‘Couldn’t be better.’ With family visiting from Croatia, Gonzaga’s Luka Krajnovic stands out at Kraziness

Ten days ago, on somewhat of a whim, Luka Krajnovic’s mother and younger sister purchased two airplane tickets to Spokane from their hometown of Zagreb, Croatia.

It didn’t take much convincing after the family pulled up YouTube highlights from last year’s Kraziness in the Kennel showcase.

The dancing, chanting, traditions, packed-out arena. No way they could miss out.

“In a day, it all happened so fast and everything was planned out,” said Lara Krajnovic, the sister of Gonzaga’s freshman guard. “Like, we’re going to America.”

“Almost last minute,” said Luka’s mother, Andrijana.

A long trek from the capital city of Croatia – the first time either had traveled to the United States – was worthwhile, and for a multitude of reasons.

The atmosphere, crowd and energy were better than they’d imagined. Krajnovic’s first public appearance in a Gonzaga uniform was, too.

A midsummer addition for Mark Few’s program, Krajnovic, a 6-foot-5, 185-pound combo guard from Zagreb, opened the afternoon with a victory in the skills challenge.

The skills course required players to weave through a series of cones while keeping their dribble and throw a chest-pass through a hula hoop before racing back down the court for a layup and free throw.

Krajnovic maneuvered through the course quicker than Creighton point guard transfer Ryan Nembhard to earn a spot in the final against Dusty Stromer, who couldn’t beat his freshman counterpart to the free-throw line.

Krajnovic’s family members, wearing bright red Croatian national team jerseys with Luka’s name printed on the back, tag-teamed the afternoon, with dual iPhones rolling from the fourth row behind Gonzaga’s bench.

Lara documented everything, taking dozens of photos and videos, along with the memories the duo captured throughout the day.

Rather than continue to send videos back home to Luka’s father, they decided it would be easier to patch him in. Andrijana made the long-distance call to her husband and provided a live FaceTime stream for well over an hour, giving him glimpses of the player introductions, skills challenge, 3-point contest and Blue vs. White scrimmage.

It was about 4 p.m. in Spokane, and 2 a.m. in Zagreb, when the 20-minute scrimmage started.

One of four Zags to play all 20 minutes, Krajnovic was a breakout performer, playing a key role in a 52-38 victory for the White team that also included Anton Watson, Ben Gregg, Jun Seok Yeo, Nolan Hickman and Colby Brooks.

Krajnovic was the game’s second-leading scorer with 11 points, only trailing the 19 scored by Braden Huff, as he made 4 of 5 shots from the field and 3 of 4 from the free -throw line. He also had two rebounds, one assist, one turnover and two fouls.

“Luka had a nice day and he’s struggled a little bit this last week in practice,” Gonzaga coach Mark Few said. “He had a nice day when the lights came on, so that’s always a good thing.”

The freshman guard joined the Zags late, committing on Aug. 15. But given the team’s razor-thin backcourt depth after losing Hunter Sallis and Dominick Harris to the transfer portal, it’s conceivable that he could carve out a role in the rotation behind Nembhard and Hickman.

Saturday’s shortened scrimmage solidified why.

“I think he’s playing good, just the way he has the feel of cutting and passing,” Watson said of Krajnovic, who averaged 17.6 points per game while playing for Bosco of the Croatian Premier League last season. “Everything he does as a guard, you can tell that European pro ball and just how they play. He brings it over here, but also he’s adjusting to how we play. I kind of was expecting him to do that.”

Krajnovic’s family members offered an evaluation of his Kraziness debut 30 minutes after festivities concluded at the Kennel.

“(It) couldn’t be better than this,” Andrijana said. “It’s exciting.”

“He was very nervous,” Lara said. “They didn’t really know what the skills challenge was. You could see in the beginning. They were looking at each other, ‘Where do I go, what do I do?’

“I was taking a video of everything, my hands were shaking and you could see it in his face he was really excited he won. The game, obviously, I think he really showed what he could do. It couldn’t be better.”

On an extended FaceTime call more than 5,000 miles away, his father maintained a wide grin.

“You could see on his face, he was so proud and so excited,” Lara said.