Story by
Lewiston Tribune, Idaho
North Idaho-raised Vandals highlight local connections to March Madness
- Story byLewiston Tribune, Idaho
- North Idaho-raised Vandals highlight local connections to March Madness
Mar. 18—Lapwai's Titus Yearout and Clarkston's Reese de Groot spent their high school years patrolling the hardwoods of north Idaho and eastern Washington.
Now, they each have a front row seat to two of the best stories of March Madness as members of the tourney-bound Idaho Vandals.
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For the first time in school history, the Idaho men's and women's basketball programs are playing in the NCAA Tournament in the same season.
The 15th-seeded Vandal men play second-seeded Houston at 7:10 p.m. Pacific (TRUTV) on Thursday in Oklahoma City.
The next day and 30 minutes down the road, the 13th-seeded Idaho women play at No. 4 Oklahoma at 7 p.m. Pacific on Friday (ESPN) in Norman, Okla.
Neither local prep alum will see the floor for their respective Vandal basketball squad — Yearout, a junior guard, is recovering from offseason surgery on his right hip labrum and de Groot, a freshman forward, is redshirting.
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For de Groot, who played at Lewiston High School before transferring to Clarkston, the chance to be a part of a high-level college basketball program 30 minutes from her home means a lot.
"I never thought that I would get an opportunity like this," de Groot said during the Vandals' Selection Sunday event in Moscow. "Even as a redshirt, it'll still be so much fun to support our team and what we've built, and it's great to see the process of going from the beginning of the season and now we're going to March Madness to end it. That's insane."
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Yearout, the 2021-22 Idaho Gatorade Player of the Year and a back-to-back state champion in 2021 and '22, was already on the roster when coach Alex Pribble got to Moscow, but he was exactly the kind of player that Idaho's new hoops coach was looking to recruit: the best basketball players in the state.
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Pribble's March Madness-bound roster has six student-athletes from Idaho, including Lapwai's Yearout, Lake City's Kolton Mitchell (Coeur d'Alene), Meridian's Brody Rowbury and Talon Jenkins and Owyhee's Jack Payne (Boise) and Jackson Rasmussen (also from Meridian).
"From the moment I got here, this is where we wanted to be and who we wanted to be," Pribble said in ICCU Arena during Idaho's Selection Sunday watch party. "We are the best version of ourselves and we are trying to represent this university, community and state the best way we can."
Local men's basketball connections
Seamus Wilson, Queens (N.C.), Logos — Wilson is redshirting this season after a four-year prep career at Logos of Moscow, where he participated in football and track in addition to basketball.
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Wilson was a three-time all-conference and two-time all-state selection in basketball and holds the Logos records in points, steals and assists.
No. 15 Queens will play second-seeded Purdue at 4:35 p.m. Friday on TRUTV.
Blake Buchanan, Iowa State, Moscow — The son of Debbie Buchanan, a former Idaho head volleyball coach of 27 years, and Buck Buchanan, a former Vandal tight end, spent one year playing for the Moscow Bears before transferring to Lake City (Coeur d'Alene), winning a state championship and claiming Gatorade Player of the Year honors.
At Iowa State, he has averaged 8.4 points and 5.4 rebounds per game this year.
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Buchanan is the second local connection to play center for the high-flying Cyclones in as many seasons. Brandton Chatfield (Orofino/Clarkston/Washington State) averaged 3.8 points and 3.1 rebounds for ISU last year as a senior.
The second-seeded Cyclones play No. 15 Tennessee State at 11:50 a.m. Friday on CBS.
Local women's basketball connections
Brynn McGaughy, Washington, Colfax — McGaughy spent the first three years of her high school career with the Colfax Bulldogs, going undefeated once, winning a state title and earning Washington's 2B Player of the Year honors in the process.
She transferred to Central Valley High School in Spokane for her senior season, where she won another state title, had another undefeated season and earned Washington Gatorade Player of the Year honors.
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With offers from some of the finest college basketball programs in the nation, McGaughy elected to stay close to home.
The five-star prospect committed to Washington, where she has posted 9.0 points and 4.4 rebounds per game and shot 47% from the floor as a freshman forward.
The sixth-seeded Huskies play the 11th-seeded South Dakota State Jackrabbits at 11:30 a.m. Friday on ESPN.
Avery Howell, Washington, Boise — Howell, who is from Boise but has family connections to Lewiston, transferred to UW after a solid freshman season and Elite Eight run with USC.
Her mother, Rosie Howell (formerly Rosie Albert), remains Lewis-Clark State women's basketball's all-time leading scorer. Avery's father, Brian, and brother, Cooper, also attended LCSC.
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"She's obviously surpassed my level, which is wonderful," Rosie Howell said of her daughter, Avery Howell, in a March 2025 conversation with the Tribune when Avery was readying for her first March Madness run. "It's been really exciting to see and follow. It's been a little surreal."
At UW, Howell has averaged 13.7 points per game while shooting a sizzling 50.5% from the floor and 41.9% from beyond the arc.
Former Cougs find dancing shoes
Two years ago, Washington State's Charlisse Leger-Walker was at the top of her game.
With 17 points to her name through 19 minutes on Jan. 28, 2024, Leger-Walker was leading the Cougars to a potential upset of No. 2 UCLA when she tore her ACL.
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WSU held on to beat the Bruins 85-82, but Leger-Walker, a program legend, had played her final game in the crimson and gray.
The place where her Cougar career ended would be where she wrote her next chapter.
Leger-Walker said that she always intended to play four years at WSU, where she helped lead the Cougs to three straight NCAA Tournaments in 2020-23.
With her degree in hand and a long road of recovery ahead of her, she transferred to UCLA, sitting out last season as she got back into playing shape.
"The biggest thing I learned is you have the ability to control how you perceive things," Leger-Walker said in a Daily Bruin article. "When I reflect on my journey, it could have been so easy for me to kind of feel sorry for myself the whole time or be like, 'This is it. This is the end of my career. I'm never going to be the same again.'"
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After making three NCAA Tournament first-round exits with WSU, she figures to be vital to the top-seeded Bruins' championship pursuit.
The former Coug is averaging 14.8 points, 5.2 rebounds and 4.1 assists per game.
UCLA hosts 16th-seeded Cal Baptist at 7 p.m. Saturday (ESPN) at Pauley Pavilion in Los Angeles.
Two of Leger-Walker's former teammates, guards Kyra Gardner (Idaho) and Astera Tuhina (Oregon), will also play in March Madness.
Reigning national champion Rueben Chinyelu (Florida), senior Oscar Cluff (Purdue) and junior Dylan Darling (St. John's) were a part of the Cougar men's last March Madness run two years ago. Now, they are back in the Big Dance.
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Junior forward LeJuan Watts (Texas Tech) is also in the tournament after playing for WSU coach David Riley last year.
In 1994, Kelvin Sampson capped his seven-season tenure as head coach of Washington State by taking the Cougars back to the NCAA Tournament. Sampson is making his 21st March Madness appearance after leading the Houston Cougars to the championship game last year, which they lost to Florida.
With a potential rematch with Florida on the docket, Sampson said he is focused on the Vandals.
"You have to earn your way into this tournament. Whoever you play, whatever seed they are, you start with respect," Sampson said in a recent news conference. "We respect Idaho. To win four games in five days in the Big Sky tournament, you have to be tough."
Taylor can be reached at 208-848-2260, staylor@lmtribune.com , or on X or Instagram @Sam_C_Taylor.
