The 2023 fall semester was full of many memorable moments on and off the field for Vandal Athletics. Today, we look back recognizing the community impact Idaho student-athletes and coaching staff members provided in the Moscow community.

Education Game with Idaho Women’s Basketball

The Idaho women’s basketball team welcomed over 1,000 students from kindergarten through sixth grade from six local elementary schools to enjoy a game against Saint Martin’s on December 19.

The event was the first opportunity for many of the local students to see the University of Idaho campus and have a chance to watch a collegiate sporting event live in person. 

The energy was constantly high from loudest fan challenges and cheering competitions between the local area schools, helping the Vandals earn a 63-44 win over the Saints leading into the holiday break.  

“This was a truly magnificent experience,” John Russell Elementary School Principal Marianne Sletteland expressed. “At Russell, we kind of kept it under wraps, until we had all the details worked out. On the day of the trip would could feel the excitement building in our little building, all of our students knew we were running on different schedules and they knew we were doing it because our WHOLE building was going on this trip. Once we got from Russell to the Arena and seated, the look on the faces of our students were looks of astounding amazement. The majority of our students have never attended a UI Basketball game let alone been in the ICCU Arena. Their amazement and excitement grew, never faltering, throughout the entire game. The cherry on the top for us was winning the loudest school, especially since I think we were the smallest one there.”

Idaho Men’s Basketball Introduces College Headed and Making Progress (CHAMPS) Program

The Idaho men’s basketball team is not only developing on the floor, but also making a difference in the lives of many young students in the Moscow community.

First-year head coach Alex Pribble and his staff started a community initiative called the College Headed and Making Progress (CHAMPS) program. Players and coaches attended John Russell Elementary School twice a month to meet with 15 students to talk about building healthy life habits and create excitement around attending college.

The players grouped up with fifth graders each day, spending 45 minutes talking about personal lives, family, heroes, favorite school subjects, hobbies, and a theme of the day, such as friendship.

Miles Klapper, a freshman guard from Hillsborough, California said, “I think it's just been a really humbling experience. As a student-athlete, you kind of get caught up in the stresses of everyday life but when you get to go and meet with kids like this you realize that we’re blessed and we're in a really good position. It’s in us to be the best role models we can possibly be.” 

Takai Hardy, a 6-7 freshman forward from Fairfield, California expressed, “It gives me a chance to make a child's day better and have fun with the kids. I think Coach Pribble does a good job emphasizing being a role model to the kids and youth.”

Outside of the classroom, players went out and spent time on the playground with students to play different games like basketball, football and four-square. They even got creative and invented different games to play. 

“We hope this continues on," Coach Pribble said. "This isn’t something we just want to do for one semester or a couple of times; this is something we want to do throughout our time here, so we hope this has a long-standing impact on the local community."

Women in Leadership Game

Head coach Carrie Eighmey and Idaho women’s basketball hosted women leaders Kara Besst (Gritman Medical Center), Melinda Schab (Moscow Food Co-Op), Sam Martinet (Moscow Chamber of Commerce), Jennifer Wallace (Habitat for Humanity) and Wendy Smiley Johnson (Moscow Alehouse) for the Women in Leadership game against Grand Canyon on December 17.

The Women in Leadership game was a great opportunity for Coach Eighmey to introduce her student-athletes to a number of strong women leaders in the community and celebrate their impact. Each leader was recognized at halftime with a signed game ball. 

 Idaho Women’s Basketball Launches High Five Fridays

Idaho women’s basketball made it a mission of theirs to spread some positivity around local elementary schools with a tradition called High Five Fridays.

The coaching staff and 14 players attended John Russell, A.B. McDonald, Lena Whitmore and West Park Elementary schools six times over this past fall to make a mark on the community and put a smile on students' faces.  

Brand the Moscow Community

Once student-athletes began to arrive on campus and the athletic year officially started, players, coaches and UI support staff members took time to visit local businesses and thank them for their continued support. Over 150 window decals with the I Vandal logo were distributed to help Brand the Town. The initiative presented the importance of dynamic relationship building and strengthened the connection between the University of Idaho and the community of Moscow. 

Groups of student-athletes and staff from men’s and women’s basketball participated in the project and assisted with the installation of the window decals, allowing business owners/staff and players to interact.