Idaho men’s basketball coach Don Verlin made size his No. 1 priority last Wednesday on Nov. 9, when the program signed forward Ty Egbert on the first day of the NCAA early signing period.
Egbert, a Coulee Dam, Wash., native signed a National Letter of Intent with Idaho and will join the team fall 2012 following his graduation from Lake Roosevelt High School.
A 6-foot-8-inch, 200-pound forward, Egbert was the No. 5 prospect out of Washington state, according to ESPNU Recruiting. He was the No. 40 recruit in the West with a grade of 88.
“We’ve been on him for quite a while,” Verlin said. “He’s got great, tremendous upside first and foremost and he’s got very good athleticism. He’s a rangy athletic big guy, and he’s pretty local for us so all those things were appealing, but he’s a very good athlete for his size.”
Egbert chose Idaho instead of a number of notable programs including Boise State, Montana, Montana State, Nevada and Washington State.
“I think he fits here. He wants agriculture as a major,” Verlin said. “Dr. (Barbara) Foltz did a great job talking to him when he came here on his visit, talking to him about the agriculture department that was huge. I think he felt like he was comfortable here.”
Egbert has been a four-year starter for Lake Roosevelt and helped the Raiders to three consecutive Washington state tournament berths. As a junior, he led the Raiders to a 23-5 record and fourth-place finish at the 2B state tournament.
During the 2010-2011 season, Egbert was an honorable mention All-State honoree and earned the North Central Washington 2B North Division Player of the Year award. He averaged 17.1 points-per-game and 11.4 rebounds as a junior under coach Brad Wilson.
“He’s a very active player. He’s physically aggressive, and he jumps and runs well for a big guy,” Wilson said. “I think he’s still on an incline as far as skill and ability goes, and I think he’ll keep improving as he moves to the college game.”
With seven players taller than 6-feet-5-inches, Verlin said he understands the importance of recruiting size in an increasingly competitive WAC.
Three players on the 2011-2012 Vandal squad are at least 6-feet-8-inches and center Kyle Barone towers above everyone on the team at 6-feet-10-inches.
“The WAC is such a big conference, there’s a lot of teams with great big guys,” Verlin said. “New Mexico State’s huge, Nevada’s got some big guys, Utah State, Hawaii’s got some big guys. You’ve got to have good size and like having a good point guard, you’ve got to have post guys, and I think that’s our focus — to get quality big guys.”
In addition to the success Egbert has seen at the high school level, he’s had the opportunity to play for a competitive AAU team in the Eastern Washington Elite.
Lake Roosevelt’s competition has taken notice of Egbert’s talent, but Wilson is confident that double teams and constant pressure won’t faze Eastern Washington’s top-ranked recruit.
“At our level, he draws a ton of attention from opposing teams, so he’s just got to be willing to be productive against double teams and physical play, and just has to take on every challenge,” Wilson said.
Verlin has not announced any other letters of intent, but said a few more will be “trickling in” soon.