Northwest Notes Dec. 30, 2024

Gonzaga to honor Sabonis on Jan. 18

SPOKANE — Three-time NBA All-Star Domantas Sabonis, who played two seasons at Gonzaga, will be honored by Gonzaga Athletics on Jan. 18 during a ceremony at GU's game against Santa Clara.

Sabonis, who will become the sixth player in men's program history to have his jersey (No. 11) displayed in the McCarthey Athletic Center, will be present for the ceremony. He will join Frank Burgess, John Stockton, Adam Morrison, Kelly Olynyk and Dan Dickau among those with their jersey numbers hung in the arena.

Sabonis remains Gonzaga’s all-time leader in career field goal percentage at .632. In just two seasons, he scored 1,002 points to become the 41st player in school history to score 1,000 points. He also grabbed 694 rebounds, which is 11th all-time at GU.

Sabonis helped Gonzaga reach a Sweet 16 in each of his two seasons with an Elite 8 appearance in 2015. In the three 2016 NCAA Tournament games, he averaged 19.7 points and 14.3 rebounds, the highest rebounding average of any player who appeared in at least two games.

Sabonis was selected as the 11th pick of the 2016 NBA Draft by the Orlando Magic. Following the selection, the Magic traded Sabonis to the Oklahoma City Thunder. He became the sixth Zag drafted in the first round, and 20th selected in the NBA Draft.

Sabonis was an NBA All-Star in 2020, 2021, and 2023. He was named Third Team All-NBA in each of the last two seasons, after leading the league in rebounds in both 2022-23 and 2023-24.

In his ninth season in the NBA, Sabonis currently averages 21.4 points for the Sacramento Kings. He’s pulling down 13 rebounds per outing, which ranks second in the league. His 62.2 field goal percentage is fourth in the NBA.