SPOKANE, Wash. — The Spokane faithful got their first look at the Gonzaga men's basketball team Saturday in the annual Numerica Kraziness in the Kennel event.
The event began with the players lining up in the student section and dancing along with the Kennel Club to "Pepas" and "Zombie Nation" among other popular songs.
Junior forward Jun Seok Yeo and redshirt junior guard Joe Few received huge ovations from the crowd upon their introductions.
There was also a guest master of ceremonies in ESPN analyst Sean Farnham.
Head coach Mark Few was visibly emotional when he was shown a video which included shoutouts from USA men's basketball gold medalists, Kevin Durant and Bam Adebayo and his fellow USA assistant coaches, Ty Lue and Erik Spoelstra as well as USA basketball director Grant Hill.
He was then gifted a ball signed by the entire gold medal winning team by his wife Marci and sons Joe, Colt and AJ.
The first competition of the event was the three point contest and after accounting for 16 points in the first round, Dusty Stromer would defeat Nolan Hickman in the final round by going off for 17 points.
Then, the annual blue-white scrimmage got underway with an unsually high level of competitiveness and intensity.
Once again, Dusty Stromer led the way with 11 points to lead the blue team. Ben Gregg had 10 points for the white team, but left the scrimmage late after hyperextending his elbow. (Gregg emphasized that he is okay, postgame.)
The scrimmage came down to the final possession with 17 seconds left. White team head coach Stephen Gentry drew up a game winning three point attempt for newcomer Emmanuel Innocenti, which he stepped up and drilled to give the white team a 36-34 victory.
"Stephen Gentry wants to win just as much as we do and he drew up that play and we ran it to perfection. Emmanuel stepped up and made a big time shot," Gonzaga senior forward Ben Gregg said.
When the dust settled, there were 16 total fouls and Gregg was hurt diving for a loose ball in an intense scrimmage which is clearly indicative of every team practice.
"That is exactly how all of our practices have been since day one, even in the summertime. Just that competitiveness, both teams want to win, obviously and if you have to put your body on the line to win, that's what we are going to do. This summer and preseason we have been going super hard at each other and competing for spots and trying to get better every day," Gregg said.
"Coach Few always emphasizes being the toughest team on the court, especially on defense. We want to hit bodies everywhere and grab the boards and run. That's our goal," Gonzaga senior wing Michael Ajayi said.
Coach Few concurred with what his veteran players expressed.
"Practice has been very intense and very physical. For the first week or so we were pretty much doing nothing but defense. I think the guys got the message there and they have been good and really, really getting after each other," Few said.
The depth of the Gonzaga roster this season was also evident as both the white and blue teams included rotation players.
"It's ridiculous, man. Walking into practice every day and seeing that you have to go up against these dudes, I almost feel like the practices are harder than the games. It has been grueling, but it has been a lot of fun, super competitive and I think it is really going to help us for this really difficult nonconference schedule," Gregg said.
The Zags open the 2024-2025 season with an exhibition game against Warner Pacific on October 30.
