Emmanuel Innocenti’s electrifying Gonzaga debut

The Tarleton State transfer showed up big at Kraziness in the Kennel. Could Gonzaga’s defensive specialist see more action than we anticipated this year?

Kraziness in the Kennel was once again full of surprises. Some of these surprises were unrelated to basketball, such as Corey Kispert’s new mustache or emcee Sean Farnham’s whole… vibe. Others, like poor outside shooting from both teams or Ismail Diagne’s struggles with ball control, may not warrant too much concern as of yet. However, some surprises were deeply energizing and exciting—none more so than the electric play of Emmanuel Innocenti. Among the positive takeaways from Kraziness in the Kennel, Innocenti’s hustle, skill, and confidence stood out the most.

He finished the scrimmage with 7 points on 3-of-7 shooting and grabbed 4 rebounds in 15 minutes of action. Like his teammates, he struggled from beyond the arc, going 1-for-5, but the 3-pointer he did make was a literal game-winner—and a well-defended one at that. He stepped up when his team needed him and emerged as the unsuspecting hero of the underdog White squad.

Innocenti’s bona fides were well documented before arriving at Gonzaga. In his freshman season at Tarleton State, he averaged 32 minutes per game for the Texans, earned All-WAC defensive honors, and was named to the All-WAC freshman team. He shot 41% from the field and averaged 6.4 rebounds, 2.9 assists, and 1.7 steals per game. In all the excitement of this off-season, Innocenti’s value may have been overshadowed by the arrivals of other high profile recruits.

Much like in the Kraziness scrimmage, Innocenti was all hustle last season—jumping passing lanes, attacking off the dribble in transition, diving for loose balls, and being a lockdown stopper on the perimeter. I suppose none of this should be surprising for a player who started playing semi-professionally in Italy at the tender age of 15, but it’s always difficult to calibrate expectations for younger international prospects. Innocenti has spent his whole basketball career playing up to the level of his competition, and Gonzaga offers a place to thrive for just such players.

Based solely on the eye test, Innocenti calls to mind another much beloved young international prospect: Joel Ayayi. Like Ayayi, Innocenti has a preternatural ability to fly in out of nowhere and snag rebounds and 50/50 balls. He’s rangy, athletic, and moves well without off the ball, always looking to keep the offense in motion. Defensively, he possesses a Hunter Sallis-like ability to bottle up opponents on the perimeter and pick the pockets of unsuspecting ball handlers—something the Zags sorely lacked last season and could benefit from this year in the absence of Anton Watson.

Unfortunately, there is one major roadblock for Innocenti: available minutes. It’s well-known that Coach Few runs an extremely tight rotation, and playing time outside of his starting 5 often diminishes towards the end of the season. By way of example, in the final 8 games of the regular season last year, Braden Huff, the 7th man in the rotation, averaged only 8.6 minutes per game. To make matters worse for Innocenti, this year’s team is one of the deepest and most skilled that Few has ever assembled, and while he could comfortably play 10 players a game, it’s unlikely he’ll go much deeper than 8.

During Kraziness in the Kennel, Innocenti looked like one of the most skilled, aggressive, and confident players on the roster, and Coach Few tends to reward hustle when he sees it. It’s easy to envision a scenario where Innocenti earns minutes off the bench as a defensive stopper who can push the pace and fight hard for rebounds. Regardless, whenever Innocenti does see the floor, he’ll be a major spark for the Bulldogs.

My highest hope is that Innocenti can have a season similar to Rui Hachimura’s in 2016. As a freshman, Rui averaged just 5.2 minutes per game, yet it felt like he did something jaw-droppingly athletic and exciting in every appearance. Rui always left fans clamoring for more and Innocenti has the potential to do exactly the same this season.