Gonzaga lands commitment from Houston transfer, former top-20 prospect Isiah Harwell
Apr. 12—Gonzaga's relationship with former top-20 prospect Isiah Harwell paid off — just a year later than Mark Few and his coaching staff might have hoped. Harwell, the former Gonzaga target who spent his freshman season at Houston before revealing plans to the transfer portal two weeks ago, announced his commitment to the Zags early Sunday evening.
ESPN's Jeff Borzello was the first to report on Harwell's decision and the guard later confirmed the news on Instagram, sharing a graphic of himself photoshopped in a white Zags jersey. "Go Zags!!! " Harwell wrote in his Instagram caption.
Harwell becomes the first transfer addition for Gonzaga this offseason and joins Few's roster two years after giving the Zags serious consideration as a five-star prospect at Wasatch Academy. The 6-foot-6 shooting guard who was considered the 13th-rated recruit in the country by On3. com listed Gonzaga as one of his four finalists, along with Houston, Texas and California.
Kelvin Sampson and the Cougars ultimately received a commitment from Harwell, but the Pocatello native only averaged 13. 6 minutes per game as a freshman and saw his role diminish down the stretch of the season, playing just seven total minutes in two NCAA Tournament games against Idaho and Texas A&M. Houston believed Harwell was compromised by lingering issues from an ACL injury he suffered during his senior season at Wasatch Academy and the Cougars held him out of summer workouts, giving the guard minimal time to ramp up for the team's nonconference schedule.
"I think the thing that hurt Isiah was we never got a chance to develop him because he had no June, he had no July, he had no August," Sampson told local reporters during a Zoom call on Thursday. "He tore his ACL and then had complications from it. He reinjured it during the McDonald's (All-American) Game.