Gonzaga schedules official visit with 4-star 2026 center recruit

Bulldogs lock in visit with top-10 center prospect Sam Funches

Germantown High School (Mississippi) center Sam Funches (32) has scheduled a visit with Gonzaga for the first weekend of October. | Lauren Witte/Clarion Ledger / USA TODAY NETWORK

Sam Funches, one of the top-ranked high school center prospects in the 2026 class, has locked in an official visit with Gonzaga.

Funches' long-awaited trip to Spokane has been set for Oct. 3-5, according to reports, lining up with Gonzaga's fall family weekend and the annual Kraziness in the Kennel event.

According to On3 reporter Joe Tipton, it certainly won't be the first stop Funches makes along his upcoming recruiting tour.

Per Tipton, Funches has also set up official visits with Vanderbilt (Aug. 1-3), Xavier (Aug. 22-24), Kansas State (Aug. 29-31), Mississippi State (Sept. 26-28) and LSU (Oct. 10-12). He's already seen Kansas, Ole Miss and California; in addition to unofficial visits with Auburn, Alabama and Mississippi State.

4⭐️ Sam Funches has scheduled official visits to Vanderbilt, Xavier, Kansas State, Mississippi State, Gonzaga, and LSU, he tells @Rivals.

The 6-11 center is a top-50 recruit in the 2026 class.

Visit schedule: https://t.co/YdZIwkaAkE pic.twitter.com/cw9ZGJqzjH

— Joe Tipton (@TiptonEdits) July 8, 2025

A product of Germantown High School (Mississippi), the 6-foot-11 Funches checks in as the No. 50 overall recruit in the class of 2026 on 247Sports Composite rankings. He's also the No. 6 center and the No. 1 high school junior in Mississippi. He's received over two dozen scholarship offers, including from Creighton, Indiana, Michigan, NC State and Texas A&M, among the other schools he's already visited.

Funches, who missed out on a visit with the Zags that was previously set for February, will instead have a front row seat for an early look at the 2025-26 team. Kraziness has long served as a major recruiting tool for Mark Few and company, with star-studded prospects like Braden Huff (2021), Chet Holmgren, Jalen Suggs and Julian Strawther (2019) committing to Gonzaga after experiencing the Bulldogs' preseason festivities for themselves.

Gonzaga hasn't announced details regarding the next Kraziness event, though it'll presumably take place during the school's fall family weekend, which is held annually during the first weekend of October.

The Bulldogs have yet to land a commitment in the 2026 class, though Few and the coaching staff have laid some groundwork with a few highly-touted prospects. Five-star guard Ikenna Alozie listed Gonzaga in his final eight schools two weeks ago, while four-star wing Herly Brutus recently picked up an offer from the Zags. Cameron Holmes, another five-star talent, received an offer from Gonzaga in late June.

Tyran Stokes, the No. 1-ranked player in the 2026 class, has also been linked to the Zags as his recruitment starts to heat up heading into his senior year at Notre Dame High School (California).