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# Xaivian Lee Commits to Gonzaga, Projects to Be Starting Point Guard
- URL: https://www.emeraldcityspectrum.com/xaivian-lee-commits-gonzaga-bulldogs-projects-starting-point-guard/
- Published: 2026-08-27T14:30:55.000Z
- Updated: 2026-08-27T14:30:55.000Z
- Author: Howard Woodard
- Tags: News, Analysis, Recruiting, Gonzaga Men's Basketball, Xaivian Lee

At long last, with just over two months until their first regular season game, the Gonzaga Bulldogs have received a full roster’s worth of commitments for the 2026-27 season.

On Wednesday night, Florida transfer Xaivian Lee announced his commitment to the Zags and is slated to be the team’s starting point guard for his fifth collegiate season. The 6-3 Canadian is currently eligible after joining a California lawsuit – which also included another GU point guard target, Donovan Dent – and being granted a temporary restraining order against the NCAA.

Like another fifth-year Bulldogs backcourt commit, Javon Bennett, Lee could become ineligible for a period if the NCAA stays the California case. But for now, he is headed to Spokane.

Although Dent seemed to be GU’s main target for its primary ball-handler when the NCAA originally lifted a restriction on fifth-year players, Lee potentially brings more as a scorer and on the defensive end. Last season with the Gators, Lee averaged 11.6 points, 4.2 assists, 3.3 rebounds, and 1.2 steals per game. The 22-year-old shot 42% from the field and 29.2% from 3-point range, culminating in a pedestrian 53.7% true-shooting clip. It was Lee’s worst shooting season from an efficiency standpoint since becoming a starter after his freshman season.

Playing more shooting guard as a senior, Lee shared the Florida backcourt with Boogie Fland, deferring point guard duties to the talented sophomore. Lee’s usage (20.9%) and free-throw rate (25.1%) were the lowest marks of his career, and 57.7% of his 338 field goal attempts came from beyond the arc. Overall, it was still a solid season for Lee, as he tallied a team-high 147 assists and finished with double figures in 22 games. But it was far from his banner campaign the year prior.

Before transferring to Gainesville, Lee spent three years at Princeton, eventually leaving the New Jersey university as one of the better players in program history. He only came off the bench his first year, but still appeared in all 32 games for the Tigers. That season, Lee totaled 4.8 points, 0.9 assists, and 1.8 rebounds on 37.6% shooting overall and a 23.2% mark from deep. In the conference opener versus Harvard, Lee dropped 33 points while recording eight rebounds and seven assists. He didn’t play much during the team’s final four games, but was still part of a squad that reached the Sweet 16, the farthest the program had been in 46 years.

As a sophomore, Lee became Princeton’s starting point guard and blossomed in his expanded role. Averaging 17.1 points, 5.7 rebounds, 3.7 assists, and 1.0 steals a game, Lee earned unanimous First-Team Ivy League honors. He also improved his efficiency numbers to 45.1% from the floor and 33.8% on triples, posting a 56.5% true-shooting mark, which remains the best clip of his career. After the season, Lee declared for the 2024 NBA Draft but withdrew before he was locked into the process. And from a production, impact, and offensive engine perspective, Lee had more in the tank at the college level.

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During his junior season, Lee logged 16.9 points, 6.1 rebounds, 5.5 assists, and 1.2 steals per game while shooting 43.6% from the field and 36.6% from distance. With an 18-point, 13-rebound, 10-assist performance in a win over Saint Joseph’s, Lee became the first Princeton player to record a triple-double. He added to that accolade with a 23-point, 12-assist, 10-rebound game against Penn in the regular-season finale. Lee led the Ivy League with a 36.3% assist rate and 2.43 assist-to-turnover ratio, producing 537 total points, which also paced the conference. Due to his record-setting season, Lee was selected to the first-team all-conference squad for the second consecutive year.

After his NCAA tenure presumably ended and going undrafted, Lee inked an Exhibit-10 deal with the Cleveland Cavaliers, latching on with the franchise for NBA Summer League. Over five games in Las Vegas, Lee averaged 6.4 points, 2.4 assists, and 2.0 rebounds a game, shooting 40% from the floor and 21% on 3-point attempts.

The gaudy facilitating numbers Dent boasted for UCLA last year – 7.6 assists per game and 41.6% assist rate – drew easy comparisons to elite pass-first point guards of Gonzaga’s past. But his minimal 3-point volume and lack of effectiveness as a half-court scorer are categories that fit Lee more adequately. His playstyle better aligns with GU’s need for spot-up shooting and rim pressure efficiency, while still providing proficiency in the pick-and-roll and in transition.

Especially for a Zags team that could still use reinforcements in the 3-point shooting department, if Lee is a capable floor spacer on top of his point guard duties, it will be huge. Although he’s coming off his worst shooting season, Lee was better down the stretch for the Gators, knocking down 34.5% of his attempts from distance in Florida’s final 18 contests. The Toronto native’s workload will likely be more similar to his years manning the ship at Princeton, as the Zags are hoping for a balanced mix of his facilitating and solid marksmanship.

Defensively, Lee can be productive, especially in passing lanes. He’s never logged a steal rate south of 2% and notched a 4.6 defensive box-plus-minus with Florida. Gonzaga has versatility to throw out a couple of bodies as its point-of-attack defender, and Lee can certainly hold his own when tasked on the perimeter.

With returners Davis Fogle and Braden Huff, and Arizona State transfer Massamba Diop joining Lee in the Bulldogs’ starting five, he has the opportunity to be maximized by the size and skill level around him. The ideal outcome for Lee with GU is getting a more polished version of Mario Saint-Supéry as a freshman, who shockingly left the program in mid-July. He likely won’t provide a 40.3% clip on 3s as Saint-Supéry did, but Lee brings more as a passer at the college level, plus a higher ability to finish on his drives. Last season, Lee converted nearly 60% of his 2-point tries, while Saint-Supéry made only 41.8% of his attempts inside the arc.

There could be a ripple effect on Gonzaga’s depth behind Lee following this news. French point guard Nathan De Sousa, who committed to the Zags in June, told Theo Lawson of the Spokesman-Review that he plans to arrive in Spokane this week once he receives his travel visa, even though he’s still not eligible to play in the NCAA. But the 23-year-old could rethink his commitment entirely now that his playing time will be directly affected and he is still without a clear path to play collegiately.

At the moment, though, the Zags finally have 15 players committed for the upcoming season, and barring any more unforeseen surprises, will trot out one of the more talented and deeper rosters in the country.