Where Gonzaga's Mario Saint-Supery ranks among international newcomers in college basketball

Mark Few and the Gonzaga Bulldogs are no strangers to bringing in talent from all over the world, boasting arguably the strongest international pipeline in all of college basketball.

From Ronny Turiaf to Rui Hachimura, Kevin Pangos to Killian Tillie, and Przemek Karnowski to Filip Petrusev, the Zags have a rich history of developing elite international players in Spokane.

Spanish point guard Mario Saint-Supery is next, with a very strong start to his collegiate career despite arriving in Spokane in late June and missing six weeks while representing Spain on the national stage at EuroBasket.

Through eight games, the 6'3 guard is averaging 8.6 points, 5.1 assists, 3.4 rebounds, and 1.9 steals in 22.3 minutes for Gonzaga, starting each of the last four games for coach Few's team.

That early season success has Saint-Supery on the radar as one of the best international players in college basketball this season, with the Field of 68 ranking him No. 8 on their top 12 list.

Saint-Supery is behind Washington center Hannes Steinbach, Virginia forward Thijs De Ridder, Illinois forward David Mirkovic, Ole Miss guard Ilias Kamardine, Virginia Tech guard and former Gonzaga target Neoklis Avdalas, Texas A&M guard Ruben Dominguez, and Virginia center Johann Grunloh.

Rounding out the list is North Carolina wing Luka Bogavac, Louisville center Sananda Fru, Providence guard Stefan Vaaks, and Penn State guard Melih Tunca.

Gonzaga pursued Saint-Supery heavily this past offseason, finally securing a commitment at the end of June. After just a few weeks in Spokane, Saint-Supery was invited to join the 12-man Spanish National Team roster ahead of EuroBasket following an injury. He became the youngest player to represent Spain at EuroBasket since the iconic Ricky Rubio back in 2009, but that didn't stop him from having a prominent role for the Spaniards.

Across five games, Saint-Supery averaged 8.4 points and 2.8 assists, gaining incredibly valuable experience going up against players like Giannis Antetokounmpo and Danilo Gallinari on the international stage.

That experience ensured he would be ready to play right away for Gonzaga, even with the team playing a litany of high level programs in the first month of the season. While Saint-Supery's best performance of the year came against lowly Southern Utah - where he put up 16 points on 5-7 shooting along with seven assists and six steals - he has played very well against the six power conference opponents Gonzaga has faced as well.

That includes a 13 point, three assist, two steal performance against Creighton in his third college game, and 10 points, six assists, and five rebounds against Alabama. Heck, even in Gonzaga's 40 point loss to Michigan, Saint-Supery had five points, six assists, two steals, and just one turnover, although he shot 2-9 from the field.

Still, for a 19-year-old who is still adjusting to the rules of college basketball, and who didn't get even half the usual offseason time with this team, his performance this year has been incredibly encouraging and a huge part of Gonzaga's early season success.

He will be tested on Friday in Nashville against Kentucky's jumbo sized backcourt of Otega Oweh, Collin Chandler, and Denzel Aberdeen, before two more tough non-con matchups against Donovan Dent and Skyy Clark at UCLA and Jackson Shelstad at Oregon.

Those tests will only make him better heading into Gonzaga's final season in the West Coast Conference, which begins Dec. 28 at Pepperdine.