After two live evaluation periods in April, which allowed Gonzaga coaches the opportunity to evaluate key prospects in person, there seems to be a clear sense of what the staff has in mind for 2013. One position that seems to be a priority is a Combo Guard of the future, with Xavier Rathan-Mayes of CIA Bounce and Huntington Prep impressing the coaching staff enough to earn an offer.

Rathan-Mayes is a native of Toronto and plays his prep school ball in West Virginia at Huntington Prep. In order to get a better sense for his game and his recruitment, we had our recruiting correspondent catch up with Rob Fulford, the head coach at Huntington Prep.

TSSF: Over the past month, Xavier has really seemed to blow up with his play on the AAU circuit. For people who havent followed his game before, what are some of his biggest strengths on the court that make him sucha coveted prospect?

Coach Fulford: Xavier is picking up where he left off during the High School season. He had a great Jr. year at Huntington Prep and has really played well the first AAU events. He is a pure scorer and is one of those kids, that once he gets a rhythm going, not much you can do about it.

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The past 24 hours have been a recruiting fans dream for the Gonzaga Bulldogs. Yesterday, we outlined how the staff is already hot after some of the top prospects along the west coast and this morning, Przemek Karnowski announced via Twitter that he would be a Gonzaga Bulldog next season.

For several years, the 7-footer has been the biggest piece of Gonzaga's 2012 class. It was first made public that the Zags were the leader for him about a year ago but the courtship started well before that. Similar to Elias Harris, Tommy Lloyd did an incredible job sticking with Karnowski even when his stock absolutely skyrocketed. A week ago, we were sitting here thinking that he was slipping away. He visited Cal after visiting Gonzaga and Marquette, Kansas, and Duke all jumped into the fray late to try and snag his signature. In the end, the relationship with Lloyd and the comfort factor with guys like Kevin Pangos won out for the Bulldogs.

We have discussed Karnowski so much over the past year but it is worth noting once again that, similar to Elias Harris in Germany, had he played high school ball in the states he would likely be a top 30 recruit in the 2012 class. With his experience playing against professionals, Karnowski has gained valuable experience and has become one of the most coveted amateur centers around. His incredible feel for the game is his driving force and the expectation is that he will have an instant impact from the moment he steps on campus. While he has work to do on the defensive end, the addition of Karnowski truly makes the Gonzaga 2012-13 frontline one to reckon with..

We will have much more on this commitment in the coming days. Welcome Karno!

If you follow us on Twitter (@slipperstillfit...you really should), you already are well aware that today has been an exceptionally busy day in Gonzaga recruiting. While the 'big news' of Przemek Karnowski's college decision has yet to come, there was plenty to keep us entertained today. What we learned is that three of the most well thought of prospects on the west coast in the next couple years either hold Gonzaga offers or have serious interest...or both. Read on for some more about today's trio...

While I was going to lead with the prospect that intrigued me the most, I had a hard time and went back and forth on all three. For that reason, it was literally a random decision so we'll lead off with Namon Wright. Via the wonderful world of Twitter, Namon tweeted that Gonzaga had just offered him. The 6'4'' shooting guard/wing prospect holds offers at this point from the Zags, USC, and New Mexico State. He's a 2014 prospect so his recruitment has barely scratched the surface but he's already picked up solid offers. Wright has been described as an exceptional athlete and someone that is still growing even though he already possesses a division one frame. At this point, he projects as a shooting guard but it is possible that we see him at the next level as a small forward/wing type player due to his above average slashing ability. Like all young high schoolers, Namon is still working on making his jumper more consistent but he is absolutely going to be one to watch as the Zags look to add more athleticism to their roster.

Mark Few secured the first member of this 2013 class a few days ago in Luke Meikle. Another prospect that the staff has been looking hard at recently is Seattle Prep guard D.J. Fenner. Fenner, who transferred back to Seattle after living in Washington D.C. and playing for Gonzaga College High School, is getting from interest from schools such as Georgetown, Washington, and UCLA. He will likely visit Gonzaga however in the near future since he is such a short trip away. Similar to Wright, D.J. Fenner has the prototypical frame that D1 coaches look for when pursuing a small forward/wing type prospect. D.J. is a bit more of a refined scorer than Wright at this point, which you would expect given the class difference and now that he is back on the west coast, many are really expecting his recruitment to skyrocket. One other great thing about Fenner is that he plays for Seattle Rotary's AAU club which is the former team of Gary Bell Jr. On that squad he will take on some of the top talent from across the country.

If you are looking for a name that I would bet you are going to be hearing a lot of on this site in the near future...it is Kendall Small. The 2015 point guard prospect from Huntington Beach was just the subject of a recent Scout.com piece. In that piece was a nice little nugget that is always fun to hear:

There is a school that Kendall Small grew up rooting for.

"He's a Gonzaga fan," his father said. "He wants to go to Gonzaga. He just likes Mark Few's offense and the guards that come out of there are really good."

From all the stuff I have read on Kendall, it sounds like Mark Few and co. may have a leg up for one of the top rising guards in the west. The one big knock is something that you can hardly knock Kendall for at all: he's 5'11''. As a 2015 prospect, this is something most aren't worried about as either he will grown or learn to get the most out of his stature. Each description I have read is that Kendall is a pure, pass-first point guard. As such a young player, this is wildly exciting news as most young guards tend to be gunners and let their athleticism make up for what their basketball IQ lacks. In Small's case, his biggest strength is his feel for the game and ability to drop in dimes. Developing a consistent knock down jumper will be the key for this Southern California prospect.

This is why recruiting is so wildly exciting and this staff is obviously looking at the current scholarship chart and realizing it is time to be aggressive. With Karnowski likely being the only 2012 commit, the staff has a lot of space to play with and adding talented and athletic guards like Fenner, Wright, and Small all make a ton of sense. Also, it is great to see the Zags once again making some waves in California. In 2012, the staff was on the list for a number of top prospects from California and surrounding states but, for a number of reasons, did not land anyone. I have a feeling that the next few cycles will see more prospects from the true west coast comes up to Spokane.

With the growth of social media and the numerous recruiting experts across the country, it's very rare that a commitment will ever take us completely by surprise. When we found out that Luke Meilke from Bellarmine Prep was visiting last weekend, it seemed like a casual unofficial visit. However, this casual visit turned out to be much more, as Meilke earned a scholarship offer from Mark Few and decided to commit to Gonzaga.

Here is a little blurb on Meilke from Mason Kelley of the Seattle Times, who caught up with the newest Zag yesterday:

The 6-foot-8 forward drove with his parents to Spokane Sunday, spent Monday visiting the Gonzaga campus and left with a scholarship offer from coach Mark Few and the Bulldogs.

After taking a few days to consider the offer, Meikle said he gave a verbal commitment to Gonzaga Thursday afternoon.

"I was kind of expecting an offer from them, but I didn't know when it was going to come," Meikle said. "When they did tell me, I was excited."

The Bulldogs were the first school to offer Meikle, who helped lead the Lions to a fifth-place finish in the Class 4A state tournament. Meikle said Boise State told him the Broncos planned to offer soon but, "Gonzaga was my choice."

Meikle described himself as a "big guy who can shoot." He is more of a finesse player, but said he isn't afraid to play in the post.

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A little over a year ago we first heard about Przemek Karnowski when ESPN's Fran Fraschilla tweeted that we should expect the Polish big man to be in Gonzaga blue soon. The tweet was quickly dismissed as a rumor but Gonzaga's courtship of the Karnowski has continued. As we stand today, Karnowski is the biggest (literally and figuratively) target on the Bulldogs 2012 radar. Like many international recruits, Karnowski's situation is convoluted because the allure of a professional career in Europe always lingers. Recently, Tommy Lloyd and Mark Few visited Przemek and now, we are hearing that he will be returning the favor and catching a flight tomorrow to visit Gonzaga.

Many rumors have been circulating about Lloyd and Few's visit to Europe but we have confirmed that Karnowski has yet to decide on whether or not he will attend a four year college in the states or play professionally. What we do know is that Gonzaga, due to Tommy Lloyd's incredible legwork over the past few years, is in great shape to land to Polish big man. The biggest factor in international recruiting is relationships and Lloyd has been onto Karnowski since the big man first burst on the scene.

We will keep you as up to date as possible on Karnowski's recruitment. It is important to note that aside from the options he has, there are a number hurdles to clear with any international recruit. Many are saying that this is a done deal but expect there still to still be quite a bit of work to do by both parties if Karnowski is to be in a Gonzaga uniform next season.

Following the loss to Ohio State, one of the first discussions to happen was "okay, who is likely to transfer this time around". While a number of names were thrown around, I would bet most people did not name Ryan Spangler. And, of course, here we are and Jim Meehan of the Spokesman Review is confirming the rumor that the former two-sport star from Oklahoma will transfer to a school closer to home.

Ryan appeared in 22 games a season ago, mostly in mop up time. He averaged a couple points and rebounds per game and was a guy many were looking at to break out in the 2012-13 campaign. What will likely draw the most reaction from people is that his best game was actually Gonzaga's last win of the season against West Virginia in the NCAA Tournament. Spangler had four points and eight boards in that game.

The popular explanation for Ryan's decision is being homesick. Going from Oklahoma to Spokane, WA is a big culture swing. However, I'd be flat out lying if I said that a small part of me didn't see this coming. Ryan's career at Gonzaga started out oddly as he did not redshirt this season even though he saw very limited game action. I have to assume that the staff offered him the chance to sit out a year as they knew his minutes would be scarce. When you look ahead to next season, it is likely that Ryan thought he might not get the minutes he felt he deserved and that tipped the scales towards transferring. Kelly Olynyk will come off a redshirt season, Sam Dower is back, Elias Harris will likely return, and the staff is close to adding another big to replace Rob Sacre that should be able to contribute right away. While Spangler was a guy I really liked, if you add up the different elements of his career at Gonzaga, I think this move will probably end up making sense for both parties.

We wish nothing but the best to Ryan and will update folks as he makes his next decision.

For the first time since the end of the 2007/2008 season, there seems to be a real hope that something special could be on the way for Gonzaga. Barring a surprising change of plans from Elias Harris, it looks like he will return for his senior season to partner with the explosive backcourt of Kevin Pangos and Gary Bell Jr. While the loss of Robert Sacre will be tough for the program, especially from an emotional and leadership standpoint, his actual production on the court should be filled by Sam Dower, who will look to make the jump from super-sub to starter.

There won't be many teams in the country that have the luxury of returning five of their top six scorers, with the reasonable expectation that a handful of those guys should make a big jump in production and maturity. The one position that remains a bit of a question mark is the SF, which proved to be the Achilles heel for this team last season. As we mentioned, Mathis Keita will be transferring out of the program, which isn't a huge surprise given his lack of minutes during his first two seasons in Spokane. There also seems to be a legitimate chance that The Hoff will look elsewhere after failing to develop his role after a fairly promising freshman season. If he does decide to transfer, that will leave the combo of Guy Landry-Edi and Mike Hart, as well as Kyle Dranginis, who appears to have the size to fill in at that role

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