Northwest Notes Oct. 31, 2024
Vandals seventh in FCS committee rankings
INDIANAPOLIS — Idaho was picked seventh out by NCAA FCS Football Selection Committee in its lone in-season rankings, released during College Football Live on Wednesday.
Idaho is 6-3 on the season with wins over three then-ranked teams and FBS Wyoming. Idaho's losses came to teams who are a combined 23-1, all of them coming on the road and the two FCS losses coming without starting quarterback Jack Layne, who returned to action last week against Eastern Washington.
The Vandals are seventh in the in-season ranking for the second season in a row. A year ago, Idaho earned the fourth seed in the FCS Championship Playoffs.
Idaho is in its bye week and begins the final stretch of the season at Portland State on Nov. 9 before hosting Weber State on Nov. 16 and visiting Idaho State in the regular season finale on Nov. 23.
Cardinals open Region 18
soccer tournaments today
The North Idaho College men’s and women’s soccer teams will open postseason play today in the Region 18 Championships at Salt Lake Community College in Taylorsville, Utah.
NIC’s women (7-7-3), seeded third, will face second-seeded Snow (14-1-2) in a semifinal match today at 9:30 a.m. Top-seeded Salt Lake (14-2) will face fourth-seeded Colorado Northwestern (9-5-4) in the other semifinal today at 7 a.m.
The championship match is scheduled for 10 a.m. on Saturday.
Snow swept the season series between the programs.
The Cardinal men (13-3-3), also seeded third, face second-seeded Snow (11-3-2) at 2:30 p.m. The teams split matches during the regular season, with each winning on the road.
Top-seeded Salt Lake (15-0-1) faces fourth-seeded Utah State-Eastern (7-7-3) in the first men’s semifinal at noon.
Thursday’s winners will advance to the championship game on Saturday at 1 p.m.
The tournament is available at www.scenicwestnetwork.com.
Gonzaga's Ike named to NABC
Player of the Year watch list
Gonzaga's Graham Ike was named to the National Association of Basketball Coaches preseason watch list for the Division I Player of the Year.
Ike led the West Coast Conference in scoring during league play at 18.4 points per game, and a conference-best 64% shooting. He scored 20 or more points in 11 of 16 conference games, including the last seven. The redshirt senior was third in the conference, averaging 16.5 points per game and was fifth with 7.4 rebounds a game.
The winner will be announced during the week of the 2025 Men's Final Four.
Gonzaga's Ajayi, BSU's Degenhart
named to Erving watch list
Gonzaga's Michael Ajayi and Boise State's Tyson Degenhart was named to the Julius Erving Small Forward of the Year Top 20 Preseason Watch list, announced by the Basketball Hall of Fame.
Ajayi, a transfer from Pepperdine, led the West Coast Conference in scoring last season at 17.1 points per game. As a junior, he was second in the WCC grabbing 9.9 rebounds per outing. He made 46.7 percent from the field, including 47 percent from behind-the-arc. Ajayi scored at least 20 points 11 times this season and hit 30 twice.
Degenhart, the former Mt. Spokane High star, was named this season’s Mountain West Preseason Player of the Year on Oct. 17, is coming off his junior campaign last year in which he averaged 16.7 points on 50.3% field goal shooting as well as 6.2 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.1 blocks in 32 games. The Spokane, Wash. native was a first team Academic All-American, first team NABC All-District 17 selection, and first team All-Mountain West honoree.
Eastern's Chism named finalist
for Doris Robinson Award
Eastern Washington senior Efton Chism II was named a finalist for the 2024 FedEx Doris Robinson Scholar-Athlete Award, which honors an FCS student-athlete to exemplifies excellence on the field, in the classroom and across the community.
The Monroe, Wash. native is one of 13th FCS players making the cut for the Scholar Athlete award
The winner will be announced on Dec. 10 and honored at the Stats Perform FCS National Awards Banquet on Jan. 4 in Frisco, Texas. The 13 finalists will also be profiled by TheAnalyst.com in the lead up to the winner’s announcement.
In his final season on the Red, Chism has separated himself as the top receiver in the Big Sky. He leads the conference with 864 receiving yards, 106 more than Idaho State’s Christian Fredricksen for second on the leaderboard. Chism’s 76 receptions is 27 clear of the Bengals’ Jeff Weimer for second as well. With eight receiving touchdowns, Chism is tied for the lead with Weber State’s Jacob Sharp. The senior averages 9.5 receptions per game and 108.0 yards.