Davis Fogle on Gonzaga commitment: ‘Felt like it was the perfect place and timing’

Gonzaga has plans for Davis Fogle, and the 6-foot-7, 185-pound guard has plans for himself.

“I didn’t really see anything that was going to top Gonzaga,” Fogle said in a phone interview. “I feel like it was perfect place and timing. I can work on the things they want me to work on and be ready for college.”

Fogle, who committed to GU last week, is a rising senior in the 2025 class, so he has more than a year before officially joining the program. He wants to be at his best when he arrives on campus next summer. That means making strides physically and with his on-court game.

“Definitely getting stronger and getting in the weight room, building a little more muscle,” he said. “And I want to get a little more of a floater game and definitely play on balance more.”

In the short term, Fogle will be with his Seattle Select teammates for upcoming AAU tournaments in Atlanta and Chicago on the Under Armour circuit. Fogle, who averaged 31.4 points last season to guide Anacortes High School to the Washington State 2A Tournament quarterfinals, routinely makes 90-minute drives to Seattle for practice a couple days a week.

Another step in his progression will require a change of address. Fogle will play his senior season at AZ Compass Prep in Chandler, Arizona, facing stout competition against many of the nation’s top teams. It wasn’t an easy decision to switch schools for his last high school season.

“I’m going to play against the best players in the country,” Fogle said. “I could have stayed at Anacortes and stayed comfortable where I was at and averaged 30 a game or I could go somewhere and get out of my comfort zone. It’s almost like going to college a year early and I can kind of grow my game.”

Fogle’s hoop education began at an early age at the family home. His mom, Amy (Rakers) Fogle, was the all-time leading scorer at Southern Illinois when she graduated and still ranks in the top five in points and rebounds.

Amy has been an assistant on her son’s team at Anacortes High. She coached the Kodiak High boys’ team to an unbeaten season and Alaska 4A state championship in 2001.

“My parents sacrificed a lot from a basketball standpoint, especially for AAU with so much going on,” Davis said. “My mom was a really good player and my dad definitely knows the game pretty well. Both have been very influential.”

Fogle also trains with Tyler Amaya, who spent two seasons, one as a redshirt, at Gonzaga before transferring to Dixie State College (now Utah Tech) and playing his final two years at Western Washington.

The Fogles relocated from Kodiak to Anacortes when Davis was in fourth grade. That’s when he first started working with Amaya, who operates a gym in Burlington, roughly 25 minutes from Anacortes.

“From Day 1 he’s just had something different about him,” Amaya said. “It’s his craft, it’s his passion, with a trainer or without. I was just getting to know him, having him do some simple catch-and-rips, right-hand layups, left-hand layups and he’s putting his own spin on everything he does.

“He has an incredible work ethic. There’s only one other person that I know like him, my (Mount Vernon) high school teammate Troy DeVries, who played at New Mexico and 12 years professionally in Spain and had an insane work ethic.”

Amaya made frequent calls the last few years to former Zag teammates and current GU assistants Stephen Gentry and Brian Michaelson lauding Fogle, whom Amaya says is “the epitome of when hard work meets talent.”

Fogle visited Spokane over Hoopfest weekend – his first time at the event since playing in the tournament in fourth grade – and it cemented his decision to pick Gonzaga over runner-up Creighton and Kansas.

“The whole family atmosphere, all the guys love to work and get in the gym and just being around the coaching staff, they really explained the plan they have for me and what they think they can get out of me,” Fogle said. “Obviously Gonzaga has been a high-level program for more than 20 years.”

Fogle could eventually be in line for a role similar to Corey Kispert and Julian Strawther, wings that developed into NBA first-round picks.

“That’s huge,” said Fogle, who sprouted from 6-3 to 6-7 at Anacortes High. “Ultimately my main goal when I started playing was getting to the NBA. I was telling Gentry the other day that going to Gonzaga, we have a chance to win the national championship and be an NBA player. What else could you want?

“With the transfer portal you see guys transfer out sometimes, but those guys (Kispert and Strawther) stayed and got better every year and a few years later they were first-round picks.”

“Coach Gentry had an awesome presentation when he came, showing him clips of Kispert and Strawther and then cutting right to Davis making plays for his high school team or select team,” said Amaya, who played six seasons professionally overseas. “It was, ‘Hey, these guys are in the NBA and here’s you doing the same thing.’ Just the way they play, it’s a lot of free-flowing offense and guys are taught how to play, not where to go. I think he’ll fit in well.”

A few days after his official visit, Fogle phoned Gentry, who led GU’s recruiting efforts, and head coach Mark Few to make his commitment official.

“I talked to (Few) just before he headed out (to assist) with Team USA,” Fogle said. “He was pretty excited, but I think he knew after the visit it was coming.”

Amaya said he’s thankful to be part of Fogle’s journey. He’s optimistic Fogle will thrive at Gonzaga, but also counsels him to have the right mindset if he’s not playing big minutes early on and to trust the coaching staff and their plan – lessons Amaya learned the hard way.

“I was going through a lot when I got to Gonzaga that I wasn’t aware of at the time,” Amaya said. “I held myself back a lot. I should have never left. In the back of my mind, I’ve always tried in a weird way to prepare Davis for this and I think he’s going to take every bit of advantage of it that I didn’t when I was there.”