How Idaho's football, hoops recruits will contribute in '23
Jun. 15—The 2023-24 sports year is one of the most anticipated in recent memory for Idaho athletics.
The hunger for success started with first-year football coach Jason Eck and what he did last season.
Eck was able to turn a perennial punching bag into a playoff-caliber team in one year. Now as Year 2 looms closer, the Vandals are ranked No. 5 in the HeroSports preseason football poll, the highest they've ever been.
That kind of turnaround can be credited to one major factor — a culture change.
What Eck was able to do with the football team is something fans and athletic director Terry Gawlik can only hope that new men's basketball coach Alex Pribble can replicate.
Pribble took the reins from former coach Zac Claus, who was fired on Feb. 27 after the Vandals fell 68-53 to Montana in the final regular-season game. Claus only mustered a 28-88 overall record during his four years in Moscow.
As Pribble began his journey, he was left with just three players from last year's team, all of whom played little to no meaningful minutes. So to say Pribble has had to start from scratch in terms of a roster is an understatement.
On the flip side, the Idaho women's basketball team is bringing in a new coach in Carrie Eighmey, who is taking over for long-time head coach Jon Newlee, who had quite an illustrious career on the Palouse. The 15-year coaching veteran was UI's all-time winningest basketball coach in program history, men's or women's.
Eighmey was forced to hit the ground right away in terms of recruiting after losing star forward Beyonce Bea to Washington State. Sydney Gandy, who averaged 32.9 minutes per game last season, also bounced after transferring to her hometown school, Loyola Marymount University.
The rosters for all three programs are starting to take shape, and here's a deep dive at what each of them is starting to look like:
Pribble staying true
When looking at what Pribble has done so far with his 12-player recruiting class, one thing sticks out: he's very comfortable recruiting in California and Washington. Eleven out of the 12 recruits have roots in the two western states.
This isn't much of a surprise considering Pribble himself has ties to both areas, and both places are typically recruiting hotbeds. Most recently, Pribble was an assistant at Seattle University.
Through their efforts, the Vandals have been rewarded, landing several impact players, including EJ Neal.
Neal was the first player to sign with the Pribble-led Vandals, taking the juco route to reach the NCAA Division I ranks.
Neal attended City College of San Francisco and was a two-time first-team Coast Conference selection.
The 6-foot-5 junior embodies exactly what Pribble is trying to build — a defensive powerhouse.
Neal, who was also a defensive player of the year in the Coast Conference, uses his massive wingspan to his advantage to poke the ball loose. He finished his sophomore campaign with 17 steals. His frame also allows him to be a force inside, whether that's driving to the basket or going for boards. He finished the year with 68 rebounds.
Neal isn't much of a threat from distance, only making 1.1 3-pointers per game last season. But making up for that will be Trevon Blassingame.
Blassingame comes to UI from Fairleigh Dickinson and is one of eight transfers in Idaho's 2023 class.
The 6-4 guard had quite the career at Auburn High School, scoring 1,346 points while sporting the green and black, good enough for second in school history.
While on the court, Blassingame is a smooth operator. He has superb lateral movement and the ability to shoot with both hands — and of course, he has range. His most flashy trait is his ability to catch and shoot. This comes from his decisiveness. Once the ball is in the sophomore's hands, he is quick to make a decision.
On the inside, the Vandals have brought in players with some size. All six of their forwards stand at either 6-7 or 6-9.
An interesting forward prospect that was signed on May 17 was Walla Walla Community College transfer, Kyson Rose.
The 6-9 transfer is the defending Northwest Athletic Conference player of the year. The last 6-9 forward who was the defending NWAC player of the year to sign with Idaho was Isaac Jones — who is now at Washington State after a stellar season with the Vandals.
Rose averaged a double-double last season with 22.6 points and 10.5 rebounds per game.
Rose weighs in at around 240 pounds but is deceptively athletic. He has a soft touch and some nice moves. He also has a decent jumper if he's open, finishing last season with 28 3s.
Eighmey going global
One thing Eighmey touched on during her opening news conference that stuck out was the importance of recruiting locally.
She said she believed there were "a ton of extremely talented players within five to 10 hours from here."
While no one expects a recruiting class of Whitepine League all-stars, of the Vandals eight recruits so far, only one is from the Pacific Northwest — Aspen Caldwell (Idaho Falls).
While Caldwell is nothing to scoff at — she earned first-team all-state honors during her time with Thunder Ridge High School after notching 22.1 points per game — Eighmey seemed to take a different approach to recruiting than originally planned.
Instead of recruiting regionally, she decided to go through international waters, with four of the Vandals' eight recruits having international ties.
UI and other programs have had success recruiting outside of the United States, so it's not unheard of, just something out of the ordinary for Eighmey.
Clearly, it's more difficult to lure international talent to Division II or NAIA programs, but this is something Eighmey has never done during her nearly two-decade-long coaching career.
But the international additions UI has made seem to be impact players, starting with freshman Ana Paula de Oliveira Dias.
The São Paulo, Brazil, native joins the Vandals having played a lot of meaningful basketball already. She spent her younger years playing for the Brazilian national team in the FIBA Americas Championship.
In the 2022 FIBA U18 Americas Championship, she averaged 11.8 points and 3.5 assists per game. She's played for championships at the U15 and U18 levels.
Oliveira has contributed to those programs by using her size and speed. She is quick off the dribble, making it hard for defenders to keep up with her. Her quick hands also make it easy for her to get steals as she averaged 2.2 per game last season.
UI's most recent addition, Hope Butera, will also be a menace, mostly on the inside.
The 6-3 forward is originally from Kigali, Rwanda, but is transferring from Florida International.
The graduate student used her size to her advantage during her last season with the Panthers, leading the team with 181 rebounds.
She was also able to use her frame to finish above the rim, notching 122 points in her final year at FIU.
Football adds three late
Despite being ranked as high as it has ever been in a preseason poll, the football team enters the season missing some key pieces from last year.
The Vandals lost their interceptions leader, Paul Moala, who is now at Georgia Tech, and their sack leader, Kemari Bailey, who is now at Fresno State.
During the spring game, both positions underperformed in their absence. As the season draws closer, the Vandals brought in three transfers to try and bolster positions of need.
Starting with the defensive line, the Vandals added Montana Tech transfer Keyshawn James-Newby.
In his two years with the Orediggers, James-Newby registered 13 sacks and had 18.5 tackles for loss.
The 270-pound edge rusher has an elite bend coming off the corner and a first step that was built for Division I football.
The second addition came by way of Coastal Carolina tight end TJ Ivy Jr.
Ivy failed to make an impact with the Chanticleers as well as Indiana. The 215-pounder has never had a season with more than three receptions.
Idaho is hoping his 6-5 frame will help with blocking — and it better. The tight end group is getting more crowded by the day, and not in a good way.
After the spring game, no one in the eight-deep position group stood out as a legitimate starter. With the addition of Ivy, the group expands to nine bodies and will be one of the more wide-open battles throughout the summer.
The final addition was defensive back Jhamell Blenman, a transfer from Cerritos College.
Before Cerritos, he redshirted a year at Washington State, where he worked with UI cornerbacks coach Stanley Franks.
While a Falcon, he played in 10 games and recorded nine pass breakups and an interception. The 5-9 corner is very physical and plays well above his small frame.
He'll be fighting for the second corner opposite Marcus Harris, but he'll have some ground to cover.
Cam Stephens did a solid job in the spring game to earn an edge on the job for now. And Ormanie Arnold and Dwayne McDougle had solid springs as well. So Blenman will have quite the battle to climb up the depth chart once the season starts.
Pixley may be contacted at (208) 848-2290, tpixley@lmtribune.com or on Twitter @TreebTalks.
