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With the July recruiting period and NBA Draft rapidly approaching, there is a lot going on around the Gonzaga basketball program.
Recruiting: The Latest On 2015 and 2016
Even with most eyes being turned to the 2016 recruiting class, the Gonzaga coaching staff is still pushing hard to add talent for the upcoming season. The one name that we have continued to keep front and center for Gonzaga fans is Federico Mussini. The Italian guard was a key player in the postseason run for Reggio Emilia. However, he recently was ruled out for the remainder of the season with an injury. Mussini told us yesterday that a decision on his future would come right at the end of his season, which could potentially be today. If he decides to come to the states and play college basketball, his decision will come down to Gonzaga and St. John's.
In the 2016 class, Sam Cunliffe made the decision to commit to Arizona St. For a variety of reasons, Gonzaga really backed off of the Rainier Beach guard coming out of the April evaluation period. The Zags were still evaluating Cunliffe on the AAU trail, but after a full court press from Bob Hurley and the ASU staff, the Washington native made his college decision.
Over the next couple of months, there will be new targets identified as the staff gets out and evaluates talent. However, two prospects that continue to be squarely on the radar are Brendan Bailey and Jonah Mathews. Both prospects are unanimous top 100 targets across all the recruiting sites and would pair together very well with Zach Collins. One thing to keep in mind on Bailey is the fact that he will likely take a Mission coming out of high school and would be more of a 2018 recruit when it comes to when he would be expected on any campus.
Zach Collins Represents Team USA
As we discussed a couple of weeks ago in our interview, Zach Collins had the opportunity to represent Team USA in a 3 vs. 3 tournament in Budapest, Hungary. The International experience will only help the talented big man continue to grow as he heads into his senior season. The USA team advanced to the quarterfinals of the tournament, where they ultimately fell to the French team, which happens to have a European target on the Gonzaga radar in Killian Tillie.
NBA Updates
When it comes to Zags in the NBA, few received better news this week than Robert Sacre. According to numerous reports, the Los Angeles Lakers plan to pick up his player option for the 2015-2016 season.
As for the upcoming NBA Draft, Kevin Pangos has been a very busy guys. He recently completed a workout with the Charlotte Hornets, which means he has worked out for seven teams so far.
Workout #7 in Charlotte complete! 6 more to go which means I'm just getting over the hump ..… https://t.co/mSTb1cOqoY
— Kevin Pangos (@KPangos) June 11, 2015
According to Kevin, it looks like he still has a lot of work to do, as he still has six workouts remaining prior to the draft.
Both Byron Wesley and Gary Bell Jr. have received some interest from NBA teams. Wesley worked out for his hometown Lakers, while Bell has worked out for both the Jazz and Suns. Hopefully this will lead to potential Summer League spots for both guys as they look to continue their careers either in the states or abroad.