2010 basketball in Idaho seemed to be a year of milestones. Whether it was wins, titles or moving to the next level, the achievements below were certainly worthy of conversation. There were some other great stories out there as well but didn’t quite make the cut (here’s a couple). Thank you for all your emails, comments and suggestions.
Here are your candidates (in no particular order). Read a bit, do a little research, form your opinion and then vote. The poll closes on Monday, January 24. You can vote up to once per day. As always, constructive comments are always welcome.
Year of the Division I player
In 2010, 4 Idaho players started their careers with Division I schools (Josh Fuller at Utah, Shawn Reid at Montana State, BJ Shearry at UC Riverside and Kyle Davis at Southern Utah). And adding to that pipeline, Kyle Dranginis (Skyview, 2011) has signed at Gonzaga, Joey Nebeker (Melba, 2012) has verbally committed to play at Boise State University and Daniel Gomis (Community School, Oak Hill 2011) has committed to Oregon State. When you consider that right now there are only 8 players from Idaho on Division I rosters and 4 of them are from this year plus there will be 2 more next year and at least one more after that, it is easy to see that this was a strong year for Idaho in basketball.
Local player has big impact internationally
When Matt Bauscher graduated from Vallivue High School in 2003, his best option was to go to Spokane Community College, work his butt off and hope for the best. Seven years later, Bauscher wrapped up a Division I scholarship, WAC title, an NCAA tournament appearance and has made it professionally. This past year his Holland team won the Dutch title, qualified for the Euro Cup and he was selected as the league’s MVP. Not bad for a kid from Idaho.
Roy gets 700th varsity win
Emery Roy has been coaching for a while. But more significantly, he has been WINNING for a while. Recently, the Centennial High School varsity girls coach got his 700th career win, moving him even further from his nearest counterpart. As KBOI 2 News Troy Oppie points out it looks like Roy is over 200 wins ahead of anyone else.
What’s really impressive is that Coach Roy could hit another milestone this year. He leads Idaho in basketball state titles with 9 and as his team continues to roll along this year, number 10 is definitely a possibility.
Firth makes it four straight
It had only been done twice before in Idaho history and never at the 2A classification. But last year, the Firth Cougars completed a 4-pete as the boys once again brought home the state title. Firth could make history this year as no school in Idaho has ever won five straight state titles.