Gonzaga Bulldogs fans have always had a soft spot for the walk-ons. Rem Bakamus and Dustin Triano became two of the most beloved Zags of their era without ever really seeing the floor. Mike Hart remains the gold standard of the walk-on success story at Gonzaga. Hart showed up in 2008 as an unknown from Portland’s Jesuit High School, earned a spot after two-day tryouts, and by his senior year, he was a starter on the team that earned Gonzaga’s first-ever No. 1 ranking, winning the 2012-13 West Coast
Conference Defensive Player of the Year in the process.
Colby Brooks. Jack Beach. Abe Eagle. Will Graves. Matthew Lang. The names stack up over the years, and every one of them had the Kennel in their corner from day one. These are the guys who chose Gonzaga just as much as Gonzaga chose them, who grind through practice every day knowing their number may never get called, and who keep the same energy regardless.
This past season, Joaquim “Q” ArauzMoore, Cade Orness, and Noah Haaland were those guys. None of those three will be with the program next year, either lost to the transfer portal or out of eligibility. That doesn’t mean their contribution to this year’s team isn’t worth praise and acknowledgement.
Joaquim ArauzMoore
Joaquim “Q” ArauzMoore has been part of the Gonzaga program longer than any of his fellow walk-ons, joining ahead of the 2023-24 season and redshirting that year before suiting up for the next two. The 6’1″ guard from Ross, California played his high school ball in the competitive Northern California circuit, first at Branson School in Marin County before transferring to Southern California Academy, and came to Spokane with a reputation as a smart, skilled player who understood winning basketball.
Over his two active seasons, Q appeared in 12 games and scored 11 points on 50% shooting from three, but the raw numbers were never really the point. Anyone who watched this team knows what Q meant to the locker room. The Kennel would come alive any time he got on the floor, and his teammates made no secret of how much they loved him. He announced his entry into the transfer portal in April, citing a desire to find more opportunity to develop as a player. With two years of eligibility remaining, he should have no trouble finding a home. Zag Nation will be rooting for him.
Cade Orness
Cade Orness arrived at Gonzaga as a preferred walk-on and by the beginning of the 25-26 season had played his way to a full scholarship spot. Orness was the kind of high school prospect who made you do a double take when you saw him commit to Gonzaga as a walk-on. The 6’5″ guard from Poulsbo was North Kitsap’s all-time leading scorer, a two-time Olympic League MVP and Defensive Player of the Year, and a first-team all-state tournament selection who led the Vikings to a 23-5 record and a third-place finish. Those credentials earned him a look at one of the best programs in the country, and he took it. By the time the season tipped off, he was no longer a walk-on in anything but origin story.
On the court this season, Orness appeared in eight games and totaled three points, one rebound, one assist and one steal in 20 minutes of action. The path forward at Gonzaga was a crowded one at guard, and he has decided to enter the portal to find a situation where he can play a bigger role. Wherever he lands, they are getting a player with real pedigree and a work ethic that earned him a scholarship at a top-ten program. Zag Nation appreciated every minute.
Noah Haaland
Noah Haaland’s path to Gonzaga is one of the better stories in recent program history. The 6’9″ forward from Rathdrum grew up a Zag in every sense: his father Dale played for Gonzaga from 1985 to 1987, earning All-WCAC honors and averaging double figures his senior year, and his mother Robyn Benson was a Gonzaga volleyball player. Noah spent three seasons at Allan Hancock College in California, including a redshirt year due to a foot injury, before coming home to Spokane as a preferred walk-on ahead of 2024-25. He appeared in just three games that first year. This season was a different story.
Haaland played in ten games in 2025-26, shooting 64.3% from the field, and his most important contribution came in January when the Zags lost both Graham Ike and Braden Huff to injury in the same week. With the frontcourt suddenly thin, Haaland stepped in against Pepperdine and delivered a career night: 11 minutes, 10 points on perfect 4-4 shooting, four rebounds, and a perfect 2-2 from the free throw line in an 84-60 win. Mark Few told reporters afterward that it was no surprise to anyone who watched practice. Haaland is out of eligibility, but he leaves having fulfilled something that clearly meant a great deal to him and to his family. Not a bad way to close the book.
Looking Ahead: Alonzo Metz and Parker Jefferson
With Haaland out of eligibility and both ArauzMoore and Orness in the portal, Alonzo Metz is now the lone walk-on returning from last year’s group. The 5’11” guard joined the program ahead of 2025-26 and redshirted, as most walk-ons do in their first year. Parker Jefferson, a 6’9″ forward who came in as a three-star recruit and decommitted from Minnesota before landing in Spokane, redshirted alongside him. Both will be fully active for 2026-27, giving Few a pair of young players who spent a full season learning the system from the inside.
The NCAA’s proposed 5-in-5 framework would give athletes five seasons of eligibility within a strict five-year window from high school graduation. The extra season sounds like good news for walk-ons, and in some ways it is. But under the current rules, the redshirt year is essentially free: you use one calendar year without burning a season of eligibility, which is exactly how the traditional walk-on pipeline works. Redshirt year one, develop years two through five, become Rem Bakamus by year four.
Under 5-in-5, every year of that window counts, which turns the redshirt year from a free pass into a genuine sacrifice. Programs have less incentive to carry a walk-on who needs time to develop when that player is burning one of his five years doing it. Add in the House settlement roster limits already squeezing available spots, and the golden age of the pure bench energy guy is facing some real headwinds. Metz and Jefferson got their redshirt year under the old rules. Whether the guys who come after them get the same opportunity is one of the more interesting questions hanging over the program heading into 2026-27.
Whatever the rulebook looks like next year and the year after, here’s hoping Gonzaga finds a way to keep the walk-on tradition alive. The high-energy bench guy who loses his mind when a teammate makes a great play, who gets a standing ovation for a layup in a blowout win, who earns the trust of his coaches and the love of the Kennel through sheer force of will, that guy is irreplaceable. He is part of what makes this program feel like something more than a basketball factory. Q, Cade, and Noah each carried that torch in their own way. The hope is that someone picks it up next.
