Mark Few and the Gonzaga Bulldogs finally addressed their glaring point guard issue on Wednesday, securing a commitment from former Dayton guard Javon Bennett after he was granted a fifth year of eligibility via an injunction ruling in Ohio.
Bennett is the first addition to the roster since the team shockingly lost starting point guard Mario Saint-Supery in mid-July, and he comes in as the immediate favorite to start alongside fellow transfer additions Massamba Diop and Isiah Harwell, as well as returners Davis Fogle and Braden Huff.
Bennett has started 125 games in his four-year career, 98 of which came over the past three seasons at Dayton, with another 27 as a freshman at Merrimack. This past year was the best of Bennett's career, posting a career-high 15.8 points along with 2.9 assists and 1.5 steals in 34.5 minutes per game while earning First Team A-10 honors.
A player with Bennett's resume looks on paper like a clear starting caliber point guard - even at a top 10 program like Gonzaga - but his addition doesn't mean the team has moved on from their other top targets, including former UCLA star Donovan Dent .
Mar 22, 2026; Philadelphia, PA, USA; UCLA Bruins guard Donovan Dent (2) | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
By not grandfathering last year's graduating seniors into the new 5-in-5 rules, the NCAA left the door open for lawsuits to pour in while these players pursue another year of college basketball eligibility.
The NCAA continues to fight each case, which has created a massively confusing and frustrating situation for players, coaches, and fans alike.
Bennett was part of an injunction granted in Ohio that not only gave him eligibility this upcoming season but also a chance to pursue any school of his choosing - despite not currently being in the transfer portal.
While the NCAA could attempt to appeal the ruling, they will have a hard time securing victories in all of the individual state cases - if they can win any of them.
A ruling in federal court last Friday granted eligibility to every member of the 2022 high school class, but with a major caveat : players are not eligible to transfer unless they were previously in the transfer portal. That means Donovan Dent - who is also part of a lawsuit in the state of California that has not been ruled on - is only eligible to return to UCLA, at least as of now.
It seems unlikely that it will hold up in a court of law that some members of the 2022 class can transfer outside of the portal window while others cannot, but Gonzaga is forced to operate with what they know at this moment.
All this to say - there is a very real chance Dent ends up eligible to play this upcoming season and to sign wherever he pleases. It could happen this week, or later this month, or two months from now, however, and Gonzaga just isn't in a position to push all their chips into one point guard basket.
Bennett is eligible now and is likely to stay eligible. That alone makes him extremely valuable for a team that had zero point guards on the roster until his commitment.
If Dent never gets eligible to transfer, or decides to go back into retirement, or takes an offer to play somewhere else, Gonzaga won't be left guard-less thanks to Bennett's commitment.
And if Dent does commit to Gonzaga - or if the Zags pull another big-name guard like Xaivian Lee or BJ Edwards - Bennett would become one of the best backup PGs in the country, and someone who could play alongside another guard thanks to his floor spacing ability.
There is still plenty more to come for Few and the Zags in what has been one of, if not the most wild, offseasons in program history.
This article was originally published on www.si.com/college/gonzaga as What Gonzaga landing point guard Javon Bennett means for pursuit of Donovan Dent .
