It’s not often that a player of Braeden Smith’s caliber decides to take a redshirt year, especially after being named Patriot League Player of the Year just months prior. Frankly, it’s already rare to see a player take a redshirt season in college basketball.
“To his credit, he saw the bigger picture,” Gonzaga men’s basketball coach Mark Few said of Smith, who committed to the Bulldogs in May. “With Braeden, I mean, yeah, it was again, great communication, great openness about what was out there and also looking forward to next year with our roster and what was available there.”
The Bulldogs have quite the history with redshirt players. Kelly Olynyk took a year off after his sophomore season, in which he returned as an All-American caliber player and was ultimately a lottery pick in 2013. Similarly, Dan Dickau was an All-American and a top pick round in 2002 after his redshirt season. Brandon Clarke also became a first-round pick after his stellar redshirt junior season in 2018-19.
Not all red shirts are the same. Before, red shirts were forced to stay out for a year. Sometimes the decision is made based on roster depth, as was the case with Braden Huff in 2023.
For Zach Norvell Jr., his redshirt year was due in part to a knee injury and the talent ahead of him on the loaded 2016-17 Gonzaga team that reached the national championship. Despite having to sit and watch the program’s best season from the bench, the Chicago native recognized the value of learning from experienced players like Josh Perkins, Nigel Williams-Goss and Przemek Karnowski.
“I wasn’t very happy about it,” said Norvell Jr. “But looking at it now, it was probably the best thing for my career. Learning from Nigel, learning from (Perkins), learning from Przemek. And just having a year seeing the speed of this game as a freshman.”
WATCH THE FULL ZACH NORVELL JR. EPISODE
While Smith is not a freshman, he will likely spend a lot of time with Gonzaga’s strength and conditioning coaches to prepare for when it is his chance to take the court in 2025-26. Ryan Nembhard and Nolan Hickman are seniors next season, while Arkansas transfer Khalif Battle is entering his final year of eligibility as a graduate transfer. Depending on how the transfer portal and recruiting change the makeup of the team next offseason, Smith would presumably be in position to take the wheel as the lead guard.
“My biggest advice would be to not look at it as a year off,” said Norvell Jr. “As you continue to practice every day, you still have a chance to get better every day. You are still learning. So if you could use this year as an advantage to start entrepreneurship, it can do wonders.”
Norvell Jr. talked about Smith’s impact with the Zags and much more in a new episode of Gonzaga Nation.
Produced by Thomas Gallagher.
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