# 2017–18 Idaho Vandals men's basketball team

The 2017–18 Idaho Vandals men's basketball team represented the University of Idaho during the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Vandals, led by tenth-year head coach Don Verlin, played their home games at the Cowan Spectrum, with a few early season games at Memorial Gym, in Moscow, Idaho as members of the Big Sky Conference. They finished the 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.

## Previous season

The Vandals finished the 2016–17 season 19–14, 12–6 in Big Sky play to finish in a tie for third place. Big Sky tournament. They defeated Montana in the quarterfinals of the Big Sky tournament before losing in the semifinals to North Dakota. They were invited to the CollegeInsider.com Tournament where they defeated Stephen F. Austin before losing in the second round to Texas State.

## Offseason
### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Reason for departure |
| Nick Blair | 0 | F | 6'5" | 205 | Sophomore | Las Vegas, NV | Transferred to UNLV |
| Myles Franklin | 2 | G | 6'0" | 171 | RS Freshman | Castaic, CA | Transferred to Allan Hancock College |
| Jake Straughan | 5 | G | 6'1" | 175 | RS Sophomore | Colton, WA | Graduate transferred to Fresno Pacific |
| Pat Ingram | 13 | G | 6'2" | 201 | Senior | Indianapolis, IN | Graduated |
| Tyler Brimhall | 24 | G | 6'4" | 185 | RS Freshman | Logan, UT | Transferred to North Idaho College |
| George Nahshon | 25 | G | 6'2" | 165 | Senior | Clarkston, WA | Graduated |
| Ty Egbert | 41 | F | 6'9" | 195 | Senior | Coulee Dam, WA | Graduated |

### 2017 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Scott Blakney PF | Prosser, WA | Prosser High School | 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) | 225 lb (102 kg) | Sep 6, 2016 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| Jared Rodriguez SF | Glendale, AZ | Mountain Ridge High School | 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) | N/A | Oct 19, 2016 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| Losini Kamara SG | Brooklyn Park, MN | Park Center High School | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | 160 lb (73 kg) | Oct 19, 2016 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| Geno West SG | Portland, OR | Jefferson High School | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | 165 lb (75 kg) | Mar 14, 2017 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| Garrett Kingman SG | Gig Harbor, WA | Peninsula High School | 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) | N/A | Mar 14, 2017 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| Cassius Smits-Francisco PF | Netherlands | Cactus Shadows High School | 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) | N/A | Apr 27, 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: "2017 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved November 10, 2017. ||||||

## Preseason

In separate preseason polls of league coaches and media, the Vandals were picked to win the Big Sky championship. Senior guard Victor Sanders was named to the preseason All-Big Sky team.

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| Oct 28, 2017* 11:00 am | | at Oregon Charity Exhibition for Oregon Wildfire Fund | L 57–81 | | Matthew Knight Arena Eugene, OR |
| Nov 5, 2017* 4:00 pm | | Lewis–Clark State | W 84–59 | | Memorial Gym (909) Moscow, ID |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| Nov 10, 2017* 7:00 pm | | at Nevada | L 64–88 | 0–1 | Lawlor Events Center (8,457) Reno, NV |
| Nov 13, 2017* 7:00 pm | | George Fox | W 101–62 | 1–1 | Memorial Gym (687) Moscow, ID |
| Nov 18, 2017* 7:00 pm | | Sam Houston State | W 63–54 | 2–1 | Memorial Gym (1,187) Moscow, ID |
| Nov 22, 2017* 6:30 pm | | vs. Santa Clara Great Alaska Shootout quarterfinals | W 69–59 | 3–1 | Alaska Airlines Center (2,303) Anchorage, AK |
| Nov 22, 2017* 9:00 pm | | vs. Cal State Bakersfield Great Alaska Shootout semifinals | L 62–64 | 3–2 | Alaska Airlines Center (3,082) Anchorage, AK |
| Nov 24, 2017* 6:30 pm | | vs. Cal Poly Great Alaska Shootout 3rd place game | W 75–66 | 4–2 | Alaska Airlines Arena (3,460) Anchorage, AK |
| Dec 3, 2017* 7:00 pm | | at Nicholls State | W 79–68 | 5–2 | Stopher Gym (253) Thibodaux, LA |
| Dec 6, 2017* 7:00 pm, SWX | | Washington State Battle of the Palouse | W 91–64 | 6–2 | Cowan Spectrum (4,329) Moscow, ID |
| Dec 9, 2017* 7:00 pm | | at Cal State Bakersfield | L 55–66 | 6–3 | Icardo Center (2,633) Bakersfield, CA |
| Dec 15, 2017* 7:00 pm | | Simon Fraser | L 54–73 | 7–3 | Cowan Spectrum (719) Moscow, ID |
| Dec 18, 2017* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Western Michigan | W 83–52 | 8–3 | University Arena (1,645) Kalamazoo, MI |
| Dec 21, 2017* 6:30 pm, Pluto TV | | vs. UC Irvine Boise Showcase | L 59–67 | 8–4 | CenturyLink Arena (4,096) Boise, ID |
| Big Sky regular season ||||||
| Dec 29, 2017 5:00 pm, Pluto TV | | at North Dakota | W 74–57 | 9–4 (1–0) | Betty Engelstad Sioux Center (1,597) Grand Forks, ND |
| Dec 31, 2017 1:00 pm, Pluto TV | | at Northern Colorado | L 77–81 | 9–5 (1–1) | Bank of Colorado Arena (960) Greeley, CO |
| Jan 4, 2018 7:00 pm, Pluto TV | | Sacramento State | W 69–68 | 10–5 (2–1) | Cowan Spectrum (1,829) Moscow, ID |
| Jan 6, 2018 7:00 pm, ELVN | | Portland State | L 72–73 | 10–6 (2–2) | Cowan Spectrum (1,012) Moscow, ID |
| Jan 12, 2018 7:30 pm, Pluto TV | | at Eastern Washington | W 58–51 | 11–6 (3–2) | Reese Court (2,334) Cheney, WA |
| Jan 18, 2018 5:30 pm, Pluto TV | | at Southern Utah | W 80–76 | 12–6 (4–2) | America First Events Center (3,578) Cedar City, UT |
| Jan 20, 2018 4:00 pm, Pluto TV | | at Northern Arizona | W 84–80 | 13–6 (5–2) | Walkup Skydome (832) Flagstaff, AZ |
| Jan 25, 2018 7:00 pm, Pluto TV | | Northern Colorado | L 63–80 | 13–7 (5–3) | Cowan Spectrum (1,122) Moscow, ID |
| Jan 27, 2018 7:00 pm, Pluto TV | | North Dakota | W 96–71 | 14–7 (6–3) | Cowan Spectrum (1,818) Moscow, ID |
| Feb 1, 2018 7:00 pm, Pluto TV | | at Portland State | W 97–88 | 15–7 (7–3) | Pamplin Sports Center (710) Portland, OR |
| Feb 3, 2018 7:05 pm, Pluto TV | | at Sacramento State | W 81–58 | 16–7 (8–3) | Hornets Nest (675) Sacramento, CA |
| Feb 9, 2018 7:30 pm, Pluto TV | | Eastern Washington | W 66–64 | 17–7 (9–3) | Cowan Spectrum (3,192) Moscow, ID |
| Feb 15, 2018 7:00 pm, Pluto TV | | Montana State | W 88–78 | 18–7 (10–3) | Cowan Spectrum (1,019) Moscow, ID |
| Feb 17, 2018 7:00 pm, Pluto TV | | Montana | W 79–77 $^{OT}$ | 19–7 (11–3) | Cowan Spectrum (1,839) Moscow, ID |
| Feb 22, 2018 6:00 pm, Pluto TV | | at Idaho State | L 83–86 | 19–8 (11–4) | Reed Gym (1,976) Pocatello, ID |
| Feb 24, 2018 6:00 pm, ELVN | | at Weber State | W 68–62 | 20–8 (12–4) | Dee Events Center (7,513) Ogden, UT |
| Mar 1, 2018 7:00 pm, Pluto TV | | Northern Arizona | W 66–52 | 21–8 (13–4) | Cowan Spectrum (1,269) Moscow, ID |
| Mar 3, 2018 7:00 pm, Pluto TV | | Southern Utah | W 78–76 | 22–8 (14–4) | Cowan Spectrum (3,219) Moscow, ID |
| Big Sky tournament ||||||
| Mar 8, 2018 5:30 pm, ELVN | (2) | vs. (10) Southern Utah | L 78–92 | 22–9 | Reno Events Center (1,078) Reno, NV |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Pacific Time. ||||||