Mark Few made another splash in the transfer portal when Arkansas grad transfer Khalif Battle, a 6-foot-5 guard, announced Sunday he’s committed to the Gonzaga Bulldogs for his sixth season of college basketball.
Battle, who has one year of eligibility remaining, chose the Bulldogs over Villanova and Kansas State following his trip to Spokane on an official visit to Gonzaga over the weekend. According to Adam Zagoria, Battle also visited TCU and Arizona State since he entered the transfer portal on April 4.
Battle started 13 of 32 games this past season and was second on the Razorbacks in scoring at 14.8 points per game. He shot 35.3% from 3-point range on 4.3 attempts per game.
Battle ended his fifth season of college on a high note, averaging 29.6 points and 6.3 rebounds over his last seven games, including a 42-point game in a win over Missouri on Feb. 24. In total he had 12 games with 20 or more points, including a 21-point performance in an upset victory over Duke. Battle shot 35.3% from 3-point range on 4.3 attempts per game.
Arguably Battle’s greatest strength was his ability to create foul pressure, as he attempted the second-most free throws in the SEC last season. By contrast, Battle’s 213 free-throw attempts this past season were 79 more than Graham Ike, who led the Bulldogs in that category with 134 attempts at the charity stripe. Battle also applied more foul pressure than Gonzaga’s starting backcourt did collectively in their first season together (161 free-throw attempts combined between Ryan Nembhard and Nolan Hickman).
It’s unclear what role Battle will serve in the Bulldogs’ backcourt, though on paper it appears Few and the coaching staff addressed the need for more depth and outside shooting by landing the New Jersey native after the transfer portal window closed.
Gonzaga is down to three open scholarships after Luka Krajnovic and Pavle Stosic entered the transfer portal. Former walk-on Colby Brooks went portaling as well, while Anton Watson exhausted his eligibility after five seasons with the Zags.
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