Gonzaga lands transfer portal commitment from guard Skylar Wicks

Wicks is Gonzaga's third transfer portal addition this offseason

Dec 1, 2025; Cincinnati, Ohio, USA; Saint Francis Red Flash guard Skylar Wicks (8) dribbles against the Xavier Musketeers in the first half at Cintas Center. | Katie Stratman-Imagn Images

Mark Few and the Gonzaga Bulldogs are putting the finishing touches on the 2026-27 roster by landing their second veteran guard in the last ten days.

Skylar Wicks, a 6'6 guard from Jersey City who averaged nearly 18 points per game at Saint Francis last year, will join 23-year-old French guard Nathan De Sousa in Gonzaga's backcourt after sources confirmed he committed to Gonzaga on Wednesday for his final season of eligibility.

Wicks becomes the third portal addition for the Zags, joining rising sophomores Massamba Diop and Isiah Harwell from Arizona State and Houston, respectively. Those three will be joined by De Sousa, another French guard in Juwan Ekanga-Ehawa, and incoming freshmen Sam Funches, Luca Foster, and Carter Nilson as newcomers for Gonzaga as they head into the Pac-12 in 2026-27.

Who is Skylar Wicks?

Wicks is a veteran, well-travelled guard from Clearwater, FL, who began his collegiate career at Missouri State in the Missouri Valley Conference back in 2020-21. He appeared in just six games that year with the Bears, and then redshirted the 2021-22 season.

After that, Wicks moved down to the junior college level, playing 28 games for State College of Florida, where he averaged 16.5 points and 5.6 rebounds before bouncing back up to the Division 1 level, this time landing at Incarnate Word in the Southland.

Wicks had his first breakthrough D1 season with the Cardinals, averaging 13.7 points, 6.6 rebounds, and 1.8 assists in 2023-24 while shooting 44.5% on twos and 31.1% from three on 4.5 attempts per game. He got off to an excellent start that year, dropping 26 points with 11 rebounds and three assists in a road loss to Texas, one of seven 20-point games against D1 opponents that year - four of which came on the road.

The 6'6 guard was on the move again after that season, landing at UTSA in the American for 2024-25. However, injury limited Wicks to just 10 games with the Roadrunners, where he averaged 3.6 points and 2.3 rebounds in just under 12 minutes.

He resurfaced at St. Francis in the NEC last year and had far and away the best season of his career, posting averages of 17.8 points, 6.7 rebounds, 2.8 assists, and 1.4 steals in 33.2 minutes per game. Wicks shot 43.9% on twos and a career-best 36.3% from three on six attempts per game. He also shot 72.5% from the free throw line on 3.9 nightly attempts.

Wicks finished second in the NEC in scoring, sixth in rebounding, sixth in steals, and 12th in assists while earning All-NEC Third Team honors.

He was once again excellent against high-level competition, dropping 20 points in a road loss at Oklahoma and 18 points with six rebounds, four assists, and two steals in a road loss at TCU. He also had 18 points, eight rebounds, and six assists at Xavier, and 22 points, three rebounds, and three steals at Florida.

All told, Wicks had 12 games of 20+ points with St. Francis, along with three double-doubles and five games with five or more assists. His 61 made threes were 13 higher than Mario Saint-Supery, who led the Zags last year.

Eligibility concerns?

Wicks celebrated his 26th birthday on Tuesday and began his college career back in 2020, so it is entirely fair to wonder if he'll end up suiting up for Gonzaga at all.

On the surface, it's easy to see the argument for another year of eligibility: Wicks' 2020-21 season should not count because it was the COVID blanket waiver year, while his redshirt season in 2021-22 should not count either. His one year at JuCo in 2022-23 will count - that waiver was only good for one season - and his year at Incarnate Word and most recent season at St. Francis both count as well.

However, the 10 games played at UTSA should result in a waiver for Wicks, which would mean he's only used three of his four seasons of eligibility.

Of course, the NCAA is cracking down on guys who are past the five-year window, which Wicks unquestionably is. Wicks is reportedly in the process of seeking a waiver from the NCAA, but it is unclear how that process is going - and it wouldn't be a surprise if it resulted in Gonzaga needing to once again fight for a player to gain eligibility.

Fit at Gonzaga

Gonzaga's depth in the backcourt was critically low after German guard Jack Kayil announced he intended to stay in the NBA draft process. Saint-Supery and Harwell were the lone guards on the roster, with sophomore Davis Fogle and incoming freshman Luca Foster expected to play the three.

De Sousa and Ekanga-Ehawa help, but Wicks - assuming he's eligible - immediately gives Gonzaga a veteran player who can score at all three levels, rebounds really well for his position, and showed promise as an outside shooter last season with the Red Flash.

The 6'6 guard could even push Harwell for the starting shooting guard role, and regardless, he will play a solid role for Gonzaga next season as another scoring option alongside Saint-Supery, Fogle, and big men Massamba Diop and Braden Huff as Mark Few's team looks to win their first Pac-12 title and get back to the Sweet 16.