Oct. 7—It wouldn’t be Kraziness in the Kennel without at least some fretting over the health of a Gonzaga player as the season approaches.
Kraziness, the public’s first look at the Zags every October, is where Przemek Karnowski (back) and Josh Perkins (shoulder) passed their first tests in a scrimmage setting, but also when media and fans learned about Killian Tillie’s foot surgery and Dominick Harris’s pending foot surgery.
On a gorgeous fall afternoon Saturday, the Zags were without Wyoming transfer Graham Ike, who sat out last season with a stress reaction in his right foot, but head coach Mark Few didn’t sound overly concerned.
“We’re trying to pace the recovery,” Few said. “He practiced with us throughout parts of summer. He’s not quite a year out from the whole episode last year, so kind of pacing it along and going full when we can and then resting it.
“I think it’s in a good spot, but we’re just trying to be conscientious and conservative how we’re managing it.”
Ike, who averaged 19.5 points two years ago and is expected to replace Drew Timme in the starting lineup, appeared to be fine as he trotted down an aisle in the student section at a packed McCarthey Athletic Center when he was introduced to the crowd.
Ike sat courtside as the Zags put on an entertaining show during a skills competition, 3-point-shooting contest and 20-minute scrimmage.
The White team blended familiar faces and new ones to pull away 52-38 over the Blue. Minus Ike and with only 11 scholarship players, the three subs available were all walk-ons. The starting units didn’t get many breathers. Still, it was fairly clean on the court — 13 combined assists, six turnovers and both teams shot above 50% inside the arc. The White squad connected on 6 of 13 3-pointers.
“Some bright spots out there,” Few said. “For the first time going up and down for a long period of time, we took good care of the ball and played with some good pace.
“Obviously, there’s lot of stuff we still have to clean up, but some of the younger guys represented themselves pretty well and some of the vets had good days as well.”
Anton Watson hit a pair of 3-pointers and scored 13 points, Nolan Hickman added two 3s and 10 points, and Ben Gregg had eight points and six boards for the winning team. Freshman Luka Krajnović, a 6-foot-5 guard from Croatia, chipped in 11 points on 4-of-5 shooting. He created shots for himself and teammates off the dribble and added a couple of nice cuts to the basket.
“Everyone on this team fits well together, on and off the court, really,” Watson said. “Our team chemistry has just been crazy and it started at the beginning of summer. I’m super excited to see how far this team can go and just the progress we’ll make.”
Redshirt freshman Braden Huff, a 6-10 forward with a smooth left-handed shooting stroke, led all scorers with 19 points for the Blue. Forward Pavle Stosic, a native of Serbia who signed with the team in late September, added seven points and five rebounds. Point guard Ryan Nembhard led all players with four assists.
“They’ve all put a lot of time in,” Few said of Watson’s and Hickman’s perimeter shooting. “What we didn’t get to see just to balance the teams out, Nolan and Ryan have been playing really well together. Ryan playing next to Nolan has helped kind of free up Nolan up to score a little bit and hunt shots. He’s way more comfortable out there.”
Krajnović came out on top in the skills challenge (slalom dribbling between cones, throwing a pass through a hula hoop, dribbling the length of the floor and making a layup and free throw. He defeated Nembhard in the first round while freshman wing Dusty Stromer advanced against Watson.
Krajnović completed the skills course in 13 seconds to beat Stromer in the final.
“It’s an unbelievable experience,” Stromer said of participating in Kraziness in the Kennel after taking it in during a recruiting visit last October. “Obviously, there’s no place like the Kennel. Just to get out here and play for the first time, it was really fun.”
Hickman captured the 3-point contest. The junior guard and Eastern Washington transfer Steele Venters tied in the opening round, but Hickman won an extra session 11-8 (each player had 25 attempts) to advance. Huff edged Gregg 13-11 before finishing in a tie with Hickman in the final.
Hickman drained 14 3-pointers to win the tiebreaker versus Huff.
