Alex Toohey always wanted to play college basketball.
Be it wanting to follow in his big brother’s footsteps, the allure of being an on-campus legend, or the chance to make a run in the iconic March Madness tournament, a trip to the NCAA always felt part of the 18-year-old’s plan.
So it came as no surprise when this November, Toohey officially announced he would be committing to Gonzaga University, one of the heavy hitters in college basketball.
Toohey is Australia’s top prospect in the class of 2023, and is the next in a steady line of Australian prospects, following Oklahoma City’s Josh Giddey, New Orleans’ Dyson Daniels, and Tyrese Proctor, who is currently playing for another top college program, Duke University.
According to Toohey, his status as a top-level international prospect was a big factor in why he eventually chose to commit to Gonzaga.
“I think I chose Gonzaga for a combination of different things,” Toohey said.
“The experience of the head coach, Mark Few has been coaching for a long time and he’s been a winning coach as well, he’s produced a lot of international players in the NBA, which is a dream of mine.
“I think just having that pathway that he started and he knows how to get people there and that’s important to me, and just the culture there, I went on a visit over there and saw what the guys were like and felt the environment and that’s something I really want to be a part of."
Gonzaga lands Australian wing Alex Toohey 🇦🇺 out of the NBA Global Academy in Canberra.
— Wilko (@wilkomcv) November 8, 2022
I'm a big fan of this pick-up. 6-8 silky smooth shooter with a high release point who can handle in transition and will make open threes. His solid athleticism is enough at that size. pic.twitter.com/9kfON8f5lM
A hot commodity, Toohey was courted by a number of different colleges but said that Gonzaga’s culture was palpable and that in the end, it was a relatively easy choice.
“I went on visits to Davidson, Villanova, Michigan, and Gonzaga, they were my final [options]... I had a great time at all of them, but I had the feeling that Gonzaga was different to the others and it felt welcoming, felt like a family environment, which they all had but it just felt more accustomed to me,” he said.
“Obviously they had probably the largest history of international players in my position, so understanding that they know how to get guys better which is what I’m trying to do.”
Indeed, Mark Few and Gonzaga’s track record of getting foreigners into the NBA is remarkable; current Gonzaga alumni in the league include Lithuania’s Domantas Sabonis, Japan’s Rui Hachimura, as well as the Canadian trio of Kelly Olynyk, Brandon Clarke, and Andrew Nembhard.
Committed ✅ #GoZags pic.twitter.com/pnHqlI4YlJ
— Alex Toohey (@tooheyy) November 8, 2022
Gonzaga’s former players also include fellow Australians John Rillie and Paul Rodgers, both of whom went on to have impressive careers in the NBL.
But in more recent times, Australians have been using other pathways to get to the NBA; Josh Giddey and Luke Travers both played in the NBL prior to being drafted, while Dyson Daniels elected to join the G-League Ignite, a developmental team the plays in the NBA’s second-tier league.
There was, of course, significant interest from the NBL in signing Alex Toohey as a Next Star, I’m told. He’s the third straight elite Australian out of the NBA Academy to turn down the league (Daniels, Proctor).
— Olgun Uluc (@OlgunUluc) November 8, 2022
So did Toohey entertain any alternate pathways? According to him, his heart was set on college basketball for as long as he could remember.
“I looked at some different pathways but I just felt college was best for me,” he said.
“Growing up, my brother went over to college so I kind of always wanted to head over.
“I think [March Madness] will be really cool and seeing Gonzaga, how far they’ve gone in the last tournaments, hopefully, bring home a national championship. I think that’d be something special.”
Just as important to Toohey as his collegiate future is his future in the green and gold, a national career that began in February 2021 and continued this August where he played in the Boomers' FIBA Qualifiers.
“[Playing for the Boomers] was special, like that feeling of being with the guys in the locker room before the game, and then getting out there with the guys, you just can’t describe how it feels, and then talking to all the guys off the court and realizing how much it means to them as professional basketball players, it shows how special, [how much] it means to players to represent the Boomers,” Toohey said.
Alex Toohey giving Gonzaga fans a preview of what's in store for the future 👀#FIBAWC x #WinForAustralia 🇦🇺 pic.twitter.com/PuU2BA6vze
— FIBA Basketball World Cup (@FIBAWC) November 11, 2022
“I think playing with FIBA, the different levels of physicality, different refereeing, the game is played at a much faster pace and having to adjust with things that you might be able to get away with at different levels but at the top, it all gets exposed straight away.
“Guarding quicker players, having to understand the level of physicality you can use on defence and on offence, how much you have to take with the defence battering you every time.
“[Making the Boomers WC roster] would be a dream, and if I get invited to training camp or anything like that I think that’d be special but I’ll take it a day at a time and see how we go.”
And after college, and the FIBA World Cup, there is of course the NBA, every basketballer's ultimate destination. According to Toohey, the world’s best league is obviously where he wants to end up and to get there, he’s studying the Aussies that came before him.
Highlights of Alex Toohey. The 6'8, 18-year-old wing's combination of size, feel for the game, toughness and ability to play all over the floor gives him significant potential as a college player and could ultimately help him emerge as an NBA prospect at Gonzaga. pic.twitter.com/0TH9zxUnMa
— Jonathan Givony (@DraftExpress) November 8, 2022
“I think the NBA would definitely be something cool that I’d strive to make eventually,” Toohey said.
“Definitely just going to take it as it comes, look hopefully get to the NBA but however long it takes, I’m just going to help win games, if anything else comes I’ll take it.
“I’d be happy to get there. Patty Mills has been around for a while, I think something like that would be cool, and then seeing Joe Ingles, someone who’s probably not the most athletic but uses his skill to get in the league and stay around and have teams want him, I think that’s cool.”
