INDIANAPOLIS — Joel Ayayi, a junior guard from Bordeaux, France, with a sly grin and a silky jumper, fancies himself as l’enfant terrible of the Gonzaga men’s basketball team.
On a powerhouse squad where everyone knows his role — Corey Kispert is the deadeye shooter, Jalen Suggs the whirling dervish and Drew Timme the mustachioed wizard in the post — Ayayi rides along as the merry prankster.
He might knock on a hotel door and bolt down the hallway. He might tap a teammate on the right shoulder when he’s standing to his left, or jump out from behind a door to startle someone.