Northwest Notes August 16, 2016
Cougar football game against Oregon a sellout
PULLMAN — Washington State athletics announced Monday the Oct. 1 football game against Oregon in Martin Stadium is a sellout.
The Cougar Ticket Office will open up a limited number of standing room only tickets for the Oregon game today at 9 a.m.
“Both season and individual game tickets have been selling quickly,” said Assistant Athletic Director, Ticket Sales and Service Matt Zollinger said. “Oregon will be a sellout and we are over 90 percent capacity for both Eastern Washington and the Apple Cup. I expect all our games to continue trending in the right direction with the goal of selling out all seven games this season.”
Last season the Cougars sold out two games, vs. Oregon State and Arizona State.
Falk named to Manning Award watch list
PULLMAN — Washington State quarterback Luke Falk was named to the Manning Award Watch List, announced by the Sugar Bowl on Monday.
Falk is one of 30 quarterbacks named to the list heading into the 2016 season. The winner will be selected by a voting panel, which includes national media and each of the Mannings, after the bowls. Falk was also named to watch lists for the Maxwell Award (Player of the Year), the Davey O’Brien Award (Top Quarterback) and Walter Camp (Player of the Year).
The Manning Award was created by the Sugar Bowl in honor of the college football accomplishments of Archie, Peyton and Eli Manning. It is the only quarterback award that includes the candidates’ bowl performances in its balloting.
Inclusion on the Watch List is not necessary for the quarterbacks to be selected for the honor. Midseason additions to the Watch List will be announced on Wednesday, Oct. 12. The list of 10 finalists will be released on Wednesday, Nov. 30. The winner will be announced on Wednesday, Jan. 11.
Ex-EWU star Jois signs to play in Estonia
Venky Jois, Eastern Washington University’s all-time leading scorer, signed recently to play basketball with Tartu Ulikool/Rock, a club located in the European country of Estonia.
After having tryouts with NBA teams this past spring, Jois returned to his native Australia and made an appearance with the Dandenong Rangers, the club he played with prior to becoming an Eagle. Dandenong beat the touring University of Washington 100-96 in overtime on Aug. 3, with Jois scoring 10 points and grabbing seven rebounds.
Eastern’s 2016-17 team is now in Australia for an eight-game tour, and will actually play Dandenong on Aug. 22. Besides Jois, that club is the former home of current Eagles Michael Wearne and Mason Peatling.
At Eastern, Jois broke 10 school records and had 1,803 points, 1,015 rebounds and 240 blocked shots in his 122-game career as an Eagle, and helped open the floodgates for other Australians to attend EWU. He is from Boronia, located near Melbourne.
Tartu is one of the leading clubs in Estonia and will also play in the qualifiers for Europe’s newly named premier club competition, Basketball Champions League, in late September. Thus, Tartu will either win and play in the BCL or lose and fall into the second-tier FIBA Europe Cup. Regardless, Jois will have the opportunity to prove himself against many of the best players on the continent.
Jois, who excels at rebounding and attacking the basket, also wants to improve on the areas NBA clubs identified as needing work, namely his free throw shooting and his outside shooting. He finished with a school-record 67.9 percent field goal percentage as a senior at EWU and ranked fourth in his career at 58.3 percent. But he sank just 55.0 percent of his shots from the charity stripe in his career, including only 47.0 percent as a senior.
Vandals picked sixth, EWU eighth in Big Sky volleyball
OGDEN, Utah — The Idaho volleyball team was selected to finish sixth in the Big Sky in 2016 by a vote of the conference’s coaches, the league announced on Monday.
Idaho was the 2015 Big Sky North champions. Northern Arizona was selected to repeat as Big Sky champions. North Division foes Northern Colorado and North Dakota were selected second and third overall.
Idaho State and Sacramento State are predicted to be ahead of Idaho in fourth and fifth, respectively. Portland State and Eastern Washington round out the predicted tournament field in seventh and eighth. Weber State was picked to finish ninth, followed by Southern Utah, Montana State and Montana.
Idaho opens the season Aug. 26 at the University of New Mexico tournament. Eastern Washington begins the same day at the Bulldog Invitational in Starkville, Miss.
Empire signs DL Reynolds
SPOKANE — The Spokane Empire have signed defensive lineman Michael Reynolds to their 2017 IFL roster.
Reynolds (LB, 6-2, 240, Kansas) joins the Empire for his rookie season as a member of the IFL. Reynolds played all four of his collegiate seasons at Kansas where he saw action in 47 total contests as a Jayhawk. During his junior season, Reynolds finished the season with 37 total tackles and led the team with 6.5 sacks. As a senior, Reynolds started all 12 games and ranked fourth in the nation and first in the Big 12 Conference with five forced fumbles. He also led the Jayhawks in tackles for loss (14.5) and sacks (7.0), while finishing the season with 45 total tackles.
Michael originally signed with the Empire prior to the 2016 season but did not report as he awaited an opportunity with the Major League Football (MLFB) startup. He also spent time with the NFL’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
“Michael is a natural pass rusher with great athleticism,” Empire coach Adam Shackleford said. “In college he showed he can be a versatile stand-up outside linebacker but also can contribute in stopping the run.”