NORTHWEST NOTES: Saturday, Oct. 15, 2016
Coeur d'Alene Press | UPDATED 9 years, 2 months AGO
Vandal men’s basketball picked near top in preseason Big Sky Conference polls
OGDEN, Utah — The annual Big Sky preseason men’s basketball polls are out, and the league has taken notice of the Vandals, with the coaches’ poll projecting Idaho to finish second and the media poll projecting Idaho third.
Idaho took second in the coaches’ poll with 104 points and one first place vote. Weber State took first with 114 points (seven first), while North Dakota was extremely close in third with 103 points (three first). The media poll went slightly differently. Weber State still took first (181 points, 10 first), but Montana took second (167 points, three first). Idaho earned third in the vote (158 points, two first), while North Dakota finished fourth (137 points, one first).
Eastern Washington was picked fifth in the media poll and seventh in the coaches poll.
Idaho went 21-13 last year, marking the first 20-plus win season since 1992-93. The Vandals advanced to the Big Sky semifinals and earned a bid to the 2016 College Basketball Invitational. The Vandals earned third in the Big Sky regular season standings at 12-6, the most conference wins since 1989-90. Idaho was also victorious in the Battle of the Palouse, taking down Washington State for the second straight season.
The Vandals return their top-six scorers from a season ago, including second team All-Big Sky honoree Victor Sanders. Sanders led the Vandals with 15.9 points per game on the year, and increased his output in Big Sky games to 17.9 points per contest. Perrion Callandret will also be back, returning for his senior season with the Silver and Gold. Callandret averaged 14.0 points per game a year ago to go along with 4.0 boards per game.
Eastern Washington returns junior forward Bogdan Bliznyuk, who was tabbed a first team all-conference selection and seniors Felix Von Hofe and Julian Harrell, who were picked as fourth team selection. The Eagles finished the 2015-16 season with an 18-16 record and advanced to the second round of the College Basketball Invitational, including the school’s first NCAA Division I postseason win with a 79-72 win over Pepperdine. Eastern finished fourthh in the Big Sky Conference with a 10-8 mark, then beat Northern Arizona in the first round of the conference tournament.
The season begins with a pair of exhibitions, against Carroll College on Oct. 25 and Lewis-Clark State on Nov. 4. The regular season begins at home on November 12 against Corban University.