Jazz Gardner joins Saint Mary’s: Already a third university for the Franco-American prospect

Jazz Gardner (2.10 m, 21 years old) continues his eventful college journey. The 2.13m California center, who appeared with the France U18 team during the 2021 European Challengers, will join Saint Mary’s for the 2025-2026 NCAA season. After a transition year at Pacific where he showed improvement, he joins an ambitious team that won the West Coast Conference (WCC) last season.

NEWS: Jazz Gardner (@JazzGardner32) will transfer to Saint Mary’s, he tells @TheAthleticCBB

He averaged 4.6 points and 3.8 rebounds while shooting 60 percent from the field in 17 MPG last season at Pacific pic.twitter.com/h75MSA9CvY

— Tobias Bass (@tobias_bass) May 5, 2025

Slow but encouraging progress at Pacific

After a very quiet freshman season at Nevada, Jazz Gardner bounced back at Pacific. With the Tigers, he got more opportunities in 2024-2025, playing 17 minutes on average with statistics of 4.6 points and 3.8 rebounds at 60% shooting. A modest contribution but one that allowed him to find his footing in NCAA.

However, the desire to take it to the next level pushed him to request a transfer to Saint Mary’s, a regular top program in the WCC and familiar with March Madness appearances.

Saint Mary’s, a reference program on the West Coast

By joining the Saint Mary’s Gaels, Jazz Gardner commits to a reputable program under Randy Bennett, who will begin his 24th season as head coach. The 2024 WCC champions had a great season (26-8), notably winning the conference tournament against Gonzaga before being upset in the first round of March Madness by Grand Canyon.

With this transfer, Jazz Gardner hopes to finally establish himself in a high-level NCAA team, and possibly revive his name in French basketball, having not been seen in the national team since 2021.