Gonzaga adds USC transfer Byron Wesley to dynamic lineup next season

USC guard Byron Wesley, a fifth-year graduate student, will play his final season at Gonzaga and can play immediately. It’s a big deal for Kevin Pangos and the other seniors, as they snag a quality teammate for their last go-round. It’s also a big deal for you, and me, and everyone -- Gonzaga might be exciting again.

The Bulldogs were not much of a show last year. They followed up their memorable 2012-13 season with a decently forgettable 2013-14 season, complete with fewer wins and less attention. Two years ago, who could look away? Pangos poured in threes while Kelly Olynyk scored on everything else. Mark Few looked wise. Spokane looked raucous. Everything seemed wonderful. Then they lost early and were, of course, dismissed, as though the dominant season marred only by a real loss to Illinois and a miracle loss to Butler meant nothing. Who’s Elias Harris? I already forgot.

Only the number crunchers stayed around for this season because they were compelled. The efficiency at Gonzaga is a golden calf. Those numbers were special.

No Gonzaga player with more than five minutes per game shot under 41-percent last season. Yet their scoring, relative to quality teams, was positively mediocre by Ken Pomeroy’s offensive standards. That rating is predicated on efficiency but, somehow, still fits. The Zags were average. No Olynyk, no Harris. Just a high shooting percentage. They coupled that with a wagon load of turnovers and bowed out to Arizona in the round of 32, just as expected.

Should Gonzaga have been better? No, probably not. They were as good as usual and as good as the roster merited. Efficiency is a wonderful thing, but not as the sole meal. It needs a pallet cleanser and some glass eating. It needs to hold onto the ball.

Start there. Heading into next season, Gonzaga loses four seniors and Gerard Coleman, who announced his transfer last week, which amounts to two missing starters and four total impact players that Gonzaga needs to replace. That list includes their leading assist man (David Stockton), their leading rebounder (Sam Dower), their sixth man (Drew Barham), and a talent-in-waiting (Coleman). Those key words make the situation out to be bleak, but in the half-full side of the glass is a ton of departing turnovers, thus a departing problem.

Gonzaga turned the ball over 419 times last season -- more times than 222 other college teams. Stockton averaged four assists per game, Dower averaged seven boards, the sixth man is the sixth-best player and the talent-in-waiting means nothing because it isn’t a real term. Together, they comprised 43 percent of the turnovers in 41 percent of the playing time. It’s a subtraction of giveaways and a slew of replaceable talent.

Replace it they did. Gonzaga doesn’t need any one position to be filled by a lights-out guy. They need a bit of rebounding, some height and some points. They need someone on the wing. And they couldn’t have filled that role better if they had sculpted a dude from transfer putty. Wesley is a 6-foot-5 wing man, who averaged more than 17 points and 6.5 boards for a struggling USC team last season. Even accounting for better surrounding talent and the transfer adjustment rust, he’s still looking at double-digit scoring and sustained rebounding. Gonzaga needs him. Here is a chart of improvement.

Wesley carried a too-high turnover rate of 2.0 last season, so the giveaway problem could again pop up. But since he is no longer the focal point of a team, that number should drop, as should the team’s overall total. Most importantly, it won’t matter as much. The impact of turnovers is already lessened with the addition of talent and an inherently different approach. Efficiency will still be a focus. It just won’t be the only focus.

A single highlight doesn’t mean the world, but look at the bodies fall. Look at the team on paper. The Gary Bell-Kevin Pangos backcourt looks more formidable with Wesley in the mix, as does the front court, anchored by 7-foot-1 Przemek Karnowski. Kentucky transfer Kyle Wiltjer should provide a big boost once he becomes eligible, too. The paper says a pretty good team just got better.