Post Falls High senior Corey Koski, a third-year varsity player, enjoys shooting baskets indoors for the Trojans boys basketball team.

While Koski is out roaming the Silver Valley, he also enjoys shooting while hunting with his family, including Mullan's own Bud Koski, his grandfather.

KOSKI CONSIDERED playing football this past fall. As a youth, he played tight end and defensive end and he was also a pitcher and first baseman in baseball.

But that all changed once Koski put his energy toward hunting deer and elk in the fall and spring, spending the past three winters playing as a 6-foot-7, 200-pound post with Post Falls.

But it's hunting that is one of Corey Koski's passions.

"It's something that keeps me active," Koski said. "I shot a big bull elk, four points on one side, four points on the other. I shot one on opening day on Oct. 10, 2013. I took it down with one shot; it was a close shot from 50 yards away."

Koski said he wants to work in a career either in physical therapy or perhaps for the Idaho Department of Fish and Game. Currently, he carries a 3.6 grade-point average.

"I thought that'd be an interesting job," Koski said of potentially working in fish and game.

KOSKI'S FATHER, Kyle, helped him develop his game. The Koskis are a pretty well-accomplished athletic family. Bud coached Mullan High varsity boys basketball teams from 1988 until 1993 and the varsity girls basketbal team from 1998 to 2003. He also coached the Tigers' junior varsity boys basketball team from 1969 to 1983.

In August of 2008, he was honored by the Idaho High School Activities Association by receiving the Wes Lowe Memorial Award at the IHSAA's Hall of Fame banquet in Boise.

The award goes to recipients of those who teach high principles by example and place students' well-being above personal gain. For 40 years, Koski, now 75 years old, was an official before he retired in 2005. Bud retired from teaching in 1997.

"I got to know these officials pretty well," Bud Koski said. "I had to study them all the time. I say things (to Corey) like 'Keep yourself small' and if you're in a bad position and you go up for a rebound and you're coming from behind, if you put your arms back in and pull yourself away from that guy, the officials have a tendency not to call that, they won't call a foul most of the time. There are just little tricks of the trade that I picked up."

With the Trojans, Corey Koski is among the team's leading scorers, averaging 14.8 points per game and he's also the team's leading rebounder at 8.4 per game. As a first-year starter as a junior last season, Koski averaged 7.5 points and 4.9 rebounds per game.

KYLE KOSKI played basketball at Mullan High, graduated in 1988 and was a member of the University of Idaho practice squad until he graduated as a Vandal in 1992.

"He always had a ball in his hand growing up and he'd go forward," Bud Koski said of Corey. "His dad was always encouraging him. With me working in Mullan, I had a way of getting him in the gym. I told Corey, the first thing you've got to do is make yourself coachable. He's always worked hard. He had these strength shoes that helped him jump higher. We've been out there when it's raining and snowing in Post Falls and he'd still be out there working. After he's had games in AAU ball, he'd be out there working on something."

Bud taught Corey another solid lesson when he was a youth player, up until he played for AAU coach Michael Scott with the Spokane Swish, which won the Best in the West 11th grade tournament championship on May 5.

"We worked a lot on fundamentals," Bud Koski said. "Fundamentals are how you win ballgames. His coach (Post Falls boys basketball coach Mike McLean) does a great job working on him with defense ... I'd like to see him develop more of an outside shot, maybe play with a little more intensity."

As for hunting, Bud Koski helped get his grandson into the sport.

"I took him hunting when he was 9 years old," Bud Koski said. "He got the taste of it. This one time, I stopped a jeep. I saw a bull bugle. He was excited when we shot it. Once you get started, it's hard to stop. The one reason he didn't want to go back into football was he wanted to stay healthy."

COREY KOSKI is being recruited by George Fox University, a Christian school in Newberg, Ore. On Tuesday, he received a letter of interest from Walla Walla Community College.

"I'm waiting to see what happens," Koski said of his college plans. "I'm just focusing on this season. NIC would be nice."

Koski knows he has to work on a few things this season and beyond.

"I need to get stronger," Koski said. "I feel like I need to gain some weight, about 10 to 15 pounds ... last year, I injured my wrist. This spring I had troubles with it. This year, I've just got to focus on it (making more free throws), just get into the rhythm of it."

Last season's Post Falls team finished 11-15 (1-5 in 5A Inland Empire League play) and so far it is 8-4 this season, with its league opener coming up Tuesday at home against Coeur d'Alene, which is 8-1 overall and 1-0 in league.

"We've got to buckle down on defense," Koski said. "Our defense is solid. We've just got to score the basketball."

Koski hopes to help his team stay in the hunt, so to speak.

Bruce Bourquin is a sports writer at The Press. He can be reached at 664-8176, Ext. 2013, or via email at bbourquin@cdapress.com Follow him on Twitter @bourq25