Tom Izzo’s preparation for an upcoming non-conference showdown with Mark Few and Gonzaga just got a whole lot tougher on Wednesday as the Bulldogs got some great news.
According to On3, Gonzaga picked up a commitment from former Florida and Princeton guard Xaivian Lee who’s hoping to maintain fifth-year eligibility. There’s a chance that Lee is deemed ineligible by his new conference before the 2026-27 season because that’s been the recent trend, but as it stands right now, the Bulldogs are going to be exponentially tougher to beat.
Lee played for the Cavs during the NBA Summer League last month.
This was already going to be a potential top-10 matchup in Palm Springs on Dec. 19 but it may very well be closer to a top-five matchup. If Michigan State takes care of some of the behemoths on its non-conference slate before Gonzaga, it should be ranked close to that top five at the very least.
Before the Lee pickup, experts tabbed Gonzaga as a top-15 team but now it looks like the Bulldogs are surely going to be in the top 10 to start the season.
Michigan State has already been jumped by teams like Arizona and Texas in the CBS Sports Top 25 and 1 rankings but the addition of Lee could cause another leap.
Gonzaga is the perfect spot for Xaivian Lee
Lee was one of the top transfers in the portal last offseason before he committed to the then-reigning national champion Florida Gators and he kind of disappointed given the expectations placed upon him — they were pretty unfair. He went from playing Ivy League opponents to facing ranked teams almost every week.
It was a shock to his system and he got off to a slow start before settling in.
He finished his lone season with Florida averaging 11.6 points, 4.2 assists, and 3.7 rebounds. Lee’s shooting numbers really dipped during his senior season, though, as he converted on just 29 percent of his threes.
Now he’ll have an opportunity to get his confidence back at Gonzaga where he’ll face a tough non-conference slate before seeing 1-2 real threats during conference play. He’s going to get that confidence back at Gonzaga, but Michigan State will have something to say about that on Dec. 19.
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