Northwest Notes June 6, 2023

Paul qualifies, Lambert alternate to U.S. Junior Amateur

POST FALLS — Stephen Paul of Osburn shot a 3-under-par 69 last Thursday at a qualifier at The Links Golf Club to qualify for the U.S. Junior Amateur July 24-29 in Charleston, S.C.

Paul, a rising senior at Kellogg High, was one of three players to advance. He finished in a three-way tie for second, and was one of two players to advance from the playoff.

Trey Lambert of Coeur d'Alene, who also shot 69, did not advance from the playoff, but is the first alternate.

Billy Davis of Spring Valley, Calif., won the qualifier with a 6-under 66.

Max Herendeen of Bellevue, Wash., shot 69 and advanced in the playoff.

Trey Nipp (Hayden), Grant Potter (Hayden) and Seth Swallows (St. Maries) each shot 73.

U.S. Open sectional qualifier

LAKEWOOD, Wash. — Jesse Schutte of Florence, Ore., and amateur Alexander Yang of Hong Kong qualified for the U.S. Open through a USGA sectional qualifier Monday at the Tacoma Country and Golf Club, which featured 54 players vying for two spots.

Schutte shot 73-66—139, 3 under par, and Yang shot 72-67—139.

North Idaho College men's and women's golf coach Russell Grove, bidding to qualify for his second straight major after playing in the PGA Championship last month, shot 73-77—150 and finished at 8 over par, tied for 27th.

Herendeen, fresh from qualifying for the U.S. Junior Amateur last week at The Links, also played in the U.S. Open sectional qualifier Monday in Lakewood, finishing in a tie for fifth at 2-over-par 144, five strokes behind the two qualifiers.

The U.S. Open is June 15-18 at the Los Angeles Country Club.

Vandal football team adds three transfers

MOSCOW — Idaho head football coach Jason Eck announced on Monday the signing of three transfers, including a pair of former Power Five players and a first-team all-conference NAIA player.

TJ Ivy Jr., a tight end from Chicago, began his career at Indiana before playing the last two seasons at Coastal Carolina. He played in 11 games as a redshirt freshman at Indiana in 2019, he caught three passes for 24 yards in the season.

After an injury derailed his 2020 season, he transferred to Coastal Carolina where he played in 13 games as a redshirt sophomore in 2021. He started in two games for the Chantecleers his first season. In 2022, he played in 12 games and recorded two receptions for 29 yards.

He comes to Moscow as a grad transfer with one year of eligibility remaining.

"TJ is a veteran tight end ... he will be one of our biggest tight ends and we feel like he will make an impact at the line of scrimmage and in the passing game," Eck said.

Joining Ivy is Cerritos College transfer Jhamell (Deuce) Blenman II. Blenman is a defensive back from Compton, Calif. He redshirted as a freshman at Washington State, where he worked with Vandal corners coach Stanley Franks while he was on staff with the Cougars. He transferred to Cerritos for the 2022 season where he played in 10 games and recorded nine pass breakups and an interception as a redshirt freshman. He also notched 38 total tackles and blocked a kick for the Falcons.

Blenman comes to Moscow as a redshirt sophomore with three years of eligibility remaining.

"Coach Franks had a lot of familiarity with Deuce after working with him at Washington State," Eck said. "We feel like he adds critical depth to our corner position."

The final transfer is former Montana Tech defensive end Keyshawn James-Newby. In two years for the Orediggers of Butte, James-Newby played in 19 games, recorded 13 sacks, 18.5 total Tackles for loss, and 92 total tackles. His redshirt sophomore season was a breakout year. He notched nine sacks to lead the Frontier Conference, 14.5 TFLs and 61 total tackles.

He earned first-team all-Frontier Conference honors to cap his sophomore campaign. He has two seasons of eligibility remaining. He graduated from Helena High in Montana but spent most of his childhood in Pocatello.

"We feel like his high production will translate at our level and we are excited to add another guy with Idaho roots," Eck said.

The three transfers add to a recruiting class that includes 49 newcomers this year, including 11 transfers.

Vandal women add another transfer

MOSCOW — Idaho women's basketball coach Carrie Eighmey announced the addition of transfer Hope Butera, a 6-foot-3 forward from Kigali, Rwanda.

Butera joins the Vandals after two seasons at Florida International and two years at South Georgia Tech, a JUCO. Butera will join the Vandals for her fifth year.

"Her size and strength will be a huge advantage for us in the paint on both ends of the floor," Eighmey said. "We like her ability to score back-to-the-basket or off the bounce from outside the paint. She also embraces physicality which allows her to be a monster on the boards."

In her final season at FIU, Butera led the Panthers with 181 rebounds on the season. She started 19 games and averaged 19.8 minutes per game.

Butera is a member of the Rwanda women's national team.