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The Spokesman-Review, Spokane, Wash.
'Culture carriers' hope to lead Idaho men back to NCAA Tournament
- Story byThe Spokesman-Review, Spokane, Wash.
- 'Culture carriers' hope to lead Idaho men back to NCAA Tournament
Oct. 29—Alex Pribble became the University of Idaho head basketball coach in 2023 and brought with him a philosophy that how the team did things, even when it wasn't getting desired results, would eventually lead to success.
"Trust the process," he repeatedly said.
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Last March, Pribble's vision came to fruition. The Vandals, 21-15 in the regular season, stormed through the Big Sky Conference Tournament as a No. 7 seed and won the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
Now, a new group of Vandals, with a few key returners, will see if last season was a unique occurrence or if trusting the process will lead this version of Idaho to similar success.
In Kristian Gonzalez, 6-3 senior guard, Seth Joba, 6-9 senior forward, Miles Klapper, 6-3 senior guard and Will Jensen, 6-9, redshirt sophomore, "we have our culture carriers," Pribble says. "These four are enough to carry our culture forward."
The Vandals made major strides on defense and rebounding last year, according to Pribble. They should not only sustain those gains but continue to improve, he said.
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"We are bigger and stronger this year.
"Where we were at the end of last year is who we want this team to be, a physically dominant team," Pribble said.
Outrebounding Boise State in an October exhibition is a hopeful sign in that direction.
"Going into every game this year, we want to have a positive differential on the glass," Pribble says.
It all starts with Gonzalez. After leading Idaho with 18 points in the opening game against Washington State he missed the rest of the season with an ankle injury. But two years ago, he averaged 11.4 points per game and made 17 steals and blocked six shots. Gonzalez plays with headlong ferocity at both ends of the court. If teammates emulate it, Idaho has a formidable identity.
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This season "he's bigger and stronger," Pribble says.
Idaho's guard rotation will include Gonzalez, St. Thomas junior transfer Ryan Lafferty, 6-5, who starred in high school at Mt. Spokane, and Klapper.
"Lafferty and Klapper are the two biggest point guards in the league. These are two guys we can even post up at times," Pribble says.
"Ryan is also a fantastic leader. He just makes people around him better."
The Vandals have a dozen new players this season. Figuring out rotations and how to meet Pribble's high expectations might dominate the early and mid-season. But talent shouldn't be an issue.
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Kase Wynott, a 6-6 junior transfer from WSU, who set Idaho high school scoring records at Lapwai, will team with Gonzalez, Pribble predicts. Together, they "are a powerful weapon on the perimeter." As a shooter, Wynott "has earned the green light. He can really get hot," Pribble says.
Senior Diego Trejo-Delgado, 6-7, and junior Hudson Ward, 6-7, will be wearing Idaho uniforms for the first time. But they bring a ton of experience to the front court. Trejo-Delgado averaged 15.2 ppg and 6.9 rebounds per game for Division II St. Martins in the Saints' program-tying 26-game winning season last year.
Ward is well-traveled. Following a successful high school career at two high schools in western Canada, he appeared in eight games for Penn State as a freshman. He transferred to Western Michigan as a sophomore where he averaged 4.5 ppg and 3.4 rpg.
Joba, Jensen and junior Mo Diao, 6-9, who averaged 11.4 ppg and 7.3 rpg for McCook Community College in Nebraska last season, should give Idaho a presence in the paint. Pribble, in particular, points to Diao as a successor to 6-11 Brody Rowbury, who gave Idaho 7.7 ppg and 5.2 rpg and blocked 19 shots and made 13 steals in his lone season as a Vandal.
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Diao also played with junior transfer guard Brady Kennison, 6-1, two years ago at North Platte Community College.
Idaho is also building for the future with six freshmen: 6-7 TJ Wal, 6-3 Jalen Williams, 6-6 Nolan Newman-Gomez, 6-3 Zuby Toms, and a pair of new Vandals from Gonzaga Prep, 6-3 Ryan Carney and 6-4 Dylynn Groves.
