Gonzaga Bulldogs guard Julian Strawther (0) reacts after sinking a three point basket during the second half of a Sweet Sixteen NCAA Tournament basketball game against the UCLA Bruins at T-Mobile Arena Thursday, March 23, 2023.
Monday, April 10, 2023 | 12:09 p.m.
Julian Strawther, a junior at Gonzaga and product of Liberty High School in Henderson, is declaring for the NBA Draft, he announced this morning in a social media post.
Some predictions have the 20-year-old Strawther, who averaged 15.2 points and 6.2 rebounds per game this season, as a first-round selection.
Strawther leaves Gonzaga with three West Coast Conference championships, a national runner-up finish in 2021 and a memorable game-winning shot in last month’s Sweet 16. Strawther buried a straight-away 3-pointer in the final seconds to lift Gonzaga past UCLA at T-Mobile Arena.
“Thankful for the support from Spokane for the kid from the bright lights of Vegas,” he wrote in the post.
Strawther looks to join the Lakers’ Troy Brown Jr. (Centennial), San Antonio’s Zach Collins (Bishop Gorman), Golden State’s Gary Payton II (Spring Valley), and the Mavs’ Jaden Hardy (Coronado) as locals in the NBA.
