What Gonzaga's Braeden Smith said ahead of redshirt junior season

Gonzaga will have a new lead guard this season in redshirt Braeden Smith, who joined the program last year after transferring from Colgate.

Smith, who starred at Seattle Prep before two seasons at Colgate — which included winning Patriot League Player of the Year in 2023-24 — is ready to take over the daunting task of running Mark Few's offense.

The redshirt junior discussed his growth during his time on the sideline, what he's most looking forward to this upcoming season, learning from Ryan Nembhard last year, getting to know his new teammates, and much more.

(Watch the full interview at the bottom of this story)

On which ways his game has grown the most during his redshirt season

"Being able to see the game slow down a little bit. Being on the sideline this year I was able to see it from a different point of view. I got a lot better at reading the game. Shooting, ball screen reads, defense got better as well."

On how he took advantage of extra time to grow as a player and a person

"As a player I really wanted to gain mobility. Working with coach Knight he helped me do that a ton. Not putting on as much muscle, but being able to take hits better, have better balance, better core. As a person I was able to grow. Being a redshirt takes a lot of patience and grace. I think I became a much more patient person throughout this redshirt year, understanding long-term versus short-term."

On practicing against Ryan Nembhard and learning from him

Ryan Nembhard Gonzaga Bulldogs — Former Gonzaga Bulldogs guard Ryan Nembhard. | Photo by Erik Smith, Myk Crawford

"It was great being able to work with Ryan and practice against him and compete against him. High-level player, had one of the better college seasons as a point guard in recent history. So being able to watch him up close, ask him questions, helped me. And from his approach standpoint, he just wants to win, and he'll do whatever it takes to win. And seeing that in person is inspiring. So that's something I want to take as well moving forward."

On what he focused on during games

"For the most part I wrote down, like, prior to the game what our game plan was. And then as the game goes on, I'm marking down plays like, are we executing? Are we not executing? Are there things that I'm seeing on the sideline that could help Ryan or help another player on the court? Oftentimes, during halftime, players would have some time alone, and I would kind of list off some of the things that I saw to help us or tell us to continue to do for us to have success."

On coach Few's personal challenge to him

Gonzaga Bulldogs head coach Mark Few. | Photo by Erik Smith, Myk Crawford

"Coach Few has challenged me defensively, knowing that I'm a quicker, smaller guard, being able to get up into the ball and cause chaos with ball pressure and just be tough. And then offensively, just run the show, take care of the ball, make sure guys are in the right places and that we're executing to our best ability."

On coach Genry's focus for him this offseason

"Offensively I think it's making the right play every time, knowing when to score, knowing when to slow down and get us a look, knowing when to get it inside. So just kind of figuring that out offensively. And defensively, he's also been really on me about being pesky, getting swipes, trying to get as many steals or deflections as possible."

On who he studies in film sessions

"There's a lot of variety. Former Zags we watch Andrew Nembhard a lot. He just guarded SGA (Shai Gilgeous-Alexander) in the Finals and gave him problems. We've watched TJ McConnell, we've watched Jalen Brunson. There's a handful of guards that we try and pick things from, and he thinks that could help me in our offense."

On who he looked up to growing up

"I loved Chris Paul growing up. I thought that I played similarly to him, like knowing when to score, knowing when to facilitate, really competitive. And that's someone that I looked up to."

On improving his physical development with coach Knight

"It's been great. I've enjoyed every day working with coach Knight. He is extremely creative. I've done stuff and exercises that I've never even thought of before with him, attacking a lot of hip mobility, shoulder mobility, like I said core strength earlier, and these quick-twitch drills we're doing. Just being able to accelerate, decelerate extremely quickly."

On his brother Bryce starting his football career this year at Eastern Washington

"It's amazing, it's truly a blessing. He actually lived with me throughout this summer because they couldn't have housing over there. So he stayed with me and just having him out here and him going back and forth to Eastern Washington was a ton of fun and like a glimpse of what the next couple years would look like. I'm super excited for him and his journey. They started fall camp the other day, so he's reporting back to me the grind that it is, and it's something that I haven't experienced. So it'll be cool to follow his journey there, and I'm very, very happy to have him out here."

On training with new teammates Adam Miller and Mario Saint-Supery

Arizona State Sun Devils guard Adam Miller, now with the Gonzaga Bulldogs. | Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images

"It's been great getting to compete with them, learn their games, be around them. Adam is a vet, been around the block a couple times, and so having his voice in the gym has been great. He's a really hard worker, and he shoots it really well. So when we're shooting, he's not missing, and that makes me not want to miss. So just him challenging me in that has been great. And then Mario, his game is just so unique compared to what we typically see here, being from Spain. And so having him around and his different thought process and what he sees has been great to pick his brain and be around."

On his 'win the day' mantra

"It was probably two years ago, Trae Young had been tweeting 'Another day, another opportunity,' and I really liked that. And then a little after I had been retweeting that I started with 'win the day' just because the Lord has given us another day, another opportunity, right? You got to do whatever it takes to make that day count. You can't waste any days, you don't know when your last one will be. So just make sure you make the most of each day. For me, a lot of the time that's bringing energy, doing well in workouts, doing well in the weight room, talking to my family, talking to my friends, making sure I'm getting done what needs to be done."

On embracing the Zag culture

Gonzaga Bulldogs guard Braeden Smith. | Photo by Erik Smith, Myk Crawford

"This summer has been really big on Zag culture. Learning the history, learning the people who came before us, how this foundation was built, the shoulders that we stand on now today. And we want to continue to protect that culture and enhance it so that the future generation of Zag guys who come here understand what it is and you can just keep building off of that. TK (Travis Knight) has really led that with these Zag one-on-one meetings that we've had weekly throughout the summer where we were learning more about the program and the coaches talk about how the standard is the standard. We got to uphold it, and it's our duty to do so, and so we take that with a lot of pride."

On what he's excited to experience firsthand this season

"I think those last 10 minutes of warmup here at The Kennel, when all those chants and traditions start going on, it's a very special thing that we have here. And last year I got goosebumps almost every time. And so I'm really excited to be in the warm-up line, knowing I'm getting ready to play, experiencing that."

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