Dustin Triano leaves Flow Island

Gonzaga fans may have a hard time recognizing Dustin Triano at the start of the season, as the bench stalwart cut off his flowing locks following last year’s campaign. Let’s take a moment of silence for his shorn locks . . . Hopefully, the loss of his hair doesn’t mean a loss of his powers a la Samson.

Triano logged the most minutes (55) amongst the walk on trio of Rem Bakamus and Jack Beach in 2015-16 (Jeremy Jones is also a walk on but took a redshirt last year). He made the most of his time on the court by sinking 6 of 12 three-point attempts which was good for the best mark on the team. Sorry Kyle Wiltjer, but our fictitious marksman award would have gone to Triano because small sample sizes are fun and 50% is 50%.

In a demonstration that his shooting prowess is legitimate, Triano pushed Jordan Mathews to the limit in the team’s three-point shooting contest during Kraziness in the Kennel. While I’m not suggesting that this should lead to an expanded role for Triano, he’s earned some recognition for being one of the best shooters on the team.

Looking beyond the numbers, because numbers are really not the point when we examine our heroes at the end of the bench, Triano and crew brought the juice to each and every game. Good team chemistry is an elusive vixen, and while there’s no tried and true formula, guys like Triano are more valuable to the make-up of a team than a box score could ever indicate.

Triano knows his role on the team is to bring maximum effort to every practice, shootaround, and game knowing he probably won’t play much, if at all. He’ll help other players work on their individual games, moonlight as an opponent in a scout team role, keeping things loose in the locker room and on the road, and making nachos for his teammates.

There are lots of questions floating around about how Mark Few will incorporate all the newcomers and utilize all the new pieces at the top of the depth chart, but I have question(s) too about what’s happening with our walk ons heading into the season. Namely, will Triano’s decision to cut his hair and leave Rem Bakamus by himself on Flow Island come back to haunt him? Are they still best friends? Did Triano cut his hair to look more like another famous No. 55, white chocolate Jason Williams? These are the burning questions that need answers with the start of the season just around the corner.