How Many Gonzaga Players Are In The NBA?

Wondering how many Gonzaga players are in the NBA? Check out our blog post to find out!

Gonzaga’s NBA History

Gonzaga has a long and successful history of sending players to the NBA. In fact, there have been 43 Gonzaga players who have been drafted into the NBA since the 1949 draft. That is an impressive number, especially for a school that is not a traditional basketball powerhouse.

Number of Gonzaga players in the NBA

Since the 1999 NBA draft, when the Dallas Mavericks selected guard Marko Jarić with the No. 19 overall pick, Gonzaga has had at least one player drafted in 18 of the last 20 years. That includes a school-record five players taken in 2014. In all, 37 Gonzaga players have been drafted into the NBA.

Nine Gonzaga players have made at least one All-NBA team in their career. Adam Morrison was a second-team selection in 2007-08, while Dan Dickau, Ronny Turiaf and Kelly Olynyk have all been honorable mention selections.

Notable Gonzaga NBA players

The first Gonzaga player to make it to the NBA was Frank Burgess, who was drafted in 1951. Since then, there have been a total of 18 Gonzaga players drafted into the NBA. A few notable Gonzaga NBA players include:
-John Stockton
-Adam Morrison
-Dan Dickau
-Ronny Turiaf
-Kelly Olynyk

Gonzaga’s Current NBA Players

The Gonzaga Bulldogs have been a powerhouse in college basketball for the last few years. Many of their players have gone on to have successful NBA careers. Currently, there are four Gonzaga alumni in the NBA.

Rui Hachimura

Rui Hachimura (Japanese: 八村 塁, Hepburn: Hachimura Rui, born February 8, 1998) is a Japanese professional basketball player for the Washington Wizards of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Gonzaga Bulldogs. He was selected with the ninth overall pick in the 2019 NBA draft.

Brandon Clarke

Brandon Clarke (born September 16, 1996) is a Canadian professional basketball player for the Memphis Grizzlies of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Gonzaga Bulldogs. Clarke was originally recruited by San Jose State, but transferred to Gonzaga after his freshman year. He was named the West Coast Conference Defensive Player of the Year and Most Outstanding Player in his junior year. In his senior year, he helped lead the Bulldogs to a 32–3 record and was again named Defensive Player of the Year.

Clarke was selected 21st overall by the Oklahoma City Thunder in the 2019 NBA draft, but was immediately traded to the Memphis Grizzlies.

Killian Tillie

Killian Tillie was born in France in 1997. He is a professional basketball player who currently plays for the Utah Jazz of the NBA. Tillie played college basketball for Gonzaga University. He was drafted by the Jazz in the second round of the 2019 NBA draft with the 58th overall pick.

Gonzaga’s Future NBA Players

Every year, Gonzaga produces a handful of talented basketball players. Some of these players go on to have successful careers in the NBA. In this article, we’ll take a look at how many Gonzaga players are currently in the NBA.

Filip Petrusev

Filip Petrusev is a Slovenian professional basketball player for the Mega Bemax of the ABA League Second Division. He played college basketball for the Gonzaga Bulldogs.

Petrusev was born in Belgrade, Serbia, but his family moved to Slovenia when he was two years old. He started playing organized basketball at age nine. He played for Union Olimpija youth teams before joining the senior team in 2015. In 2016, he won the ABA League championship with Union Olimpija.

In 2017, Petrusev came to the United States to play college basketball for Gonzaga University. In his first season with the Bulldogs, he helped them win the West Coast Conference (WCC) regular season and tournament championships, and earn a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. The Bulldogs advanced to the Elite Eight, where they lost to eventual national champion University of North Carolina.

In his sophomore season (2018–19), Petrusev averaged 11.9 points and 5.4 rebounds per game, and was named WCC Newcomer of the Year and First Team All-WCC. He declared for the 2019 NBA draft after his sophomore season but did not hire an agent, retaining his eligibility to return to Gonzaga for his junior year.

Joel Ayayi

Joel Ayayi (born March 11, 1999) is a French professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for Gonzaga. As a sophomore, he was named to the All-West Coast Conference (WCC) first team.

Drew Timme

Drew Timme is a redshirt sophomore from Richardson, Texas. He is 6’10” and plays center. In the 2019-2020 season, he averaged 13.2 points and 6.2 rebounds per game. He was named to the West Coast Conference All-Freshman team. some mock drafts have him going in the first round of the 2021 NBA draft.