Zach Collins

High school career

Zach Collins played high school basketball at Bishop Gorman High School, in Las Vegas, Nevada, where he helped to lead his school to four consecutive state championships. For his first 3 seasons at Bishop Gorman, Collins came off the bench and played alongside fellow 7-footers and McDonald's All-Americans Stephen Zimmerman and Chase Jeter.

Zach Collins made the most of his senior year, averaging 17.3 points, 14 rebounds, 3.1 assists, and 6.4 blocked shots on his way to the most valuable player of Nevada's Southwest League and the Nevada Gatorade Player of the Year award. Collins also broke Nevada's single-season record for most rebounds and blocked shots during his senior season.

In the summer of 2015, Zach Collins competed in the FIBA 3x3 Under-18 World Championships, where he teamed up with Jalek Felton, Peyton Pritchard, and P.J. Washington and won the USA tournament. His team moved on to represent the USA at the 2015 World Championship in Debrecen, Hungary, where they finished in eighth place. His team advanced to the final 16 where they defeated Poland, but then lost a close game to France, featuring fellow Gonzaga commit Killian Tillie, in the quarter-finals.

Despite only being rated as a 4-star prospect, Collins was named to the 2016 McDonald's All-American Game. Collins was the first McDonald's All-American to commit to Gonzaga out of high school, but three other McDonald's All-American transferred to Gonzaga after attending other colleges: Micah Downs, Kyle Wiltjer, and Nigel Williams-Goss. Collins helped to lead the West squad to a 114-107 win in the while scoring 9 points, along with 6 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 steals on 3-for-5 fields goals and 1-for-2 3-pointers in 12 minutes of play.

Recruiting

In the winter of 2015, during Collins' junior year in high school, he took official visits to California, San Diego State, Utah, New Mexico, and Gonzaga, as well as unofficial visits to UNLV. After his junior year, in March 2015, Collins committed to Gonzaga. He signed with the Zags in the early signing period as a key member of Gonzaga's highest-ranked recruiting class in school history.

College career

As a freshman at Gonzaga, Collins usually played off the bench as a center, working in rotation - and occasionally in tandem - with fifth-year senior center Przemek Karnowski. In his 2016-2017 season, Collins has averaged 10 points, 5.9 rebounds, and 1.7 blocks over 17.3 minutes of playing time per game. He scored 14 points, collected 13 rebounds, and made six blocks in the national semifinal game against the South Carolina Gamecocks, during the 2017 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament.

NBA draft

Collins has been projected by numerous NBA scouts and executives as at least a top-20 or top-15 pick in the 2017 NBA Draft.

Honors and awards