Jalen Warley is unlike any Gonzaga 'power forward' before him, and that's a good thing

Warley had eight points and four steals in his season debut on Monday

Gonzaga Bulldogs guard Jalen Warley (8). | Photo by Myk Crawford

Gonzaga came into the 2025-26 season with significant roster depth at four of the five positions. The big question for coach Mark Few's team was at power forward, with the Zags needing to replace both Ben Gregg and Michael Ajayi.

It was clear Graham Ike and Braden Huff would start alongside each other, but outside of Ismaila Diagne — who played 66 minutes last year — and 3-star freshman Parker Jefferson, Gonzaga looked thin up front coming into the year.

Enter Jalen Warley.

Warley is far from a traditional power forward; in fact, for the entirety of his collegiate career, he has been listed as a guard, and at times operated as the primary ball-handler while at Florida State.

But it is his uniqueness that makes him such a perfect fit as a small-ball four in Gonzaga's system, as evidenced by a very strong performance off the bench on Monday against Texas Southern.

The 6'7 Warley played 18 minutes for Gonzaga, all at power forward, and racked up eight points on 3-4 shooting, along with four steals, four rebounds, and three assists in his Zag debut.

Gonzaga Bulldogs guard Jalen Warley (8). | Photo by Erik Smith

"That's kind of what Jalen has been doing," coach Few said after the game. "He brings great energy, he doesn't take a possession off and definitely is somebody that's going to try to make a play on that defensive end. Very versatile, too."

Warley may not be much of a low-post scorer — or much of a scorer at all — but he brings a unique blend of defensive versatility and playmaking on offense to this Gonzaga frontcourt, and it looks like a flawless match alongside Ike, Huff, and Diagne.

Warley is strong enough to guard most of the fours he'll face this year down on the block, but also quick enough to defend guards on the perimeter, which allows Gonzaga the flexibility to switch on ball-screens at the top of the key. With Ike and Huff contributing more on offense than they do on defense, having someone like Warley in the mix to take pressure off of them defensively is critical, and will help the two bigs avoid getting in foul trouble, which could stall out Gonzaga's offense.

It's easy to see what Warley lacks — notably an outside shot — but that doesn't make him a liability on offense in this system. While it would be nice to have a perimeter threat at the four — especially after Gregg and Ajayi's struggles last year — what Warley does have is exceptional facilitation skill that allows him to run the offense from the top of the key, and more smoothly get the basketball to Ike and Huff down low in positions to score.

Gonzaga has had plenty of great defensive power forwards in the past, with Anton Watson being the most recent standout, but they've never had a player quite like Warley in the role, who is as capable of guarding perimeter players as anyone else on the roster, and who possesses guard-like skill as a playmaker on the other end as well.

It is yet another reason this team will be very difficult for opponents to game plan against, and gives this team a unique blend of versatility on both ends of the floor that coach Few can deploy in a ton of different ways depending on what the matchup calls for.

Warley and the Zags will face their first big test of the regular season on Saturday, Nov. 8, at the Spokane Arena when they host the Oklahoma Sooners, with tip time slated for 7:30 PM PT.

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