Gonzaga Basketball: Tarleton transfer Emmanuel Innocenti adds to loaded frontcourt
Emmanuel Innocenti played a key piece in Tarleton's successful season. Now, he looks to be part of a potential Final Four run for Gonzaga Basketball.
After landing former Arkansas scoring guard Khalif Battle, Gonzaga Basketball has landed another transfer from the portal. Emmanuel Innocenti is a 6'5 forward from Italy, who started 33 games as a freshman at Tarleton State. At first glance, his main stats don't say much, averaging 6.6 ppg and 6.4 rpg on 41% shooting from the field and 31% from deep on limited attempts.
However, Innocenti was an outstanding all-around contributor for a team that won 25 overall games and finished second in the WAC last season. He led the team with 2.9 apg, including eight assists in a game at LMU. He also had double-digit rebounding games and had a season-high 19 points vs UT-Arlington.
Add all-defensive honors in the WAC and you have an athlete with high promise down the road. With three years of eligibility left Innocenti, is a quality pickup for Gonzaga, who is set to lose a ton of talent after next season.
That asks the question what will Innocenti's role be? With the additions of Battle and Michael Ajayi, plus Ben Gregg returning and Steele Venters coming back from injury, the frontcourt is filled already. However, it's not a guarantee that Ajayi, the 6'7 transfer from Pepperdine, even comes to campus. He's been an early standout in the NBA Draft combine and could very well stay in the draft process. If that were to happen, look for Innocenti to take some of what would've been his minutes.
Otherwise, the freshman forward could be a redshirt candidate since most of the forwards are entering their last seasons. The Bulldogs have a past history of being a great place for players to sit-out and redshirt before taking over the following year. That could wind up being the plan for Innocenti.
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Gonzaga Basketball has one last roster spot and they're reportedly looking at Colgate transfer guard Braeden Smith to round it out. If that happens, their offseason will be done and will be a preseason national title contender in 2025.