Gonzaga adds Spanish recruit Mario Saint-Supery to 2025-2026 team
Zag internet sleuths spotted one more key piece to the 2025-2026 season at Hoopfest
Months of hinting comes to an end after a much-whispered-about player is seen at Hoopfest with his new Gonzaga teammates. Here is more on the soon-to-be new Zag.
Well, now that the internet detectives have found corroborating evidence on social media, it’s time to share that a new addition to the Gonzaga Bulldogs roster has been on campus and around the team leading up to Hoopfest weekend.
In confirmation of what was reported on the House of Krause Discord in early April, the Zags are adding international recruit Mario Saint-Supery to their 2025-2026 roster following his season with Manresa and permission from his parent club Unicaja. The official announcement is imminent once Saint-Supery’s leave is officially granted.
Saint-Supery is a 6-foot-3 combo guard who has been playing in the ACB League, widely considered one of the top 3 leagues in the world, as a 19-year-old. In 15 minutes per game, he averaged 7.7 points, 2.1 rebounds and 2.5 assists on 43.6% from the field over 46 games.
The Spanish guard played the ninth-most minutes per game on a club where his teammates’ median age was 24.5 years old, showing both the developmental value Saint-Supery’s club viewed him to hold and his readiness to play at a high level of organized basketball. He was the fourth-leading scorer and assist-maker in his role.
Saint-Supery's decision is a gut punch to the ACB and Spanish basketball, which should show how massive of an acquisition this is for Mark Few’s team. The guard is considered a cornerstone for Spain’s plans to return to prominence in international competition, and Saint-Supery’s club president, Jesus Lopez Nieto, talked about him as a player who they wanted to one day hang his jersey in their rafters.
If the contextual significance of Saint-Supery’s season in ACB wasn’t enough to excite you, I’d implore you to check out the tape from his time in the FIBA junior competition, where he most recently averaged 21.4 points and 6.3 assists in the U18 competition. It was clear through his 15-17 years at the national team level that he was one of Spain’s most promising youth prospects.
Unicaja loaned Saint-Supery to Manresa and head coach Diego Ocampo, who is regarded as one of Spain’s best development coaches, highlighting the emphasis his pro team and country have for getting the guard on track to become a featured member of their future national teams. Unicaja is also the club that former Gonzaga bigs Domantas Sabonis and Killian Tillie played for before enrolling at Gonzaga. Coincidentally, Sabonis might be the closest comp to how “ready” an international recruit Saint-Supery is.
Saint-Supery will immediately be one of the better on-ball players in Gonzaga’s rotation, both securing at minimum a backup point guard for redshirt junior Braeden Smith as he begins his playing career with the Bulldogs and a second playmaking guard to play off-ball with Smith, as has been Few’s preference with the backcourt historically.
The “Little Prince” of Spain has a range of possibilities for immediate impact with this Gonzaga squad, a stage that will allow him to develop his body and gain the necessary skills to answer any questions for the next level when it comes to his height and athleticism. At the very least, he will push Adam Miller for minutes as the second guard and has the potential to demand a lead guard role if he reaches closer to his early career season.
Saint-Supery shot 32.7% from three at all this season, but shot 36.5% from the perimeter in ACB play. He has the mechanics and ability to be a more consistent shooter. Rounding out that level of his game will make him a lethal decision maker, maximizing his ability to win his matchup as a creative passer and driver as well.
For the Spaniard to reach his potential as an NBA-level guard, he will need to continue figuring out ways to create separation and angles against defenders with size. He has an incredibly polished floater in his arsenal and has room to create more close-shot opportunities off of two feet, which he has proven to be comfortable doing.
One of the areas that Saint-Supery may be underrated is his ability to rebound. In just 14.7 minutes per game, he was averaging 2.1 rebounds per contest. His per 40 rebounding average was 2.17 offensive and 3.81 defensive rebounds per contest. His intelligence on paths to the basket and where to be on the floor throughout phases of a possession allows him to provide a putback ability you wouldn’t expect from a 6-3 guard.
Saint-Supery is not your classic passing guard who needs the ball in his hands to run the offense. He’s polished for his age as an off-ball cutter, both in designed plays and when the game is broken either through loose balls or the moments following offensive rebounds. When he receives the ball through movement around the perimeter, his court vision allows him to find open men in skip passes to create ideal catch-and-shoot opportunities.
The Little Prince fits like a glove with Gonzaga’s ball-screen offense. He’s able to read switches and defensive drop coverages adeptly and has the acumen to read additional help and how that opens up teammates in his periphery. His crafty ability to change speeds and stop for floaters offers an arsenal of ways to attack coverages and makes him a dynamic utility piece for this coaching staff.
Saint-Supery also provides a good defensive approach thanks to the level of competition he’s faced the last two seasons, which should be the calling card of this 2025-2026 team. Having a two-way player that serves as a massive plus on offense raises the ceiling for a team already earning top 25 buzz. As the college landscape adjusts back to a talent pool with fewer years of experience, having this amount of depth is a key differentiator.