Northwest Notes June 7, 2022

Wenatchee Valley coach Harden joins Idaho men's basketball staff

MOSCOW — Idaho men's basketball coach Zac Claus announced the hiring of former Wenatchee Valley College head coach Jeremy Harden as the Vandals' next assistant.

Harden was the head coach at WVC for the past five seasons, where he led the Knights to an 85-45 overall record and five consecutive winning seasons. Harden's most recent success came in the 2021-22 season, guiding WVC to a Northwest Athletic Conference East Region title and an NWAC Final Four appearance. Harden was named East Region Coach of the Year while the team held the best regional record (15-1) and was the No. 1 scoring offense (93.1 PPG).

Harden was instrumental in developing incoming Idaho signee Isaac Jones into one of the most dominant players in the NWAC last season. Jones led the league in scoring (25.3), rebounds (13.2) and field goal percentage (69.5), and went on to earn NWAC Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year honors. In 2019, Harden led the Knights to the highest points per game (84.96) average in over 20 years and guided Wenatchee Valley back to the postseason for the first time in four years. Harden coached consecutive NWAC scoring champions — Justin Martin (2018) and Malik Parsons (2019). Before WVC, Harden served as an assistant coach for one season at Tohono O'odham Community College in Sells, Ariz.

Prior to TOCC, Harden spent three seasons (2013-16) at Boise State as the director of player development under head coach Leon Rice. Harden helped lead the Broncos to their first Mountain West Conference Championship in 2015 and an appearance in the NCAA Tournament. Harden made his college coaching debut in 2012, serving one season as an assistant at Eastern Oregon University in La Grande. The Mountaineers tallied a 28-5 record and received their first No. 1 ranking in program history. EOU went on to win the Cascade Collegiate Conference championship and earn a berth in the NAIA national tournament.

Harden, a Tucson, Ariz., native, played for two seasons at Pima Community College. He was a two-year starter and led the Aztecs to their first NJCAA Region Championship, along with a No. 7 overall finish at the 2010 NJCAA National Championships.

He graduated from Eastern Oregon University with a master's degree in business administration in 2016 and received a bachelor's degree in communications at Arizona in 2012.