Sep. 17—MOSCOW, Idaho — Coming off a magical March when both the Idaho basketball teams made the NCAA Tournament, men's head coach Alex Pribble and women's head coach Arthur Moreira dropped by the weekly Vandals news conference earlier this week to report on how they plan to keep the roll going in 2026-27.
The men and women — who also won the Big Sky Conference regular-season title — got to play first-round NCAA Tournament games within 30 minutes of each other at Oklahoma City and the University of Oklahoma, respectively, so it's natural that both coaches would be eager to talk about their upcoming seasons.
The men open at Boise State for the second year in a row, facing the Broncos in an exhibition on Oct. 10 at Idaho Central Arena in Boise. Last year, the Vandals took BSU to the wire before falling 89-83. But Pribble said the game played huge dividends for his team, giving them a chance to play on the same court that the Big Sky Conference holds its postseason tournament.
The Vandals expect to reap those benefits again. In addition, Idaho, which hopes to be a dominant rebounding team this season, can test itself against a Broncos team that is traditionally tough on the offensive boards, Pribble said. UI opens the season at home against George Fox on Nov. 2.
The Idaho women will open with an exhibition at Utah on Oct. 18 and will host St. Martin's on Nov. 2 to open the regular season.
Washington State will be on the schedule for both the men and women this year — Nov. 27 for the men and Nov. 9 for the women. Both games will be played in Pullman. Pribble said it is important to refresh traditional rivalries against WSU and BSU. Moreira was also able to get Gonzaga on Idaho's schedule. The Vandals will play the Bulldogs on Nov. 6 in Spokane.
"They were very open to it," Moreira said of the Gonzaga game. "Out of conference games have got to mean something for them."
Idaho's Big Sky championship and NCAA bid last year checks the box of giving Gonzaga a tougher nonconference schedule.
Both Pribble and Moreira are confident about the teams they will be leading this season. The men, with only four returning players, have been fundamentally rebuilt. Senior guard Kristian Gonzalez has recovered from the foot injury that cost him most of last season, and senior guard Miles Klapper and forward Seth Joba have made big strides in the offseason. Sophomore forward Will Jenson redshirted last year.
The Vandals this year, though, will count on newcomers like Kase Wynott, a WSU transfer who played at Lapwai High School, and Ryan Lafferty, a junior transfer guard from St. Thomas after starring at Mt. Spokane High School. They could give the Vandals one of the toughest backcourts to defend in the Big Sky.
Wynott, a 6-4 guard, was primarily used as a spot-up shooter for the Cougars.
"He will continue to shoot. But he will do more for us," Pribble said, adding that Wynott can take defenders off the dribble, play in the post and rebound.
"He is exactly who we want Kase to be," Pribble said. "He has something to prove. He needs an opportunity to get some miles on his wheels."
Lafferty, 6-5, gives Idaho great backcourt size. The two of them should allow the Vandals to post up guards.
"It gives you a lot more options," Pribble said. "We can invert the offense and bring big men away from the rim."
The Vandals also expect big contributions from Diego Trejo-Delgado, 6-7, a senior transfer from St. Martin's with a ton of experience, as well as four freshmen — 6-3 Jalen Williams, 6-7 T.J. Wal, 6-6 Nolan Newman-Gomez and 6-4 Dylynn Groves from Gonzaga Prep.
The Idaho women won a school-record 29 games a season ago, but Moreira says this year could be even better. He said he's challenged this year's squad "to make sure last year's team doesn't make it to the Hall of Fame," rather build sustained success.
"This group is a little tougher than last year's group in terms of physicality," he said.
The Vandals should benefit tremendously from the return of Hope Hassmann. The 5-8 senior averaged 14.2 points per game last year. Moreira also expects Idaho to be strong in the paint with Sacramento State senior transfer Keanna Salave'a.
"She gave us a hard time," when the Vandals played the Hornets last year, he said.
Moreira added the preseason practices have been so physical, "that I'm actually thinking about not playing against each other anymore. Just go against our practice guys."
The women have been playing tough enough against their men practice players that Moreira said he is looking for volunteers to bolster that group.
