In previous seasons, Connor Hill wasn't the focal point offensively for the Idaho Vandals.

There were always older players around to shoulder that load.

This year, however, Hill is the leading returning scorer. The 6-foot-3 senior guard from Post Falls High averaged 14.2 points per game last year, and is the career leader in 3-pointers with 232.

Idaho, 16-18 last season, opens its season Friday at home vs. Eastern Oregon, at 7 p.m. in Memorial Gym.

"We have to execute our stuff and Connor is going to have to work harder for his shots this year, because he will be the focal point, being our returning leading scorer, and a guy that can shoot the ball like he can," said coach Don Verlin, beginning his seventh season at Idaho. "We've just got to make sure we execute our offense well, we've got to make sure we find him when he's open, and we've got to have some other guys step up and take some of the scoring load."

That would include sophomore point guard Sekou Wiggs (9.9 points per game last season), senior point guard Mike Scott (8.7), and perhaps senior power forward Bira Seck and sophomore guard Perrion Callandret.

Jake Straughan, a 6-foot-1 freshman guard from Colton (Wash.) High, will redshirt, Verlin said. There are no plans for any other players to redshirt at this time, he said.

Idaho returns to the Big Sky Conference this season, for the first time since the 1995-96 season. The Vandals, who tied for fifth last year in their final season in the Western Athletic Conference, then made it all the way to the conference title game, was picked to finish seventh in the 12-team Big Sky by the league's coaches, and eighth by the media. Weber State was picked to finish No. 1 by both.