Saint-Supery Leaves Gonzaga For Valencia On Long-Term Deal
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- Mario Saint-Supery signed a long-term deal with EuroLeague club Valencia, leaving Gonzaga after just one college season
- Saint-Supery averaged 8.6 points per game and earned all-West Coast Conference freshman honors while shooting 40% from three-point range
- Saint-Supery started Gonzaga's final eight games, including a 21-point effort against Santa Clara in the WCC tournament title game and 13 assists with just four turnovers across two NCAA tournament contests
- Gonzaga coach Mark Few faces a July replacement crunch with the transfer portal closed and the Bulldogs set to join the new Pac-12 in 2026-27
- Valencia introduced Saint-Supery as "El Principito" ("The Little Prince"), reviving the nickname he earned during a prior standout stint in Spain's Liga ACB
- The move reflects a counter-trend to the NIL era: the NCAA's "5-for-5" rule, which starts the eligibility clock when international players enroll or turn 19, has pushed European clubs to reclaim young prospects before their U.S. window expires
Why it matters: Gonzaga loses its starting freshman point guard with no portal access to find a replacement in July, thinning a core that was built around Saint-Supery, Braden Huff, Davis Fogle and Massamba Diop for a Pac-12 transition season. For Saint-Supery, the signing vaults him past the NCAA's accelerated eligibility clock and back into a top-tier European league where he was already a known quantity.
