Loving, competitive, hardworking and compassionate are four words that junior guard Quinn Denker uses to characterize himself. Denker hails from San Jose, California, and has had quite the journey to the Palouse.
Denker attended Bellarmine College Preparatory High School in San Jose. He helped the Bells to a CCS championship in 2017-2018 and two WCAL championships in 2017- 2018 and 2019- 2020. In his senior year with the Bells, Denker ran into the worldwide problem of Covid-19, which cut his senior team’s postseason short.
He made a stop before college and played at Prolific Prep, one of the best prep schools in the country. After a year there during COVID-19, Denker went to West Valley Community College. He started all 32 games in his freshman year at West Valley.
Denker averaged 14.7 points, five assists and four rebounds a game. He was named Freshman of the Year, All-State first team, All-League first team and All-Defense first team. Denker helped lead the Vikings to an undefeated league record, a league championship and a runner-up finish at state.
After that year, Denker returned to California to attend the University of California San Marcos and had another stellar season. He played in 27 games for the Cougars and averaged 14.5 points, three rebounds and three assists. He took his game to another level in the postseason for the Cougars, averaging 26 points and 53% or higher from the field in four games.
In the offseason, the Cougars head coach left, and Denker entered the transfer portal and linked up with first-year head coach Alex Pribble at UI.
“After my coach left, I opened up my options, and with Coach Pribble just getting the job here at Idaho, I had a relationship with him when I was at West Valley. We built up a great relationship, so I trusted him. He was the first person to offer me and was the first person to take a chance on me, so I owe a lot to him,” Denker said.
Denker detailed what other things attracted him to the University of Idaho.
“Moscow is a small town, so everyone is super focused on sports. It was a great opportunity with a good culture that people like coming to the games,” Denker said. “There’s a lot of potential and opportunity with a new, hungry coach and a new, hungry team to go make a difference.”
While at UI, Denker has excelled just like he did at his previous schools. So far, he has appeared in 23 games and has averaged 12 points, three rebounds and four assists per game to help guide the Vandals through the season.
In a basketball career as stellar as Denker’s, he has had many memorable moments, but his favorite was clear back in middle school.
“When I was in middle school, I had this teammate. His name was Ben Swapp, and he had cerebral palsy,” Denker said. “In one game, we were blowing out a team. It was our last game of the season, so we wanted him to score. I remember the play. I got a steal. Ben was underneath the basket, and I dribbled the full length of the court. I passed it to Ben, and he missed the first shot. I got the rebound over a couple of dudes. I boxed them out, and Ben threw it up and made it. He had said in an article that it was the greatest moment of his life, so being a part of it made it easily one of my favorite moments of my basketball career.”
Outside the classroom and off the court, Denker likes to take part in an assortment of activities.
“I’m a big family guy,” Denker said. “I love hanging out with my little brother. He is my best friend. I like being around my teammates and my girlfriend. I also like playing video games, watching TV and reading a lot.”
Denker is a big fan of personal development books, with his favorite being “Chop Wood Carry Water”.
“I’ve never been into fantasy reading or fiction,” Denker said. “I’m more into memoirs.”
Being a college athlete is tough, and Denker has some advice for up-and-coming players.
“You need to be coachable. You need to be able to learn and throw your ego aside because it’s more important to listen to your coaches and your teammates and do what’s best for the team,” Denker said.
After Denker finishes playing basketball, he wants to follow in his family’s footsteps and become a college basketball coach.
“My dad was a college basketball coach, and his dad was a college basketball coach, so I’ve come from a line of coaches,” he said. “Basketball has taken me to cool places, and I love learning new basketball concepts. I want to be around the game forever.”
Catch Denker and the Vandals as they look to close the second half of Big Sky play strong and help them head into the Big Sky tournament next month.
Jayden Barfuss can be reached at [email protected] or on X @JaydenBarfuss10