Gonzaga Reportedly Lands 2015 Commit, Sort Of

Some important news was revealed today regarding Gonzaga’s “2015 recruiting class”, for a lack of a better phrase.

Victor Ruiz, a 6-foot-6 small forward from Malaga, Spain, is coming to Gonzaga for the 2015-2016 season, according to a story in LaOpinionDeMalaga, presumably a newspaper in the area.

In a translated article (which was graciously translated by @ExclusivelyZags on twitter), it states indirectly that Ruiz’s “rights” (whatever that means) belong to Gonzaga. The article mentions that Ruiz did not qualify to play Division I basketball this season, and while GU attempted to put him into a prep school for the upcoming season, he didn’t quality because he is too old (Ruiz turned 19 this March).

Instead of attending a prep school, Ruiz will enroll at Hawaii-Hilo, a Division II school. Apparently the plan is for Ruiz to play a season, transfer to Gonzaga and enroll as a sophomore. Ruiz will reportedly have four years to play three at Gonzaga if his plan is executed correctly.

Ruiz played for CB Clinicas Rincoln Malaga this past season, which plays in the Spanish LEB Gold league, Spain’s second division. Ruiz did not put up eye-popping numbers for his club team, scoring only 1.7 points per game and grabbing 1.6 rebounds per game. Ruiz played with incoming Gonzaga freshman Domantas Saboinis’ older brother, Tautvydas.

Ruiz was seen on Gonzaga’s campus three weeks ago, and it went well enough for Ruiz to want to come to GU immediately. A picture of Ruiz was posted on Gonzaga freshman Bryan Alberts Instagram account three weeks ago, with Ruiz pictured along with Assistant Coach’s Tommy Lloyd – the main recruiter with Ruiz’s  according to the aforementioned newspaper story – and Brian Michaelson, Josh Perkins and of course Alberts.

There is not a whole lot of information on the internet on Ruiz, but there is a Youtube highlight video featuring Ruiz, which is embedded below.

Ruiz appears to do many things well in the offensive end of the court and could be a viable asset to Gonzaga’s offense if everything comes into fruition. It is tough to evaluate Ruiz with the dearth of material on him, so Zag fans might have to wait until he makes it to Spokane to make judgement on the 6-foot-6 small forward.

This situation is still developing, and if there are any updates they will be posted on the site or on our twitter feed (@WestCoastConvo).