# 2018–19 Idaho Vandals men's basketball team

The 2018–19 Idaho Vandals men's basketball team represented the University of Idaho in the Big Sky Conference during the 2018–19 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. Led by eleventh-year head coach Don Verlin, the Vandals played their home games at Cowan Spectrum, with a few early-season games at Memorial Gym, both on campus in Moscow, Idaho. They finished the season at 5–27 (2–18 in Big Sky, last). Idaho lost in the first round of the conference tournament to Montana State.
On June 14, 2019, head coach Don Verlin was fired amid possible NCAA violations. He finished at Idaho with an 11-year record of 177–176.

## Previous season

The Vandals finished the 2017–18 season 22–9, 14–4 in Big Sky play, to finish in second place. They lost in the quarterfinals of the Big Sky tournament to Southern Utah.

## Offseason
### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Reason for departure |
| Perrion Callandret | 1 | G | 6'2" | 180 | RS Senior | Bothell, WA | Graduated |
| Brayon Blake | 4 | F | 6'7" | 215 | Senior | Seattle, WA | Graduated |
| Victor Sanders | 11 | G | 6'5" | 190 | Senior | Portland, OR | Graduated |
| Chad Sherwood | 14 | G | 6'2" | 185 | Senior | Albany, OR | Walk-on; graduated |
| Arkadiy Mkrtychyan | 21 | F | 6'7" | 225 | Senior | Portland, OR | Graduated |
| Garrett Kingman | 22 | G/F | 6'6" | 205 | Freshman | Gig Harbor, WA | Transferred |
| Jordan Scott | 44 | F | 6'6" | 200 | Senior | Colorado Springs, CO | Graduated |

### Incoming transfers

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Previous school |
| Xavier Smith | 11 | G | 6'4" | 180 | Sophomore | Seattle, WA | Transferred from Oregon State. Under NCAA transfer rules, Smith will have to sit out for the 2018–19 season. Will have three years of remaining eligibility. |
| Marquell Fraser | 15 | G | 6'5" | 205 | Junior | Hamilton, ON | Junior college transferred from Midland College |
| Tomás Domingos | 32 | C | 7'0" | 240 | Sophomore | Lisbon, Portugal | Junior college transferred from College of Southern Idaho |

### 2018 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| RayQuawndis Mitchell SG | Blaine, MN | Blaine High School | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | 185 lb (84 kg) | Jun 5, 2018 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| Cameron Tyson SG | Bothell, WA | Bothell High School | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | 185 lb (84 kg) | Mar 14, 2018 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| Khadim Samb SF | Marietta, GA | Sprayberry High School | 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) | 185 lb (84 kg) | Oct 18, 2017 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: ||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2018 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved March 10, 2018. ||||||

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | High points | High rebounds | High assists | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition |||||||||
| November 2, 2018* 7:30 p.m. | | Lewis–Clark State | L 59–65 | | 16 – Allen | 6 – Blakney | 4 – Allen | Memorial Gym (912) Moscow, ID |
| Non-conference regular season |||||||||
| November 6, 2018* 7:00 p.m., BIG WEST TV | | at UC Irvine | L 68–86 | 0–1 | 18 – Rodriguez | 5 – Rodriguez | 5 – Allen | Bren Events Center (1,058) Irvine, CA |
| November 13, 2018* 7:00 p.m., Pluto TV | | Nicholls State | L 80–83 | 0–2 | 22 – Tyson | 12 – Fraser | 6 – Fraser | Memorial Gym (413) Moscow, ID |
| November 18, 2018* 2:00 p.m., Pluto TV | | Bethesda Vandal Holiday Hoops Showcase | W 87–59 | 1–2 | 21 – Tyson | 12 – Blakney | 8 – West | Memorial Gym (329) Moscow, ID |
| November 23, 2018* 7:00 p.m., Pluto TV | | vs. Northwest Nazarene Vandal Holiday Hoops Showcase | L 73–77 | 1–3 | 24 – Allen | 6 – West | 5 – West | CenturyLink Arena (1,817) Boise, ID |
| November 24, 2018* 7:00 p.m., Pluto TV | | vs. UC Santa Barbara Vandal Holiday Hoops Showcase | L 55–66 | 1–4 | 19 – Allen | 8 – Allen | 3 – Allen | CenturyLink Arena (1,689) Boise, ID |
| November 27, 2018* 7:00 p.m., Pluto TV | | West Coast Baptist Vandal Holiday Hoops Showcase | W 98–44 | 2–4 | 16 – Tyson | 8 – Allen | 4 – Smith | Memorial Gym (319) Moscow, ID |
| December 1, 2018* 1:00 p.m. | | at North Dakota | W 67–54 | 3–4 | 19 – Allen | 8 – Rodriguez | 4 – Allen | Betty Engelstad Sioux Center (1,684) Grand Forks, ND |
| December 5, 2018* 6:00 p.m., P12N | | at Washington State Battle of the Palouse | L 70–90 | 3–5 | 17 – Allen | 7 – Allen | 3 – Allen | Beasley Coliseum (2,748) Pullman, WA |
| December 8, 2018* 7:00 p.m., Pluto TV | | Cal State Bakersfield | L 67–73 | 3–6 | 15 – Allen | 6 – Blakney | 4 – Allen | Memorial Gym (539) Moscow, ID |
| December 15, 2018* 3:00 p.m., Pluto TV | | Omaha | L 80–89 | 3–7 | 15 – Allen | 8 – Allen | 4 – Fraser | Cowan Spectrum (459) Moscow, ID |
| December 21, 2018* 7:00 p.m. | | at Santa Clara | L 56–77 | 3–8 | 17 – Rodriguez | 11 – Rodriguez | 4 – Fraser | Leavey Center (1,109) Santa Clara, CA |
| Big Sky regular season |||||||||
| December 29, 2018 8:00 p.m. | | Idaho State | L 55–72 | 3–9 (0–1) | 19 – Tyson | 8 – Smits-Francisco | 2 – Garvin | Cowan Spectrum (659) Moscow, ID |
| December 31, 2018 2:00 p.m. | | Weber State | L 87–93 | 310 (0–2) | 27 – Tyson | 4 – Rodriguex | 3 – Allen | Cowan Spectrum (512) Moscow, ID |
| January 3, 2019 12:00 p.m. | | Eastern Washington | W 74–71 | 4–10 (1–2) | 25 – Allen | 7 – Rodriguez | 4 – Smith | Cowan Spectrum (1,069) Moscow, ID |
| January 5, 2019 6:00 p.m. | | at Northern Colorado | L 79–83 $^{OT}$ | 4–11 (1–3) | 20 – Rodriguez | 11 – Rodriguez | 5 – Garvin | Bank of Colorado Arena (1,550) Greeley, CO |
| January 10, 2019 7:00 p.m. | | Montana State | L 67–77 | 4–12 (1–4) | 23 – Allen | 6 – Rodriguez | 4 – Allen | Cowan Spectrum (1,029) Moscow, ID |
| January 19, 2019 7:00 p.m. | | Montana | L 51–69 | 4–13 (1–5) | 24 – Allen | 9 – Rodriguez | 2 – Smith | Cowan Spectrum (1,419) Moscow, ID |
| January 24, 2019 7:05 p.m. | | at Sacramento State | L 48–69 | 4–14 (1–6) | 11 – Rodriguez | 9 – Rodriguez | 3 – Rodriguez | Hornets Nest (634) Sacramento, CA |
| January 26, 2019 7:05 p.m. | | at Portland State | L 53–69 | 4–15 (1–7) | 12 – Blakney | 7 – Blakney | 5 – Allen | Viking Pavilion (1,450) Portland, OR |
| February 2, 2019 7:00 p.m. | | Northern Arizona | L 73–86 | 4–16 (1–8) | 19 – Rodriguez | 6 – Smits-Francisco | 2 – Tyson | Cowan Spectrum (1,089) Moscow, ID |
| February 4, 2019 7:00 p.m. | | Southern Utah | L 64–75 | 4–17 (1–9) | 20 – Tyson | 10 – Rodriguez | 5 – Allen | Cowan Spectrum (634) Moscow, ID |
| February 7, 2019 6:00 p.m. | | at Montana | L 59–100 | 4–18 (1–10) | 13 – Allen | 8 – Rodriguez | 3 – Smith | Dahlberg Arena (3,381) Missoula, MT |
| February 9, 2019 1:00 p.m. | | at Montana State | L 72–86 | 4–19 (1–11) | 14 – Tyson | 8 – Rodriguez | 5 – Allen | Brick Breeden Fieldhouse (3,004) Bozeman, MT |
| February 14, 2019 7:00 p.m. | | Northern Colorado | L 47–75 | 4–20 (1–12) | 15 – Allen | 8 – Blakney | 2 – Allen | Cowan Spectrum (409) Moscow, ID |
| February 18, 2019 7:15 p.m. | | at Eastern Washington | L 57–82 | 4–21 (1–13) | 18 – Tyson | 5 – Allen | 5 – Allen | Reese Court (1,618) Cheney, WA |
| February 21, 2019 5:30 p.m. | | at Northern Arizona | L 54–75 | 4–22 (1–14) | 15 – Tyson | 10 – Rodriguez | 6 – West | Walkup Skydome (614) Flagstaff, AZ |
| February 23, 2019 1:00 p.m. | | at Southern Utah | L 76–85 | 4–23 (1–15) | 28 – Rodriguez | 11 – Rodriguez | 5 – Allen | America First Events Center (1,604) Cedar City, UT |
| February 28, 2019 7:00 p.m. | | Portland State | L 65–67 | 4–24 (1–16) | 13 – Rodriguez | 11 – Smits-Francisco | 5 – Allen | Cowan Spectrum (579) Moscow, ID |
| March 2, 2019 7:00 p.m. | | Sacramento State | W 94–90 | 5–24 (2–16) | 29 – Allen | 9 – Rodriguez | 4 – Allen | Cowan Spectrum Moscow, ID |
| March 7, 2019 6:00 p.m. | | at Weber State | L 59–93 | 5–25 (2–17) | 17 – Tyson | 6 – Rodriguez | 3 – Mitchell | Dee Events Center (6,381) Ogden, UT |
| March 9, 2019 6:05 p.m. | | at Idaho State | L 68–70 | 5–26 (2–18) | 20 – Allen | 7 – Allen | 4 – Rodriguez | Holt Arena (1,951) Pocatello, ID |
| Big Sky tournament |||||||||
| March 13, 2019 2:30 p.m., Pluto TV | (11) | vs. (6) Montana State First round | L 71–75 | 5–27 | 21 – Allen | 7 – Rodriguez | 4 – Kamara | CenturyLink Arena Boise, ID |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Pacific. |||||||||
Source: