National expectations grow for Gonzaga's Braden Huff and Massamba Diop

Gonzaga's projected starters were both nominated for preseason positional awards

Gonzaga Bulldogs center Massamba Diop. | Photo by Myk Crawford

The Gonzaga Bulldogs have long dominated on the interior, a calling card of Mark Few's teams dating back to Casey Calvary, Ronny Turiaf, and JP Batista 20+ years ago.

From those three to more modern stars like Kelly Olynyk, Domantas Sabonis, Brandon Clarke, Chet Holmgren, Drew Timme, and Graham Ike, Gonzaga almost always rosters one or two of the best frontcourt players in the entire country - and that remains the case in 2026-27.

Returning forward Braden Huff and Arizona State transfer Massamba Diop were both named to their respective preseason watch lists for the Karl Malone and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Awards, given annually to the best power forward and center in the country.

Huff and Diop join Davis Fogle, who himself was nominated for the Julius Erving Award as the best small forward in the sport.

Braden Huff faces lofty expectations in final season

Gonzaga Bulldogs forward Braden Huff. | Photo by Myk Crawford

Huff returns to Gonzaga for a fifth year, coming off an excellent season in 2025-26 that was unfortunately cut short when he suffered a season-ending knee injury in mid-January.

Through 18 games, Huff averaged 17.8 points and 5.6 rebounds, and he has a clear path to a dominant senior season in Gonzaga's paint touch heavy offense.

Huff is looking to become the second Zag to win the Karl Malone Award after Drew Timme took home the honors in 2021. His competition is very stiff, including Arkansas forward Miika Muurinen, preseason All-American David Mirkovic at Illinois, former All-American JT Toppin at Texas Tech, and fifth year seniors Malik Reneau (Miami) and Jaxon Kohler (BYU) among others.

Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame Announces Preseason Watch List for the 2027 Karl Malone Power Forward of the Year Award.#HoophallU | #MaloneAward pic.twitter.com/nt1rs4sR4L

— University of Hoophall (@hoophallu) October 29, 2026

Massamba Diop looks to make an immediate impact

Diop is Gonzaga's third nominee, getting placed on the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar list after an excellent freshman season last year at Arizona State.

Gonzaga Bulldogs center Massamba Diop. | Photo by Erik Smith

The 7'1 big man is an imposing presence down low thanks to his athleticism and shot blocking ability, although his offense has been inconsistent through Gonzaga's first two exhibition games.

Diop will battle a couple of his competitors for this award this season, including Pat Ngongba (Duke), Oswin Erhunmwunse (Creighton), and of course Daniel Jacobsen at Purdue, who the Zags will square off against on Monday to open up the season.

Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame Announces Preseason Watch List for the 2027 @kaj33 Center of the Year Award.#HoophallU | #KareemAward pic.twitter.com/PWJPXLSBhj

— University of Hoophall (@hoophallu) October 30, 2026

Other notable names include Matas Vokietaitis (Texas), Malachi Moreno (Kentucky), Mo Krivas (Arizona), Rueben Chinyelu (Florida), and former Saint Mary's big man Andrew McKeever, now at Iowa.

Did Gonzaga have any notable snubs?

Gonzaga Bulldogs guard Xaivian Lee. | Photo by MYK CRAWFORD

Gonzaga gets three of five starters nominated in the top 20 at their respective positions, but one could argue Xaivian Lee - coming off a solid season at Florida last year - could be in the running for the Bob Cousy Award, and should have been among the top 20 preseason nominees.

Isiah Harwell's rough freshman season at Houston makes it hard to say he should have been included for the Jerry West Award, but he looks more than prepared to have a massive breakout sophomore year - which could put him in the mix by midseason.

Gonzaga vs. Purdue is set to tip at 4:30 PM PT on Monday, Nov. 2 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The game will be broadcast on TNT and available to stream on HBO MAX.