Timme, Strawther returning to Zags

From wire and news services

Gonzaga junior forward Drew Timme will return after removing his name from the NBA Draft late Wednesday night.

“I'm back,” Timme tweeted late Wednesday, which was the deadline to drop out of the NBA draft and return for his senior year.

The NBA draft is June 23.

Earlier in the day, guard Julian Strawther announced he will return for his junior season at Gonzaga.

All told, five Zags declared for this year's NBA draft.

On Tuesday, GU guard Rasir Bolton pulled out of the draft, and the former Iowa State transfer will be back for a second season with the Zags.

Freshman center Chet Holmgren is expected to be a top-five pick in the draft. And senior guard Andrew Nembhard declared for the draft for a third time, making him ineligible to return to school.

Timme was named a John R. Wooden Award Player of the Year Finalist, Wooden All-American, and Second Team All-American by Sporting News, the Associated Press, NABC and USBWA.

Timme, a Preseason All-American and the 2022 West Coast Conference Player of the Year was named First Team All-Conference the last two seasons, after being named All-Freshman in 2019-20. He topped the West Coast Conference averaging 18.4 points per game and was first scoring 18.5 points per WCC outing. The junior was third in the conference shooting 58.6 percent from the field, which ranks 20th in the nation. He was sixth in the WCC grabbing 6.8 rebounds per game, and eighth blocking 0.78 shots per game.

Timme won the Karl Malone Award last season and is a finalist for this season's Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Center of the Year Award. He averaged 27.3 points and 11.3 rebounds in this season’s NCAA Tournament. The Dallas, Texas, native, tops the program with 204 points in nine appearances in the NCAA Tournament. He ranks 15th in program history with 1,521 points and 15th with 617 rebounds.

Strawther scored a career-high 20 points twice, versus Duke and BYU. Against Duke on Nov. 26 in his hometown of Las Vegas, he added 10 rebounds for his second double-double of the season. He grabbed a season-high 12 boards against Tarleton State.

Strawther averaged 11.8 points per game, reaching double-digits 21 times. He started 31 of the Zags’ 32 games in 2021-22, and was named All-WCC honorable mention.

Gonzaga advanced to its 23rd straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament in 2021-22. The Zags finished 28-4 after a loss to Arkansas in the Sweet 16.