Gonzaga's Braden Huff reaches career milestone with Princeton transfer Caden Pierce in attendance

Huff achieves rare feat with his former high school teammate in attendance

Gonzaga Bulldogs forward Braden Huff (34). | Photo by Erik Smith

Caden Pierce was able to witness Gonzaga forward Braden Huff accomplish several feats during their time together as teammates at Glenbard West High School in Illinois,

Huff, who took home Illinois Mr. Basketball honors during his senior year in 2022, reached another major milestone on Friday, and Pierce once again had a front row seat for it.

With 15 points Friday against Seattle U, Huff crossed the 1,000-point threshold for his collegiate career. The 6-foot-10 forward became the fifth player on the roster to achieve that mark, joining Graham Ike (2,187 points entering Friday), Tyon Grant-Foster (1,322), Adam Miller (1,323) and Steele Venters (1,238).

Huff wasted no time in finding his rhythm against the Redhawks. He scored the Zags' first nine points and was 4-of-4 from the field through the first 5 minutes of regulation, fueling the Bulldogs to an early lead at the first media timeout.

The Redhawks delivered a quick response, though, flipping the script on the Zags with 14 unanswered points over a 2-minute span. Some second-chance opportunities and sloppiness on Gonzaga's part helped Seattle U maintain a 37-29 lead going into the halftime break, as the Redhawks became just the second team in 2025-26 to hold an advantage over the Zags at the first half-buzzer.

Huff reached the 1,000-point threshold for his career on a two-handed dunk early in the second half.

Pierce was in town on an official visit with Gonzaga. He decided to redshirt the 2025-26 season and will use his final year of eligibility in 2026-27.

Caden Pierce, a transfer from Princeton, watches the game during an official visit as Gonzaga hosts Seattle at the McCarthey Athletic Center. | Photo by Erik Smith

Pierce, the 2023-24 Ivy League Player of the Year, had also taken visits with Purdue, UConn and Duke. He's also expected to visit Louisville.

Huff entered Friday as Gonzaga's leading scorer at 18.1 points per game. He was coming off a 14-point outing against San Diego in a 99-93 victory for the Zags.

Huff ended nonconference play on a high note, totaling 57 points on 73.5% shooting from the field during wins over Campbell and Oregon. Those efforts earned him WCC Player of the Week honors.

His career-night against the Camels was historic, as he tallied a career-high 37 points after making his first 12 shots from the field. Only one other Division I player in the last eight seasons has made 12 shots in a half without a miss, according to ESPN.

Huff's 16 made field goals that, during Gonzaga's 98-70 win over Campbell, were also the most in McCarthey Athletic Center history.

Huff's journey to 1,000 career points began in 2023 following a transformative redshirt season in which the former four-star recruit was the understudy to the program's all-time leading scorer, Drew Timme.

Competing against one of the most dominant post scorers college basketball has seen in some time, in practice day after day, evidently paid dividends for Huff and the Zags. After earning All-WCC Freshman honors in 2023-24 while coming off the bench, Huff eventually earned a starting role next to Ike, forming a dynamic frontcourt tandem for Gonzaga to focus its offensive attack around.

Huff arrived at Gonzaga after he and Pierce helped guide Glenbard West to a 37-1 record and win in the Class 4A IHSA State championship game in 2021-22. Pierce, meanwhile, committed to Princeton as an unranked prospect in the 2022 class, though quickly became an integral piece for a Tigers team that advanced to the Sweet 16 round of the 2023 NCAA Tournament. The 6-foot-7 forward started in 31 of the 32 games he played in and put up 8.2 points and grabbed 7.3 rebounds for Princeton as a freshman, earning the Ivy League Rookie of the Year award.

Pierce took his game to another level as a sophomore, becoming Princeton's second-leading scorer behind Xaivian Lee with 16.6 points per game. Pierce also snatched 9.2 rebounds and dished out 3.2 assists per contest.

Pierce put up 11.2 points, 7.2 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game in 29 appearances during the 2024-25 campaign.