Idaho Vandal’s men’s basketball Head Coach Zac Claus, senior forward Scott Blakney and senior guard Damen Thacker’s leadership looks promising for the 2020-21 season after their first practice on Oct. 14.
For his first official season in charge, Claus is very happy with his team and his staff, praising Chris Walsh, the head athletic trainer, for his role in monitoring the team’s health during COVID-19.
“(Walsh) has been fabulous in terms of leading our department, making sure that we are doing everything as safe and healthy as humanly possible,” Claus said.
He is also pleased with the rest of his staff this season, claiming “they are who I lean on every single day. I’m very lucky to have such a wonderful staff.”
Claus took over in July 2019 as the interim head coach, after a long career in basketball. Claus spent four seasons as an assistant coach at UI, 10 seasons as an assistant coach at the University of Nevada, six years as director of Basketball Operations at Nevada, three seasons as an assistant coach at Sacramento State, two years at Portland State as director of Basketball Operations and assistant coach and began his career at Nebraska Weslyan, where he spent one season as the assistant varsity and head junior varsity coach.
The 2020-21 season will look different than most seasons, as COVID-19 restrictions limit the entire community. That does not seem to affect the basketball team’s morale, despite players having to be tested three times per week, per NCAA guidelines. Following months of not being able to get into a gym or a court due to closures, the team is allowed 30 practices over a 42-day span before the season officially starts in December. Blakney describes his first time on the court since around March as “super exciting and a lot of fun to finally be able to get on the court for an extended period of time.”
Courtesy | UI Athletics
After former guard Trevon Allen’s graduation last year, leadership roles on the team are open. Blakney and Thacker are promising candidates to fill the gap, who take the responsibility of guiding the incoming freshman very seriously. Blakney, a business economics major, earned recognition as a member of the 2019-20 National Association of Basketball Coaches Honors Court as well as Big Sky All-Academic honors last year.
“We’ve been doing all we can to help the new guys come into the program and learn the ropes,” Blakney said.
Blakney, who earned a 4.0 GPA last year, also averaged 8.2 points and 4.4 rebounds per game for the season.
Thacker led Walla Walla Community College to the Northwest Athletic Conference Championship, finishing out the series with a record of 13-3 prior to his first season as a Vandal in 2019-2020. His career high of 24 points was scored against Walla Walla and averaged 6.0 points, 2.5 rebounds and 1.2 assists for the season. The leadership role “comes from everybody” Thacker said.
“Coach talks about our character all the time and it’s evident in the things we do on a daily basis, whether it be on or off the court,” Thacker said.
Vandal men’s basketball are scheduled to begin their season at Sacramento State on Dec. 3. The Vandal’s full 20 game conference schedule can be found online.
Richard Lasiw can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @Argo_ Rich.