With the continuous disaster that the NCAA created and put on itself, some more bad news on the Gonzaga Bulldogs’ front.
According to court documents from the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals, all Class of 2022 athletes from the state of Colorado’s 5-in-5 ruling, except for those who have their own temporary restraining order or injunction until further state court order, are now ineligible after the NCAA stay was granted in the state of Ohio case.
That includes Gonzaga point guard Javon Bennett, with the injunction now pending. Don’t completely give up hope; he can regain eligibility before the start of the 2026-27 season. Bennett can attempt to join an existing state lawsuit or file a separate lawsuit, but there’s no guarantee a judge will allow that. This looks to be temporary, given the NCAA’s idiocracy and willingness to continue wasting everyone’s time/money on their losing streak in court across the country.
The Zags technically have four open roster spots with all this fifth-year college eligibility nonsense going on in college athletics. They still await the outcome for point guard Nathan De Sousa of France’s Cholet Basket and power forward/center Izan Almansa of Spain’s Real Madrid, along with Bennett now.
To make the day even worse, Gonzaga is out of the lead guard Donovan Dent sweepstakes. The UCLA Bruins transfer guard will be joining coach Will Wade and the LSU Tigers, he told On3. After announcing his retirement from basketball in May and then unretiring in July, everyone thought Dent was headed to Spokane, Washington, once Mario Saint-Supery left the program for Spain’s Valencia Basket of the EuroLeague.
LSU is desperate for bodies with only four officially formalized players on the 2026-27 roster. Dent decided to go after the sizable check and is reunited with UCLA Bruins combo guard Skyy Clark in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The pair in the backcourt were bestowed a temporary restraining order in the age-based litigation in the state of California.
The Tigers will compete against the Zags in the Numerica Veterans Arena on Nov. 14. All eyes are now on Florida Gators point guard Xaivian Lee’s decision in the transfer portal and whether he’s the answer to the puzzle that coach Mark Few and his staff can’t seem to solve. Lee has been granted a fifth year of eligibility through the same California proceeding that Dent and Clark were involved with.
Positive spin of a rather rough afternoon for the Gonzaga community: Florida State Seminoles transfer Chauncey Wiggins is still permitted to play (for now) through the injunction in the state of Georgia. The forward shared on Instagram that he has made his way to the McCarthey Athletic Center, flexing its brand new Pac-12 Conference logo.
Arden Cravalho is a Gonzaga University graduate from the Bay Area… Follow him on X @a_cravalho
