Princeton transfer Caden Pierce, former Ivy League Player of the Year, to visit Gonzaga

Pierce was high school teammates with Braden Huff in Illinois

Dec 21, 2024; Newark, New Jersey, USA; Princeton Tigers forward Caden Pierce (3) dunks the ball against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights during the second half at Prudential Center. | Tom Horak-Imagn Images

Mark Few and the Gonzaga Bulldogs are no strangers to making roster moves during the season.

Last year, Jalen Warley, who entered the transfer portal right at the start of the year following the retirement of Tony Bennett, came on a visit to Spokane and ended up committing to the Zags and redshirting for the 2024-25 season. He is currently an integral part of Gonzaga's rotation through the team's first eight games.

And now the Zags are at it again, with ESPN's Jeff Borzello reporting the team will host Caden Pierce, a 6'7 wing from Princeton, on an official visit while he weighs where to play his final season of eligibility.

The Ivy League Player of the Year in 2023-24, Pierce entered the transfer portal in the spring and is redshirting this season while finishing up his degree at Princeton. He will have one year of eligibility remaining in 2026-27 and has already taken visits to Grand Canyon and Purdue, and is planning to visit Gonzaga as well as Duke, UConn, and Louisville before making a decision.

Pierce has a strong connection to Gonzaga in Braden Huff, his high school teammate from Glenbard West in the suburbs of Chicago. The duo guided their program to a remarkable 37-1 record in 2021-22 and a Class 4A IHSA State championship, even finishing the year ranked top 10 nationally at MaxPreps.

Pierce played 90 games at Princeton from 2022-2025, starting 89 of them and averaging nearly 32 minutes per game. He broke out in a major way as a sophomore in 2023-24, averaging 16.6 points, 9.2 rebounds, 3.2 assists, and 1.2 steals per game while leading the Ivy League with a stellar 58.7% effective field goal rate. He shot 61.1% on two-point attempts and 34.2% from three, and was named the conference Player of the Year.

Dec 21, 2024; Newark, New Jersey, USA; Princeton Tigers forward Caden Pierce (3) reacts after scoring a three-point basket against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights during the first half at Prudential Center. | Tom Horak-Imagn Images

An ankle injury limited Pierce as a junior, although he still averaged a respectable 11.2 points and 7.2 rebounds per contest. He was also an integral part of Princeton's miracle run to the Sweet 16 in 2023, sinking a pair of free throws late as No. 15 Princeton took down No. 2 Arizona, led by former Gonzaga assistant coach Tommy Lloyd.

The Tigers eventually fell to No. 6 Creighton, led by Ryan Nembhard.

Gonzaga has a top 15 recruiting class in the country set to join the team in 2026-27, the program's first in the new look Pac-12 conference. That class includes a wing in Luca Foster, as well as 6'5 German guard Jack Kayil and 7'0 center Sam Funches.

However, Gonzaga will be losing a lot of depth on the wing after this season, with Warley, Tyon Grant-Foster, and Adam Miller all expected to move on, while the eligibility status of Steele Venters remains to be seen.