Senior Night for Vandals — Idaho undefeated in Memorial Gym heading into Senior Night

Stephen Madison will go down as one of the top 10 or 15 players in Idaho history, said Idaho men’s basketball coach Don Verlin following the game against Texas-Pan American. Madison made a 3-pointer that sent the game to overtime, and led the Vandals to victory with 22 points and 13 rebounds in the game. 

That’s just one of many memories Madison gave Vandal fans over the past four years. He’ll look to add one more for the home crowd at 1 p.m. Saturday in Memorial Gym, when Idaho takes on Grand Canyon.

“Senior Night is a celebration,” Verlin said. “Of course it will be sad to see all the seniors go, but we got a lot of basketball to be played. I hope the Vandal fans come out and support Stephen, because he has given a lot to this program.”

Ty Egbert, who enjoyed the best game of his career Tuesday against Cal State-Northridge with 11 points and two blocks, said Madison has been a big influence on him.

“He got me use to playing Division I basketball,” Egbert said. “I came from a small school where you really didn’t have to do much to really be a big effect.”

In addition to Madison, seniors Joe Kammerer and first-year Vandal Glen Dean will also be honored on Senior Night.

Connor Hill is averaging 19 points in Memorial Gym this season, and will be looking to send out all the seniors with one last home win.

“I’m excited to see those guys go out, and hopefully we can get a win for them,” Hill said. “Joe (Kammerer), he’s been here for five years, so he’s paid his dues and has put a lot of work in, I’m really proud of Joe. Stephen (Madison) has been a really great player here, he’s a good friend of mine and I’m proud of him, too. Glen (Dean), he’s been great for us this year, facilitating and playing the point.”

The Vandals are undefeated in Memorial Gym so far this season. They played their first two home games there, against Western Illinois and Northwest Nazarene, and then the latest game against CSUN.

GCU will be no easy task for the Vandals, as they beat Idaho on Jan. 23, 86-73.

With a conference record of 7-3, GCU is in third place in the Western Athletic Conference. With a win, Idaho would move to 5-8 in WAC play, and could possibly move from eighth to fifth in the standings.

Each win from here on out will be crucial for the Vandals. They won’t be able to win the WAC regular season title, which gives the winner an automatic birth into the NIT Tournament. But if the Vandals win the WAC Tournament, they’ll get an automatic berth to the Big Dance — the NCAA Tournament.

“There’s no question it’s anybody’s conference,” Verlin said. “I think the conference tournament is going to be anybody’s ball game. Who knows what can happen. There is not a team we can’t beat in this conference and not a team I don’t expect to beat.”

Korbin McDonald can be reached at [email protected]