It’s no secret that Vandal basketball has struggled to string together victories consistently for a handful of years. Going into head coach Alex Pribble’s second year at the helm of this squad, the program has finished five consecutive seasons under the .500 mark.
After finishing 11-21(5-13) and placing ninth in the Big Sky last season, the energy surrounding the upcoming season is optimistic. Coach Pribble said that this year’s team has made more progress than last year’s team had going into the season.
Last season started well, with Pribble’s squad winning six nonconference games, but injury issues led to a disappointing performance in conference play. They finished the season having lost four one-possession games, an area Pribble hopes they can improve in.
Despite not meeting their goals for conference play, the Vandals showed resilience in the face of adversity and rose to the occasion on the road with victories against Montana State, Northern Arizona and Sacramento State. They also beat rival Idaho State for the first time in five years.
2023-2024 was a rebuilding year for a program led by a brand-new coaching staff and largely consisting of an inexperienced roster. Last season helped the team learn valuable lessons and improve as a cohesive unit.
“We feel like we set a good foundation and are excited to take another step forward this year,” Pribble said. “We are excited about the potential of this team and think we can be very competitive in the Big Sky conference.”
Along with applauding his players’ offseason progress, Pribble praised some of the work the team has been doing off the court. They set a team GPA record last fall and have started a mentoring program at a local elementary school.
“We are focused on building championship habits both on and off the court,” Pribble said. “They are working to become leaders in the community, as well as championship-caliber players.”
The goal for this season, according to Pribble, is to “reach our potential,” and compete for a conference championship. It is important that the team gets hot at the right time and has momentum rolling into the conference tournament in Boise.
There are 10 returning players from last season who are familiar with the team’s culture, including returning frontcourt starters, seniors Julius “Juice” Mims and Kyson Rose. Mims averaged 11.1 points and 7.2 rebounds per game in his first season as a Vandal and was named pre-season all-conference this year.
Returners Tyler Linhardt, Tyler Mrus and Kristian Gonzalez are all expected to have a big impact on the team as well. Though having experienced returning players is important, Idaho also took advantage of the opportunity to bolster its roster through offseason recruiting.
“We are very deep this year, and there will be a lot of competition for playing time,” Pribble said. “We have a number of new faces that will also be major contributors including Isaiah Brickner, Kolton Mitchell, Jack Payne, Jayden Stevens and JoJo Anderson.”
Mitchell is a sophomore transfer from Idaho State and was a crucial component of the Lake City Timberwolves’ legendary undefeated run in 2022-2023. Payne and Anderson both also had decorated high school careers and transferred to Idaho following stints at Colorado State and Whitworth, respectively.
These newcomers will compete for playing time in the Vandal frontcourt as the team tries to create a new identity after all the new roster additions.
Idaho will be challenged with a challenging nonconference schedule, including a few games against California schools, a road game against BYU and a matchup with both remaining Pac-12 teams. Coach Pribble says the games he looks forward to the most are the rivalry games against Eastern Washington, Idaho State, Montana and Montana State.
The Vandals will kick off the season with a home game against NAIA opponent, the Northwest Eagles on Nov. 4 at ICCU Arena.