‘Want to spend the time on us’: Boise State basketball is Canada-bound for summer games

In just a few days, the Boise State men’s basketball team will take the court for the opening game of its Canadian summer tour.

There will be no elaborate scouting reports, and the Broncos aren’t hyper-focused on installing every aspect of their game.

“I want to spend the time on us completely,” Boise State coach Leon Rice said Thursday.

Boise State, which is coming off back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances, will travel to Vancouver on Saturday for games against Trinity Western University on Monday and Fraser Valley University on Tuesday, before heading northwest in British Columbia to continue the tour in Kamloops for a game against Thompson Rivers College on Thursday.

Similar to their foreign tour to Costa Rica ahead of the 2016-17 season, the Broncos plan to use the opportunity to get a better feel for the dynamics of their roster. NCAA rules allow teams to take a foreign tour once every four years.

The Broncos added seven players this offseason: UC San Diego transfer Roddie Anderson III, Kansas transfer Cam Martin, St. John’s transfer O’Mar Stanley, walk-on Alex Martin and incoming freshmen Andrew Meadow, Emmanuel Ugbo and Chris Lockett.

The group was allowed 10 practices before heading out for the summer games.

“I think the first thing that jumped out at me was how close this team is already. That’s really special,” Rice said. “When you recruit guys, you think you know who they are, and you think you have a great handle on what they’re gonna do here, but getting to see the way they clicked and the high character guys we have.”

Rice said he expects to try a number of different lineups and doesn’t anticipate any of his players will be logging heavy minutes.

“We can experiment with some things and do things that maybe I won’t do in games, because you just feel the freedom to do it,” Rice said. “... Nobody’s gonna play 30-plus minutes, I don’t think. ... But we go there to win and compete. That doesn’t change no matter what we’re doing.”

Moats transitions to assistant coach

David Moats, who spent five seasons as Boise State’s director of operations, will transition into the role of assistant coach beginning with the 2023-24 season.

This will be Moats’ seventh season with the program. He served as the director of recruiting last season and was the director of operations from 2017-22.

His tenure with the Broncos coincides with one of the best stretches in program history. Boise State has a 126-68 record in his time here, with four 20-win seasons, back-to-back appearances in the NCAA Tournament for only the second time in program history, and a pair of NIT appearances (2018, 2021).

The NCAA Division I Council elected to allow five countable on-court assistant coaches in men’s basketball, while maintaining the limit of three for off-campus recruiting, effective July 1.

Matt Charles was hired as Boise State’s new director of operations earlier this month.

Former Idaho, Colorado State coach helping Rice

Larry Eustachy, a very successful former college hoops coach with a somewhat checkered past, is part of the Broncos’ basketball picture this season as well.

Rice said Thursday that Eustachy, who has been living in Boise, is serving in a volunteer role as senior adviser to the head coach.

“We got to be really good friends when he came into the Mountain West,” Rice said. “... It’s so valuable to have somebody with that much knowledge and that much experience and that much wisdom. That’s what you get when you get that much experience, so we’re grateful to have him here and it’s been a great fit.”

Eustachy, 67, began his head coaching career at the University of Idaho in 1990, and he won 61 games in just three seasons there, including a Big Sky regular season title.

Eustachy left Moscow to become the coach at Utah State, where he led the Aggies to one NCAA Tournament appearance, and then moved on to Iowa State. He made two NCAA tourneys with the Cyclones, including an Elite Eight in 2000, losing to eventual national champion Michigan State.

His end in Ames, Iowa, came in turbulent fashion in 2003, after photos were made public of him drinking and kissing female students at a party near the University of Missouri campus following a game. He was suspended, and Iowa State’s athletic director recommended Eustachy’s firing, but he resigned in May that year.

After leading Southern Miss for eight seasons, Eustachy got the head coaching job in 2012 at Colorado State, a Mountain West foe of Boise’s. He made one NCAA tourney there, but in 2018 he resigned after being investigated twice over alleged abusive behavior toward players and staff.

Eustachy’s career NCAA coaching record is 523-330, with five NCAA Tournament appearances and four NIT berths.