GALLERY - OPENING SCRIMMAGE

With plenty of returners and a strong freshman class, the Idaho men's basketball team held a high-energy first practice to start the 2017-18 season Friday, a session that looked anything but rusty.
 
"With eight returning guys and six new guys, it's going to be a lot of fun," Idaho head coach Don Verlin said. "It's going to take some time as it does every year so we're going to work like crazy."
 
Junior forward Nate Sherwood emphasized the importance of setting a good example for the new players.
 
"It's always battle," he said. "Got a lot of young guys out here learning and they're all playing hard, doing the best they can. Got a bunch of old guys out here trying to help them. It's always a competition on the floor."
 
The Vandals added a strong group of freshman for the season. Losini Kamara, Geno West and Garrett Kingman join the team at guard and Jared Rodriguez, Scott Blakney and Cassius Smits-Francisco at forward.
 
"I'm excited about all the news guys and what they bring to our program," Verlin said. "They have great attitudes, they have a high work capacity. It's going to be a lot of fun to coach these guys for the next four years.
 
 "We've got a couple freshman that are good size.  We have good size on the perimeter, I don't think size is going to be our problem throughout the year."
 
Senior point guard Perrion Callandret is back in action, according to Verlin.
"He looks like he's ready to go to me," Verlin said. "He's in good shape and had no problem with the knees."
 
Senior forward Arkadiy Mkrtychyan returned to the Vandals after playing in the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 European Pre-Qualifiers on Team Armenia.
 
Guard Victor Sanders also returns for Idaho. Sanders has the second most career 3's in program history with 191 and finished last season ranked fourth in the Big Sky with 20.9 points per game. He declared for the NBA Draft over the summer, under the NBA Collective Bargaining Agreement that allows underclassmen to enter, then withdraw to maintain NCAA eligibility, to test their draft stock. Sanders had the opportunity to practice with several NBA teams.
 
Verlin has high expectations for Sanders in his senior year.
 
"I think as Vic continues to grow and get stronger and gets a little more disciplined defensively, he could be one of the premier guards in this league," he said.
 
The Vandals have over a month to prepare for their Nov. 5 exhibition game against Lewis-Clark State College 4 p.m. in Moscow. Idaho starts Big Sky play against North Dakota Dec. 29 in Grand Forks.
 
"There's a number of good teams in this league," Verlin said. "I think it's a good competitive league. For us it really comes down to three games in the season in March in Reno."