When Ryan Turcott first approached Gonzaga University officials about an idea to partner with an Italian basketball team, Turcott, the school’s MA Sports Administration Program director, said they looked at him like he was talking nonsense.

But on Wednesday night, Italian youth athletes and their coaches from Pistoia Basket 2000 and DLF Udine Basket landed in Spokane. By Thursday afternoon, the six boys and three girls were warming up in the Trinity Catholic School gym in preparation for Hoopfest.