Brandon Clarke is transferring to Gonzaga

After taking a campus visit on Monday and Tuesday, Brandon Clarke announced via Twitter that he is committing to Gonzaga and will be making the transfer from San Jose State. He will have two years of eligibility left after completing a redshirt season.

Clarke was scheduled to complete a visit with the Oregon Ducks this weekend, but credit to the Gonzaga coaching staff for making sure that Clarke never stepped foot in Eugene. With Gonzaga’s excellent track record for succeeding with transfers and maximizing a player’s redshirt season, Clarke surely had a lot to like about joining the Zags.

However, with the deadline for class registration at GU set for next Wednesday, Clarke did not have much time to make a decision considering his late entry into the transfer market. When he announced he was transferring last week, Clarke had as many as 12 programs that drew interest, but he quickly narrowed that down to Washington State, Gonzaga, and Oregon. In doing so, it seemed clear that the Vancouver native was prioritizing a return to the Pacific Northwest after a late coaching change at San Jose State (former coach Dave Wojcik resigned on July 10 due to personal reasons) spurred his desire to move.

After a summer of misses on the transfer market, Gonzaga fans will be happy that Clarke decided that Spokane was the right place for him to continue to develop his game and achieve greater things in his college basketball career. After earning the Mountain West Sixth Man of the Year award as a freshman, the explosive forward raised his game to a higher level in the 2016-17 season. With a full season in Gonzaga’s famed redshirt clinic, the best may still be yet to come for Clarke.

While he won’t be able to play this year since NCAA transfer rules dictate that he take a redshirt, Clarke should be a natural (and capable) replacement for senior Johnathan Williams in the 2018-19 campaign. The Gonzaga staff will undoubtedly feel much better about the future front court with a known quantity to call on, and it will be exciting to see Clarke take the floor next year.