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# Mario Saint-Supery Shockingly Leaves Gonzaga, Plans to Play With Valencia in Spain
- URL: https://www.emeraldcityspectrum.com/mario-saint-supery-leaves-gonzaga-bulldogs-valencia-spain/
- Published: 2026-07-11T22:37:12.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-08T05:55:33.000Z
- Author: Howard Woodard
- Tags: News, Analysis, Gonzaga Men's Basketball, Mario Saint-Supéry, Gonzaga

\[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="3995"\]

![  Gonzaga Bulldogs guard Mario Saint-Supery (17) dribbles against Texas Longhorns guard Jordan Pope (0) in the first half during a second round game of the men's 2026 NCAA Tournament at Moda Center. Mandatory Credit: Troy Wayrynen-Imagn Images  ](https://storage.ghost.io/c/1d/f2/1df2f77b-83dd-4bc0-a6d2-6d1bb5df89a3/content/images/2026/10/d-mario-saint-supery--2817-29-dribbles-against-texas-longhorns-guard-jordan-pope--280-29-in-the-first-half-during-a-second-round-game-of-the-men-27s-2026-ncaa-tournament-at-moda-center--mandatory-credit-3a-troy-wayrynen-imagn-images-format-original.jpg)

Gonzaga Bulldogs guard Mario Saint-Supery (17) dribbles against Texas Longhorns guard Jordan Pope (0) in the first half during a second round game of the men's 2026 NCAA Tournament at Moda Center. Mandatory Credit: Troy Wayrynen-Imagn Images \[/caption\]

Up until two months ago, the Gonzaga Bulldogs were able to dream of deploying a starting backcourt of Mario Saint-Supéry and Jack Kayil for the 2026-27 season. Now in mid-July, neither player is on the roster.

Saint-Supéry, who appeared in all 35 games for the Zags last year and started in 17, announced Saturday that he was leaving Spokane to play for Valencia Basket back in his home country of Spain.

This decision is truly shocking for the Bulldogs. Not only is it crushing to lose your starting point guard this late in the offseason, but it is compounded by Kayil’s decision to stay in the NBA Draft process in May. Gonzaga will likely attempt to replace Saint-Supéry with another international player or resort to the traditional transfer portal. Still, options are severely limited with just four months to go until the regular season.

Stunning on several fronts, Saint-Supéry and Valencia came to this agreement within the last 24-48 hours, in all likelihood. Saint-Supéry was reported to have practiced with the team on Friday. On Thursday, Gonzaga held a ceremony where it renamed the men’s and women’s basketball training facility as “The Sabonis Family Strength and Conditioning Center” after former four-year Zag and now-NBA center Domantas Sabonis and his wife made a “transformative and significant gift commitment” to Gonzaga Athletics in support of the men’s team. Saint-Supéry, along with his now-former teammates, was in attendance, took pictures, and talked with Sabonis.

> a true Zag legend ❤️ [pic.twitter.com/DpzdPyy1bM](https://t.co/DpzdPyy1bM?ref=emeraldcityspectrum.com)— Gonzaga Basketball (@ZagMBB) [July 10, 2026](https://x.com/ZagMBB/status/2075635059948998701?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=emeraldcityspectrum.com)

According to Theo Lawson of the Spokesman-Review, Saint-Supéry’s father, Kiko, said it was a “basketball decision,” but a “hard one”. CBS Sports senior analyst Matt Norlander also reported that Saint-Supéry’s deal with Valencia is for four years and north of $15 million overall. He will replace Sergio De Larrea at Valencia, who was selected 25th overall by the Dallas Mavericks in last month’s NBA Draft, after the two played together for Eurobasket last summer, prior to Saint-Supéry’s freshman season in Spokane. Saint-Supéry played four seasons with Liga ACB before becoming a Zag, including three with Unicaja and one with BAXI Manresa, and now becomes the third-highest-paid player in Europe.

Steadily progressing over the course of his first collegiate year, Saint-Supéry eventually took the reins as the team’s lead ballhandler. He split point guard duties with junior Braeden Smith for the first half of the year, but after outplaying Smith in all facets, Saint-Supéry started Gonzaga’s final eight games and logged 28.4 minutes per game in the team’s last nine contests. It led to Smith transferring to Notre Dame for his final season of eligibility. Overall, he averaged 8.6 points, 3.8 assists, 2.8 rebounds, and 1.3 steals per game, while shooting 41% from the floor, 40.3% from three, and 87.8% from the free-throw line.

Expected to be the surefire starter at point for all of 2026-27, Saint-Supéry was poised to take a leap in his game over the offseason. The 20-year-old has been competing with Spain in the FIBA World Cup qualifiers alongside fellow Zag commit, 21-year-old Izan Almansa. In Spain’s two first-round victories in July, Saint-Supéry logged 14.5 points, 2.5 assists, 2.5 rebounds, and 1.5 steals per game. He shot 11-of-19 (57.9%) from the floor and 5-of-9 (55.6%) from three as well.

In addition to losing their main facilitator, the Bulldogs also take a huge blow in the three-point shooting department. Although Saint-Supéry was consistent from the outside all season, his volume notably increased down the stretch as GU played him more off-ball and gave him more spot-up opportunities. During the Zags’ WCC Tournament-clinching victory over Santa Clara, Saint-Supéry knocked down six of 12 shots from deep, notching season highs in makes and attempts on threes. His shot from three-point territory declined during the NCAA Tournament, hitting just two of 14 tries over the team’s final two games, but he was by far the most reliable three-point option in the rotation.

> [View this post on Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/p/DapldoPPDLJ/?utm%5Fsource=ig%5Fembed&utm%5Fcampaign=loading)  
>  
> [A post shared by Mario Saint-Supery (@mariosaintsupery\_)](https://www.instagram.com/p/DapldoPPDLJ/?utm%5Fsource=ig%5Fembed&utm%5Fcampaign=loading)

To expand on that point, Gonzaga really hasn’t addressed that area to this point in the offseason. Houston transfer Isiah Harwell shot only 27% from three last season and was expected to be more of a project anyway as an offensive player. French recruit Nathan De Sousa and recent Saint Francis transfer Skylar Wicks each shot 36% from distance in their most recent seasons, but neither signing is official, as they both have eligibility questions.

Last season, Steele Venters was the only player outside of Saint-Supéry to shoot over 34% on threes on considerable volume, but he got limited playing time in the second half due to his defensive deficiencies and transferred to Washington. Adam Miller was expected to be huge in a catch-and-shoot role, yet finished the year with a 30.2% clip from deep and is now out of eligibility. Davis Fogle shot a respectable 35% on just 40 three-point attempts, but the incoming sophomore will likely see more of an on-ball role with Saint-Supéry departing.

De Sousa’s ability to ingratiate himself with the Zags’ system is now paramount, as he figures to be the team’s starting point guard with his experience overseas. The 23-year-old has played professionally in France since he was 16, making him the most capable option to handle point guard responsibilities for Gonzaga in Saint-Supéry’s absence. In his final season with Espoirs Cholet, De Sousa averaged 10.9 points and 4.9 assists while posting an elite true shooting clip of 72.6%.

As far as quick fixes go, diving into their high school recruiting pool is another avenue for the Zags. Lawson also reported that as recently as three days ago, the Bulldogs and 2027 four-star commit Dooney Johnson had not had any conversations about reclassifying. A few days ago, Texas’ five-star commit Marcus Spears Jr. reclassified with intentions to play for the Longhorns this fall despite initially being in the same class as Johnson. A consensus top-30 prospect in his class, Johnson is the highest-ranked recruit that Gonzaga head coach Mark Few has landed since Chet Holmgren.

Regardless of how GU now attempts to supplement their roster in the aggregate, they will definitely be at a talent deficit with this news. The frontcourt of Fogle, Braden Huff, and Arizona State transfer Massamba Diop will do heavy lifting, but the current lack of shooting and creation in the Zags’ backcourt puts a hard cap on their ceiling. In addition to having to come to terms with a significant component of its roster being taken off the board, Gonzaga has to scramble quickly to shore up the holes that Saint-Supéry leaves in his wake.