Lapwai's Wynott receives hoops offer from Vandals
Mar. 23—Lapwai High School junior guard Kase Wynott has received five Division I offers in the past nine months, all from Big Sky Conference schools.
One team missing was the University of Idaho. But UI fans probably breathed a sigh of relief Wednesday when he announced on Twitter that the Vandals finally reached out with an offer.
"It means a lot to get this offer, especially because I want to stay home," Wynott said. "I've been hoping to get this offer for a long time."
Wynott led Lapwai in every statistical category in 2022-23, averaging 35 points and 14 rebounds per game. He notched a double-double in all 27 games, had five triple-doubles and one quadruple-double.
Idaho originally was one of the first schools to reach out to Wynott during the recruitment process, according to Wildcats coach Zachary Eastman. But with former Vandals coach Zac Claus not knowing his own future, there was no formal offer given.
Wynott and Eastman gave praise to new Idaho coach Alex Pribble, who was hired March 16. Wynott said that he's "super excited to see the culture change in Idaho." Eastman relayed the same message.
"One thing I love is everywhere he's gone, he's turned programs into championship contenders," Eastman said. "I hope that he can bring a winning tradition to Idaho because (Moscow is) too good of a basketball town to not have a great team."
Idaho fans have also shown their excitement by interacting with Wynott's tweet. Within the first hour, the tweet received 108 likes, 16 retweets and eight replies.
"I think that the fans are in for a treat if he decides to stay home," Eastman said. "He loves Idaho, and he loves the area and the support he's gotten. He's going to get a lot of fans to (go) to Idaho games because he's a local kid playing at that level. For Kase to have an opportunity to play in front of people who have been on this journey with him is a great feeling."
If Wynott decides to stay home, he'll play alongside fellow former Lapwai standout Titus Yearout. Yearout redshirted this year for the Vandals. In his final year with the Wildcats, he averaged 22.4 points, 7.7 rebounds, 5.3 assists and 3.0 steals.
The point guard was the first Lapwai High School athlete to go straight from high school to a Division I college since Bryan Boyer, who played football for Washington State in 2001. Now, Lapwai has a chance to have it happen twice in the past three years. Former Vandal star Trevon Allen is also from Lapwai, but he played his high school basketball at Clarkston High School.
"It's an honor to be able to coach these kids," Eastman said. "I also really appreciate the University of Idaho giving small school basketball a chance. A lot of schools look past small-school student-athletes. This should open the eyes of small school players everywhere."
Wynott intends to announce his final destination at the beginning of his senior year.
Pixley may be contacted at (208) 848-2290, tpixley@lmtribune.com or on Twitter @TreebTalks.
