Excitement Exudes as 2025 Kraziness in the Kennel Kicks off Gonzaga’s Basketball Season
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Graham Ike puts up a floater over Ismaila Diagne at 2025 Kraziness in the Kennel on October 4, 2025. Credit: Gonzaga Athletics/Instagram [/caption]
The incoming fall weather during the final week of September and the first week of October brings basketball festivities back to campus. For universities across America, their respective basketball programs host some type of fan engagement event or pep rally adjacent to get the students, local fans, and worldwide supporters excited for the return of hoops to courts, and there is few better than Gonzaga’s version, Kraziness in the Kennel.
As usual, the Zags hosted a three-point contest and a Navy-vs-White intrasquad scrimmage amidst other showcases to introduce the 2025-26 squad to the world. Here are some takeaways from the first look at the Bulldogs’ men’s basketball team this season:
Steele Venters’ Capability of Stretching the Floor With Size
Although he’s been on the roster for the last two years, 2025-26 is primed to be the first time Steele Venters finally suits up for Gonzaga. The 6-7 guard suffered ACL and Achilles tears before the last two seasons commenced, but the sharpshooter looked plenty healthy during Kraziness in the Kennel. Along with taking place in the scrimmage, Venters also competed in the three-point competition, as the day consisted of the graduate student consistently lighting it up from downtown.
The setup was four balls at five racks on the perimeter, including a money ball at the end of each rack. Venters competed with Adam Miller, Mario Saint-Supéry, and Braden Huff. It was no surprise that the two projected best shooters, Venters and Miller, were the two to move on to the final round after Venters posted a score of 21 and Miller wasn’t too far behind at 18.
In the face-off between the two, Venters scored 19 to best Miller’s 17, energizing a crowd that was happy to see him on the court in a Zags uniform. During the scrimmage, he kept his hot hand going, knocking down three of his four attempts from long range to put up nine points for the white jerseys. Venters did it in a variety of ways as well, including in transition and off-the-dribble.
Interviewed by emcee Sean Farnham after his win, Venters spoke on what being back on the floor meant to him.
“It feels amazing to be back in the place with the fans, just being able to compete again,” he said. “It’s been a heck of a grind the last two years, and it’s just been a blessing to get where I am. To come out and do what I did feels very good.”
His head coach, Mark Few, shared the sentiment.
“Gosh, I mean, everybody is rooting for him. It was just heartbreaking the last two years, but he’s handled it so well and worked himself back into great shape. He looked tonight basically like he looked all summer and fall.
Venters said his dad approached him crying after the scrimmage, as the 24-year-old has had a long journey back to raining down threes.
Tyon Grant-Foster Cleared to Practice (and Scrimmage) as He Awaits Waiver Approval
When Tyon Grant-Foster committed to transferring to Gonzaga back at the end of May, no one could have predicted that the 6-7 forward would still not be officially approved to play in games for the Zags as of Oct. 5. But here we are over four months later with the 25-year-old still waiting approval for his final year of eligibility. Many will gawk at the GCU transfer’s age being at the quarter-century mark, but with Grant-Foster having two seasons wiped out due to injury along with his first season being played at the JUCO level, he shouldn’t be denied from getting into games for Gonzaga, especially considering other players with similar if not more lengthy track records who have gotten the green light on their waiver requests.
On October 1, the NCAA granted Grant-Foster a practice waiver while it is still in the process of reviewing his waiver for competitive eligibility. It opened the door for him to partake in the fun at Kraziness in the Kennel and get acclimated to the environment. He didn’t have a showing to write home about, shooting 0-for-4 from the field with two assists while committing three fouls, but it was a valuable step for Grant-Foster to get game-like action with his teammates, as there is now less than a month until the season’s first official game.
Few said the team wasn’t planning to play Grant-Foster, considering he’s only participated in two practices to this point, but he wanted to be out there. The situation is difficult for everyone involved, but the Zags’ head coach knows he doesn’t have much control over it.
“Obviously, the timing (of the waiver process) is super frustrating, but it’s just kind of the way it goes with those things. They have their own pace about them.”
For Graham Ike, it’s been amazing to add Grant-Foster to the squad and get him acclimated to Spokane.
“It feels great to have Tyon back, or really here. He adds a piece of our team that we needed, and he brings a great energy, great effort,” Ike said. “…He’s been smiling from ear to ear since he’s been here, man, and we just try to bring him on, slowly but surely. Rome wasn’t built in a day, but it was built so, we’re building with him.”
Other Shining Moments From the Scrimmage
As teased in the three-point contest and potentially lost in Venters’ big day, Adam Miller also showed why he was brought in from Arizona State. The lefty can straight up shoot, and aside from his second-place finish in the first competition, Miller put up 13 points in the scrimmage on 3-of-6 shooting from three, coupled with three boards and an assist. There will be questions on where else in Few’s rotations that more trey balls can be activated, after a season where it was a strong weakness for the program, but Venters and Miller can certainly make up the majority of that shot diet.
One of, if not the best, frontcourt duos was back in action in Ike and Braden Huff. Both dressed in white uniforms, we saw the two bigs work smoothly together like they have for the previous two seasons. Huff dropped 17 points on 8-for-13 shooting with six rebounds while Ike scored eight points on 3-of-9 shooting, grabbed 10 boards, and dished out three assists. As usual, they fed off each other and got to their spots with ease and looked about ready for the regular season to start.
One freshman got especially increased hype in recent months due to his showing in EuroBasket, but Mario Saint-Supéry wasn’t the only first-year Zag to be intrigued by on Saturday. Davis Fogle is Gonzaga’s highest-ranked recruit since Nolan Hickman, and in 16 minutes, he played above his skis of what you would expect from a freshman. Fogle put up seven points on 3-of-5 shooting with a couple of rebounds and an assist, as he was active on the floor and his 6-7 frame slots him into a group of wing players that all offer different skill sets.
Saint-Supéry got the run at point guard for the white jerseys with Braeden Smith on the other side. There was a mix of good and bad, as he showed experienced poise with the ball in his hands that he flashed overseas, but also some rushed turnovers (he had a scrimmage-leading five) when he perhaps got too comfortable. He will likely see a lot of time off-ball with Smith being written into the primary ball-handler role in pen, but growing that part of his game will be imperative as the season continues.
Speaking of Smith, he racked up five assists in 17 minutes as his navy-uniformed teammates played fast on offense, wanting to operate in transition, which is an environment that Smith wants to play in. He scored just four points, but putting the ball in the basket is obviously put on the back burner for a point guard in a Mark Few offense. The wrinkles and transition from Ryan Nembhard to Smith will continue to be interesting to watch this season.
Injury Notes
In the final minute of the scrimmage, Emmanuel Innocenti was seen favoring his left hip or back and went back to the locker room before the game ended. Few didn’t provide any updates on the premier defender after the events, as Innocenti was still being evaluated.
