Gonzaga Bulldogs head coach Mark Few suffered a big setback after sophomore point guard Mario Saint-Supéry decided to leave the program and return to Spain. The 6-foot-4 guard has signed a four-year professional contract with Valencia Basket. The news comes as a surprise, as Gonzaga had even practiced with Saint-Supéry less than 24 hours before.
The setback is big for Gonzaga, which had a key role in mind for Saint-Supéry. There were expectations that he would be the program’s starting point guard in the upcoming season. In his freshman campaign, the guard averaged 8.6 points, 3.8 assists and shot over 40% from 3-point range. He also earned a spot on the WCC All-Freshman Team.
Saint-Supéry has left Few scrambling for a replacement and options at such a time when most impactful transfer portal candidates had already signed somewhere else. Replacing a position of starting point guard will be difficult during the remainder of the offseason.
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After losing guard Sergio De Larrea to the NBA draft, Valencia decided to offer Saint-Supéry a four-year deal that would allow him to be closer to home. He will play professionally in Spain’s ACB League and the EuroLeague.
Before Gonzaga, the guard came through Unicaja Málaga’s system and even represented Spain internationally.
Mark Few Names One Player Who Changed Gonzaga Basketball
A ceremony was organized at Gonzaga on Thursday to announce the Sabonis Family Strength and Conditioning Center in honor of NBA All-Star forward Domantas Sabonis.
The Sacramento Kings center played for the Bulldogs from 2014-2016 and left a major impact. In his freshman season, Gonzaga went to the Elite Eight. In his sophomore season, the star player averaged 17.6 points and 11.8 rebounds and led the program to the Sweet 16 as a No. 11 seed.
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At the event, Few spoke highly of the former Zags and his contribution to the program.
“If anybody really epitomizes what being a Zag is, it’s Domantas,” Few said. “He only had a two-year run here, [but] it was an incredible run with how he set the tone for all of us. I mean, to this day we talk about him to our own players, his work ethic, his toughness, his loyalty, and we also talk about him to future players, recruits, on what it takes to be a Zag.”
What makes Sabonis stand out from the rest is his team-first mentality. Few was quick to take note of that as he added:
“He really truly values team over everything and he showed that throughout his entire career here and he continues to show that in the NBA…the next one is winning. He’s just all about winning. It wasn’t his personal stats. It was just about winning. These are things our program has always stood for, but he just hammered them home stronger than anything I could say with his actions.”
Though he played only two seasons, Sabonis is the program’s all-time leader in 63.2% and is 11th with 694 career rebounds. Despite making it big in the NBA, he has always been available to the program, and his presence on Thursday was just one example.
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