Northwest Notes Dec. 18, 2020

Vandal hoops voice King adds football duties

MOSCOW — Chris King, radio voice of University of Idaho men's basketball, has added Vandal football play-by-play duties following the departure of Dennis Patchin.

Patchin, the voice of Vandal football the past five seasons, stepped down after recently taking over as sports director at KHQ/SWX.

"It is an honor to be following in the footsteps of Bob Curtis, Tom Morris and Dennis Patchin, and I’m humbled at the opportunity to carry on the rich broadcast history for Vandal football,” King said. “I’m incredibly thankful to Director of Athletics Terry Gawlik and everyone at Learfield IMG College for entrusting me with this position."

King is in his eighth year with the Vandals, serving as the primary play-by-play broadcaster for Idaho men’s basketball. The National Sports Media Association 2017 Idaho Sportscaster of the Year, King has also previously called Vandal football games with recent standouts Matt Linehan and Austin Rehkow for broadcasts on PlutoTV. Originally from Marysville, Wash., and a graduate of Washington State, King spends his summers calling games for the Tri-City Dust Devils.

“Dennis (Patchin) was a huge part of our program,” Idaho football coach Paul Petrino said. “I loved being around him. He’s always so upbeat and so positive. He was great to me, great to my family and outstanding to all of our players. Always professional. We’re going to greatly miss him. He was a huge positive of me having this job and a great person that I loved being around.”

Idaho men’s basketball heads to Salt Lake City today for a bout with Utah at 6 p.m. The Vandal football program returns to town in January for preseason camp, with the regular season scheduled to begin on Feb. 27.

Times change for EWU-NAU

doubleheader in Flagstaff

Because of Covid-19 testing protocols, the times for Eastern Washington University's men's basketball doubleheader this weekend at Northern Arizona in Flagstaff, Ariz., will be altered.

Eastern will play at 6:05 p.m. Pacific time tonight and again at 3:05 p.m. Pacific time on Saturday, pending the result of a PCR test within the Eastern program. Both games were scheduled to take place at 11:05 a.m. Pacific time the next two days.

The games, if played, will take place at the Rolle Activity Center on the NAU campus, and are the Big Sky Conference openers for both schools. Northern Arizona is traveling to Denver for a game on Sunday, therefore, that day is not an option for an EWU-NAU game.

The Eagles enter the doubleheader with a 1-4 record, including a trio of losses by a total of just 11 points after leading at halftime and with 10 minutes left in each. The Lumberjacks are 0-3.

Chiefs release overage players Porter, King

SPOKANE — Overage players James Porter Jr. and Michael King have been released and cleared WHL waivers, the Spokane Chiefs announced Thursday.

Porter is a goalie from Bonners Ferry. King is a forward from Winnipeg, Manitoba.

Porter was picked up midway through the 2019-20 regular season after a season-ending injury to Campbell Arnold. In 10 games, the veteran netminder made a big impact, posting a 1.94 goals against average and .923 save percentage, including back-to-back shutouts in early February. He allowed two or fewer goals in six of his eight starts. Porter started his career with the Kelowna Rockets and boasts 83 career games played with a 3.11 GAA and .900 SV%.

“These move are never easy and this is no exception,” Chiefs general manager Scott Carter said. “With the league limit on 20-year-olds, we wanted to make this decision as early as possible to provide Michael and James the opportunity to pursue other options. We wish them the best in their future endeavors, on and off the ice.”

WHL clubs are limited to three overage (20-year-old) players per season.

The transaction leaves the Chiefs with three 2000-born players on their roster: defenseman Bobby Russell, defenseman Matt Leduc and forward Eli Zummack.

Pac-12 announces upcoming

basketball television schedule

SAN FRANCISCO — The Pac-12 Conference announced its tip times and television schedule for the start of conference men’s basketball play through Jan. 17. With the television partners selected, Washington State will play five times on the conference’s Pac-12 Network while appearing once on Fox Sports 1.

The Cougs restart Pac-12 play Dec. 31 against Arizona State at 1 p.m. Starting the new year Jan. 2, WSU plays host to Arizona at 6:30 p.m. in the final home game of their 10-game homestand to start the 2020-21 season.

Hitting the road for the first time on the year, the Cougs play at Cal on Jan. 7 with a game time yet to be determined. Heading across the bay, WSU takes on Stanford on Jan. 9 at 6:30 p.m. The Cougs play at UCLA on Jan. 14 on FS1, tip time TBA. Two days later, the Cougs play at USC on Jan. 16, scheduled for a 6:30 p.m. tip.

The rest of the Pac-12 schedule with television and tip times will be announced at a later date.

Amateur earns exemption into

Circling Raven Championship

Allyn Stephens, by winning the girls 14-18 division at the Notah Begay III Junior Golf Championship last week, earned an exemption into next summer’s inaugural Circling Raven Championship, a Symetra “Road to the LPGA” Tour event.

The Circling Raven Championship has a partnership with NB3 JGNC. A popular professional golf broadcaster, Notah Begay is a Native American and erstwhile PGA Tour member who has dedicated himself, among other things, to promoting opportunities for youth through golf.

The Circling Raven Championship begins a three-year run with the inaugural event next summer. The original inaugural event, slated for summer 2020, was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I am so thankful to the Notah Begay III Junior Golf Championship and the Coeur d’Alene Tribe for giving me this incredible opportunity to test my game against some of the world’s best players,” said Stephens, from Houston, who shot 74-65-69 to finish 8 under par in the NB3 JGNC. “It has always been my dream to play professional golf and I can’t wait to get to Idaho next summer to play in the Circling Raven Championship.”

In addition to Begay’s Junior Tour champion, Stephens, the Tribe has provided a 2021 sponsor exemption to Gabby Lemieux, a Native American and Symetra Tour member.

The Circling Raven Championship is scheduled for Aug. 23-29, 2021 and feature a full field of competitors battling for $200,000 in prize money. Symetra Tour graduates have had great success on the LPGA, winning multiple events, including major championships. Nelly Korda, Inbee Park and Lorena Ochoa are some of the many players who reached the LPGA through the Symetra Tour.

Kick time for Mountain West

football title game pushed back

The kick time for Saturday’s Mountain West football championship game featuring Boise State and San Jose State has been adjusted to 1:40 p.m. PST.

The game, held at Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas, will be nationally televised on Fox (KAYU). The Broncos (5-1, 5-0 MW) and 25th-ranked Spartans (6-0, 6-0) were initially slated to kick at 1:15 p.m. PST.