ESPN makes surprising starting lineup prediction for Gonzaga basketball

The 2025-26 college basketball season is just around the corner, and many major media outlets are beginning to reveal their rankings for the upcoming campaign.

ESPN's Jeff Borzello published his final preseason top 25 rankings on Tuesday, which included Mark Few's Gonzaga Bulldogs at No. 20 overall.

"Mark Few and the Zags are coming off a season in which they finished three games behind Saint Mary's in the WCC standings and were bounced in the second round of the tournament," Borzello wrote. "How will Gonzaga bounce back? It starts with Graham Ike and Braden Huff, one of the best interior duos in the country."

Borzello is not alone in calling Ike and Huff one of — if not the best — frontcourt tandems in college hoops. Few himself gave the duo that label at Kraziness in the Kennel on Saturday, and it is not hard to see why.

Ike is a projected All-American who averaged 17.3 points in 22.9 minutes per game last year, while posting a conference-leading 61.5% effective field goal rate. Meanwhile, Huff averaged 11 points in just 16.7 minutes per game, although that ballooned up to 15.3 points in 29.3 minutes in the team's final three games after he entered the starting lineup alongside Ike.

Oct 4, 2025; Spokane, WA, USA; Gonzaga Bulldogs forward Graham Ike (15) and Gonzaga Bulldogs forward Braden Huff (34) meet at center court during Numerica Kraziness in the Kennel at the McCarthey Athletic Center. | James Snook-Imagn Images

Those two project to start together all season long in 2025-26, which will create nightmare matchups for opposing defenses — especially if the glimpses of improved passing and spacing from Kraziness carry over into the regular season.

However, it was Borzello's projected starting lineup that caught the eyes of Zag fans on Tuesday. Ike, Huff, Tyon Grant-Foster, and Adam Miller are unsurprising inclusions, but instead of redshirt junior Braeden Smith, Borzello had Spanish freshman guard Mario Saint-Supery in the starting five, and he mentioned him as a key factor for this team to reach its ceiling.

"The two things that determine this team's ceiling could be how quickly Spanish guard Mario Saint-Supery makes an impact," Borzello wrote. "And whether Grand Canyon transfer Tyon Grant-Foster receives a waiver."

Gonzaga Bulldogs Tyon Grant-Foster (left) and Adam Miller (right) during 2025 Kraziness in the Kennel. | Photo by Mercedes Smith

Smith is widely considered the favorite to start for Gonzaga at point guard after putting in work behind the scenes last year while redshirting. Smith was the Patriot League Player of the Year as a sophomore at Colgate in 2023-24, and his familiarity with the offense and the time he spent learning from and competing against Ryan Nembhard in practice should give him a leg up on Saint-Supery, who has spent very little time in Spokane after representing the Spanish National Team at EuroBasket this summer.

Few said back in July that Saint-Supery can play both on and off the ball, and it seems far more likely he will end up in a versatile bench role for Gonzaga while learning the ropes of the point guard position behind the scenes.

As for Grant-Foster, the NCAA did grant the 6'7 wing a practice waiver allowing him to join the team last week, but his status for the upcoming season remains up in the air as of this writing.

Gonzaga's depth on the wing, which includes sharpshooter Steele Venters, versatile Jalen Warley, tough defender Emmanuel Innocenti, and high upside freshman Davis Fogle, can withstand the absence of Grant-Foster, although it would certainly hurt the team's overall ceiling to not have the Grand Canyon transfer and 2024 WAC Player of the Year — should the NCAA ultimately deny him a chance to play this upcoming season.

Gonzaga opens up the 2025-26 season at home against Texas Southern on Nov. 3.

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