The new era of Vandals basketball began Friday night with an exhibition win over Evergreen State College.
The Vandals defeated the Geoducks 73-56 in what was a strong showing for Idaho in their new home.
“(I’m) tremendously excited for our guys to play in here,” coach Zac Claus said. “For our guys to experience what college basketball is supposed to be all about with the atmosphere and the environment; I couldn’t be more thankful of our administration and our support staff that made all of this happen.”
In addition to their new home, there are plenty of new faces on the team. The men’s basketball team features four freshman and six transfers, making ten out of the 14 players on the men’s roster brand new to the program.
“I think they did a really good job,” said Claus. “We had some really good spurts defensively where we put back-to-back stop together … I thought, at the same time, we pushed in transition pretty well and shared the ball, and that’s what we’re looking for with this group.”
Men’s basketball will have their second exhibition game at 6 p.m. on Nov. 4 against Yellowstone Christian College, and women’s basketball will get to experience the new arena on Nov. 7 at 2 p.m. against Whitman College.
Teren Kowatsch can be reached at [email protected]