Gonzaga Bulldogs forward Davis Fogle spent most of his freshman season as an under-the-radar, high-scoring wing whose rapid development had fans giddy for what he might accomplish in year two.

Now, with less than one week until his sophomore campaign gets underway, Fogle is no longer a hidden gem - he's projected as one of the best players in the country at his position.

Fogle was one of 20 candidates named to the Julius Erving Award Watch List on Wednesday, an award given by the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame to the best small forward in college basketball.

Named after UMass legend and Hall of Famer Julius Erving, this award is now in its 11th year and has twice been given to a Zag: Corey Kispert in 2021 and Rui Hachimura in 2019.

Hype train has left the station

Fogle was a 4-star recruit in the 2025 class who joined Gonzaga from Compass Prep High School in Arizona - although he's originally from Anacortes, WA.

The 6'7 wing began the season outside the rotation, appearing in late-game blowouts but dazzling fans with his scoring prowess and sky-high confidence right out of the gate.

He steadily pushed his way into Gonzaga's rotation by improving his decision-making and defense, and ultimately played a key role down the stretch when Braden Huff (knee) and Jalen Warley (leg) were both dealing with injuries.

He finished his first year in Spokane averaging 8.6 points and 3.1 rebounds in 16.7 minutes across 29 games, earning All-WCC Freshman Team honors.

With Warley, Tyon Grant-Foster, Adam Miller, Emmanuel Innocenti, and Steele Venters all departed, Fogle is in line for a much bigger role in 2026-27 - and he looked ready for his breakout at Kraziness in the Kennel in early October when he scored an event-record 30 points on 11-15 shooting, including 6-7 from three.

Fogle was held out of Gonzaga's 76-72 exhibition loss at Arkansas on Saturday with a leg injury, but it is not considered serious at this time.

Erving Award timeline and other candidates

Fans can vote for Fogle starting on Oct. 30 when fan voting opens. The watch list will be trimmed to 10 players in February, then five in March and those finalists will be presented to Erving and the selection committee, who will pick a winner to be announced at a later date - usually around the Final Four.

Erving is one of five positional awards given annually by the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame, alongside the Bob Cousy Award (point guard) Jerry West Award (shooting guard), Karl Malone Award (power forward), and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award (center).

Fogle and Gonzaga already battled one of the other 19 finalists, Billy Richmond III at Arkansas, and will also match up against Dame Sarr (Duke), Coen Carr (Michigan State), and Nikola Kusturica (UCLA) this season, with potential Player's Era Festival opponents including Amari Allen (Alabama) and Shelton Henderson (Miami).

Gonzaga's second and final exhibition game is Wednesday, Oct. 28 at 6:00 PM PT against Lewis-Clark State. Fogle's status remains to be determined as of this writing.