One of the most experienced guards in college basketball has committed to Gonzaga. Former Dayton standout Javon Bennett will seek to play out his final season of eligibility with the Bulldogs, according to a report from On3’s Joe Tipton.
Bennett was one of 15 players who filed a lawsuit against the NCAA in the wake of the NCAA approving an age-based eligibility model. The suit resulted in an injunction for the 15 athletes in Ohio, granting them eligibility for the 2026-27 college basketball season.
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The injunction also granted the athletes the ability to transfer now outside of the NCAA’s designated transfer portal window. The transfer portal window for men’s basketball opened on Tuesday, April 7 and closed on Tuesday, April 21.
Javon Bennett should be a quality addition for Gonzaga. He spent his last three years suiting up for Dayton after initially starting his college career at Merrimack.
Last season, Bennett averaged 15.8 points, 2.9 assists, 2.2 rebounds and 1.5 steals per game. He led Dayton in scoring, assists and steals.
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In total in his college career, Javon Bennett has played in 136 games. He has started 125 of them, averaging 31.0 minutes per contest. So he’s seen more than most at the college level.
He has been excellent from Day 1. As a freshman at Merrimack he averaged 9.6 points, 3.4 assists, 2.9 steals and 1.9 rebounds per game. He would then transfer to Dayton.
His numbers took a slight step back as a sophomore, when Javon Bennett averaged 8.4 points, 3.3 assists, 2.1 rebounds and 1.2 steals per game. Those numbers rose to 11.6 points, 2.7 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.5 steals per game as a junior in 2024-25.
Of note, Bennett’s 3-point shooting has fluctuated a bit over the years, though he has taken a ton of shots. He has 739 career attempts from downtown, converting at a 33.7% overall clip. But he shot 39.0% as a junior and 34.7% as a senior last year. He’s a career 82.8% free-throw shooter but shot 89.8% from the charity stripe last year.
