Vandal men’s hoops team to visit China for summer tourney

MOSCOW — Fresh off one of the best seasons in program history, the Idaho men’s basketball team will takes its talents to China this summer for the 2016 Atlas Challenge.

The Vandals head out on June 10, with the tournament scheduled to begin on June 14. Idaho will play in five games in the Challenge, then play three more games following.

The Atlas Challenge will feature seven national teams, as well as Idaho. The teams are broken into two groups of four for the opening round-robin play. The top two teams from each group advance to the winners bracket, while the bottom two will move to the losers bracket. China won the Atlas Challenge last year, defeating Iran in the championship game. Lithuania took third, defeating the team from the United States.

In this year’s Challenge, the Vandals will meet Lithuania, Macedonia and Iran in the opening round. Perennial powerhouse Lithuania has already qualified for the upcoming Olympic Games and will provide a very tough challenge with a roster that features a handful of NBA talent.

Group A consists of Japan, Belarus, New Zealand and the host China. China has also already qualified for the upcoming Olympic Games.

The Idaho team will then travel to ZhuZhou to play three more games, against China, Macedonia and a team from Lithuania, before returning to the States on June 25.

The NCAA allows programs to take international trips once every four years.

WSU’s Hawkinson to head to

Australia with Pac-12 all-star team

Washington State rising senior Josh Hawkinson was chosen as one of 12 Pac-12 men’s basketball student-athletes to travel to Melbourne, Australia, for a series of cultural experiences and exhibition games against the Australia men’s basketball team in July as part of a Pac-12 all-star team, the league announced.

The Pac-12 team will participate in two games against the Australia men’s national team — known as the Australian Boomers — in its preparation for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, as well as a third contest versus a team from the semi-professional South East Australian Basketball League (SEABL). The trip comes as part of the Pac-12 Global initiative.

Four-time Conference Coach of the Year and 2016 College Basketball Hall of Fame inductee Mike Montgomery will serve as head coach of the Pac-12 team. WSU strength coach Scott Thom will travel as the team’s strength coach.

The all-star team also includes Jordan McLaughlin of USC and 2016 honorable mention Pac-12 All-Defensive Team selection Wesley Gordon of Colorado. They will be joined by Kadeem Allen and Chance Comanche of Arizona, Tra Holder of Arizona State, Stephen Domingo of California, Drew Eubanks and Stephen Thompson Jr. of Oregon State, Dorian Pickens of Stanford, Lorenzo Bonam of Utah and Matisse Thybulle of Washington.

The team will participate in a three-day training camp in Los Angeles from July 5-7 before the group embarks on the tour from July 9-14. Game dates are slated for Sunday, July 10 (vs. SEABL team), Tuesday, July 12 (vs. Australia MNT), and Thursday, July 14 (vs. Australia MNT). All three games will be held at Hisense Arena, a 10,500-seat venue that serves as the home of Melbourne United, the city’s franchise in the professional National Basketball League (NBL). The group will then return to the U.S. on July 15. The six-day tour will also provide student-athletes the opportunity to experience Australian culture, visit historic landmarks, and engage in off-the-court activities in the country’s second-most populous city.

Three WSU game times,

including Idaho tilt, announced

Three Washington State football games, all three from Martin Stadium, have been selected as part of the Pac-12 Conference’s early television selections, the conference announced.

The Pac-12 television selections cover the first three weeks of the season, along with selected games later in the year.

The Cougars will open their 2016 season Saturday, Sept. 3 by hosting Eastern Washington at Martin Stadium. Gametime is set for 5 p.m. and will be broadcast by the Pac-12 Network.

Following an away game at Boise State on Sept. 10, with a time still to be announced, the Cougars return to Martin Stadium to host Idaho on Saturday, Sept. 17 at 11 a.m., also televised by the Pac-12 Network.

The 2016 Apple Cup will be played Friday, Nov. 25, as the Cougars host Washington in Martin Stadium. The game will be televised by either FOX or FS1, and will be played at 12:30 p.m. The network selection will be finalized six days prior to the game.

Rice adds ex-EWU coach Burns

to Boise State hoops staff

BOISE — Boise State men’s basketball coach Leon Rice completed his coaching staff with the addition of Mike Burns as an assistant coach.

Burns spent last season as the interim head coach at Pacific. He was also previously the head coach at Eastern Washington. During his 22 years of collegiate coaching, Burns has spent time in the Pac-12, West Coast and Big Sky Conferences.

Pacific won six league games last year, matching their most since joining the WCC, including a victory at BYU. The 2015-16 campaign was Burns’ lone season at Pacific, after spending seven years as the top assistant at San Diego. He helped the Toreros reach the quarterfinals of the 2014 CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament.

Burns was the head coach at Eastern Washington for three seasons from 2004-07, where he coached NBA Draft first-round pick Rodney Stuckey. Burns was an assistant coach at EWU from 2000-03 under Ray Gioacoletti, eventually earning a promotion to associate head coach in 2002. The three-year span saw EWU earn the first NCAA Tournament and NIT berths in program history.

In his one year between stints with the Eagles, Burns joined Dick Bennett’s staff at Washington State. He helped the Cougars to a six-win improvement over the previous season.

Following his head coaching tenure at EWU, Burns was the head coach at Community Colleges of Spokane for one season. He led the Sasquatch to a 30-2 record and was named NWAACC Coach of the Year. Burns returned to the Division I ranks the following season as an assistant coach at San Diego.

Burns began his collegiate coaching career at his alma mater, Central Washington, from 1996-99. Following the season Burns took a position at Stephen F. Austin for one year before returning to the Northwest.