dakota’s Treysen Eaglestaff and James Madison’s Bryce Lindsay already in the mix.
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