Northwest Notes March 31, 2020
Vandal Athletics Hall of Fame 2020 nominations now open Boise State’s Alston to test NBA Draft; keeps option to return to school Pac-12 extends suspension of team activities through May 31
MOSCOW — The nomination process for the 2020 class of the Vandal Athletics Hall of Fame is officially open.
The nomination process will run through the month of April, with the selection committee convening in May to determine the honorees.
The nominations can include any former student-athlete, coach, staff member or outstanding contributor to Idaho Athletics. Distinguished teams are also eligible. The full list of criteria for each category can be at govandals.com/hof.
Starting in 2007, the Vandal Athletics Hall of Fame inducted 102 charter members over the first two years, and has welcomed a new class every two years since.
All 16 current sports, as well as several other programs from boxing to baseball, are already represented in the Hall of Fame.
For more on the current members, visit govandals.com/hof.
BOISE — Boise State redshirt junior guard Derrick Alston, Jr. said he will enter his name into the 2020 NBA Draft, while maintaining his NCAA eligibility and keeping open the option to return to Boise State for his senior season.
“I am grateful for the opportunity to chase my dream, while retaining my NCAA eligibility and leaving the door open to return to Boise State,” Alston said in a news release. “This is the next step in my development. I am excited to give it everything I have and grow from it, not only as a basketball player but as a person as well.”
Alston will receive an evaluation from the NBA Undergraduate Advisory Committee, composed of NBA team executives. The evaluation includes a confidential projection of each early-entrant’s likely draft position. He can be invited to participate in workouts and tryouts for NBA teams, as well as the NBA Draft Combine and G League Elite Camp.
Under new NCAA legislation, student-athletes are also permitted to sign with and accept actual and necessary expenses from an NCAA-certified agent to aid in the pre-draft process without jeopardizing their NCAA eligibility. If they choose to return to school, the relationship with the agent must end upon enrolling for the upcoming academic term.
Alston scored 554 points this season, the 11th-most in program history, and lead the Broncos in scoring (17.3 points per game). He also led the team with 98 assists (3.1 apg) and ranked second in rebounding with 167 (5.2 rpg). Alston scored in double figures in 27 of the team’s 32 games, including 13 games with at least 20 points.
He became the 31st Bronco in program history to surpass 1,000 career points, doing so in the final game of the season. Alston scored 441 points (13.4 ppg) as a redshirt sophomore in 2018-19, after redshirting his first year on campus and playing just 26 minutes the following season.
Student-athletes who wish to remove their names from the NBA Draft and maintain NCAA eligibility must submit a letter to the NBA by the end of the day June 3.
SAN FRANCISCO — The Pac-12 announced Monday that following a meeting of its CEOs, it decided to extend its previously announced suspension of organized team activities through May 31 due to the coronavirus pandemic, with certain limited exceptions based upon student-athlete well-being, and with periodic re-evaluations over the coming weeks should circumstances warrant a change in policy.
Key elements of the suspension, the Pac-12 said, include the following:
• No organized, in-person team activities of any type;
• No in-person voluntary workouts, film study sessions, meetings, technique drills or practices of any type;
• Virtual or online supervised voluntary workouts and skill instruction are not permitted, regardless of location;
• Virtual group activities, including film study, are permitted to two (2) hours per week for football and four (4) hours per week for all other sports. We are appealing to the NCAA to increase the two-hour football limit in the near future;
• Coaches can recommend written, self-directed workout plans, and taped demonstration videos on workout plans are allowed in order to demonstrate proper form and technique;
• In-person, on-campus nutrition may be provided in circumstances where student-athletes are unable to leave campus, and off-campus nutrition is limited to distribution of products normally available on campus;
• It is fully permissible to provide non-athletically related support to student-athletes, including sports medicine treatments, physical therapy and rehabilitation; academic support; and mental health and wellness support; and
• It is permissible for institutions to provide off-campus student-athletes with apparel and personal equipment that is regularly available to student-athletes when they are on campus for conditioning workouts.
• It is not permissible to rent, purchase or arrange for conditioning or strength training equipment or machines.
