Iowa State’s Rasir Bolton Transfers to Gonzaga

The Gonzaga Bulldogs just picked up a big graduate transfer in Iowa State’s Rasir Bolton, ESPN reported today.

Bolton averaged 15.5 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 3.9 assists per game last season for the Cyclones. This is an absolutely huge pick-up for the Zags, who were walking into next season with Andrew Nembhard as the primary point guard without a true backup.

The 6’3 point guard started his collegiate career at Penn State before transferring to Iowa State for two years. After the long misery of last season that was the Cyclones, Bolton should find a bit more success with the Zags, who are already favored to be one of the top teams in the country.

The Zags lost major pieces from their national championship team last season. Corey Kispert graduated and Joel Ayayi and Jalen Suggs each departed for the NBA Draft. Aaron Cook recently entered his name into the transfer portal, leaving the last standing members of the backcourt as Andrew Nembhard and Dominick Harris. The Zags successfully recruited five-star Hunter Sallis to the squad, but still needed some assistance with experience and a backup point guard. It seems they have found that player with Bolton.

Bolton is a stellar free-throw shooter that excels at driving to the basket. He drew 4.5 fouls per 40 minutes last season, exactly the same rate as Suggs. He appears to do a majority of his damage close to the hoop, with 64.6 percent of his field goals coming at the rim—again, a similar number to Suggs.

Although his outside shot isn’t the greatest (career 34.2 percent but only 31.4 percent last season), Bolton’s knack for driving to the hoop should fit in nicely with Gonzaga’s sprint-at-all-times offensive scheme.