The reshaping of the nearly 40-year-old Kibbie Dome continued Wednesday, when the University of Idaho gained approval from the State Board of Education to install a 50-foot wide, 30-foot tall video board on the east wall of the stadium.

The board will be ready for football games this fall and cost $1.15 million, according to the Idaho Statesman. The athletic department's portion of the total is $787,321, all of which is being funded privately.

Athletic director Rob Spear said tonight that two of the five advertising panels on the state-of-the-art board have yet to be sold. The main sponsor is the Idaho Potato Commission, which will have a large Famous Idaho Potatoes banner across the top of the board. Also involved are Blue Cross of Idaho and Commercial Tire. “I’m very confident we’ll sell two panels,” said Spear, noting that sponsors are paying for the advertising rights over five years but will be able to keep their name on the board for 10 years.

The Kibbie Dome in recent years has undergone a major facelift, getting translucent light panels on both ends, a new club room (surrounded by suites and premium seats) and a new press box. Spear has also pushed through a new weight room, updated lockers and meeting rooms and an outdoor practice field.

“It’s night and day from where it was before,” Spear said.

Former Idaho football coach Robb Akey has filed a lawsuit against the university and the State Board of Education in an attempt to claim a lump-sum media payment withheld from him when he was fired in October.

Akey confirmed the lawsuit Tuesday night to The Spokesman-Review. He declined to go into the specifics of the suit, only to say “Ray Charles could see” what he was seeking from his former employer.

If Akey had finished the 2012 season, he would have received the second of two $105,000 media payments as part of his roughly $375,000 salary. But he was let go with four games left on the Vandals' schedule.

Shortly after he was fired, Akey told the S-R, “If I had coached four more games, they would have had to pay me a third of my salary. You lose a third of your salary it affects your ability to feed your family, so it’s a little disappointing.”

His contract stated that he would receive the second half of the media payment “provided (he) has fully participated in media programs and public appearances” through the team's final regular season game or postseason appearance. 

Akey, whose record was 20-50 as Idaho coach, will be paid his base annual salary of $165,796 through the end of 2014 if he doesn't find a job before then.

Idaho athletic director Rob Spear told the S-R that his department doesn't comment on pending litigation.

For the first time since 2007, Idaho didn't have a player selected in the NFL draft. But at least a few former Vandals will get tryouts via undrafted free agent deals or invitations to minicamps. That includes punter Bobby Cowan, who signed a free agent contract with the Oakland Raiders. Cowan's signing was mentioned by Idaho athletic director Rob Spear and several of Cowan's former teammates on Twitter.

Safety Gary Walker also announced on Twitter that he struck a deal with Baltimore, while cornerback Aaron Grymes (Green Bay) and receiver Justin Veltung (Seattle) appear to have snagged minicamp invites.

Cowan, one of the top punters in Idaho history, will get a chance to replace longtime Raiders punter Shane Lechler, who signed with Houston in March. Lechler was drafted in the fifth round in 2000 and established himself as an All Pro. Lechler's replacement is expected to be Marquette King — but Cowan might have something to say about that.

UPDATED

Three days after the close of spring football, Idaho coach Paul Petrino is suddenly in the hunt for two new defensive assistants. Read on for our brief story.
  

Spring football is over for the Idaho Vandals, and overall Paul Petrino said it was a success. His quarterbacks stayed healthy — despite taking a constant beating — and the same players on offense and defense stepped up over 15 sessions. But he was most impressed by how his team got tougher, something he could see in the way players got themselves off the turf after getting hit. 

We have our spring game story below, as well as lots of quotes to pass along.

Idaho coach Paul Petrino met with the media today to preview the Vandals' spring game. And yes, this will be as close to a real game as you can have in the spring. More after the jump.

Glen Dean, the former Eastern Washington University guard and brother of Idaho signee Perrion Callandret, will graduate from Utah and transfer to UI, the Salt Lake Tribune reported. Dean has one year of eligibility left and can play immediately for the Vandals under NCAA rules.

Idaho coach Don Verlin said he could not comment when contacted by The Spokesman-Review.

Dean transferred to Utah after two successful years with the Eagles. The 5-foot-10 Seattle native averaged 5.5 points in 25.4 minutes per game last season with the Utes in the Pac-12 after averaging 13.3 ppg in 2010-11 and 12.2 ppg in 2009-10 at EWU.

Dean will be one of seven additions to Verlin's roster next year. The Vandals completed a six-man signing class yesterday, and Verlin told the S-R that a “couple guys” are planning to transfer. 

After signing two players in the early signing period, the Idaho men's basketball team added four more Wednesday — three junior college signees and prep guard Suki Wiggs from Seattle. The four signees include two point guards and two power forwards.

Click below for more details.

The big takeaways from Idaho's final warmup scrimmage for Friday's spring game? Chad Chalich appears to be the No. 1 quarterback going into summer. Paul Petrino agan called his two top running backs, Kris Olugbode and Jerrel Brown, “the biggest studs” of camp. And he again appreciated the Vandals' defense flying around and making plays.

We've got a summary below.

In Idaho coach Paul Petrino's experience, only about 50 percent of junior-college signees become dependable players. But five of the seven JC players he signed in January as early enrollees have already made big impacts this spring, and all five played well in Saturday's scrimmage.

The new JC players, particularly Kris Olugbode, are the subject of our story below. Keep reading for that and notes.

UPDATED

After the Idaho State Board of Education approved the University of Idaho's request to seek membership in the Sun Belt Conference, athletic director Rob Spear confirmed via Twitter that UI will join its old conference in football only in 2014. Spear tweeted: “I want to the thank our State Board of Education and Regent of the UI for approving football membership in the Sun Belt.”

We've got our full story below and a few additional notes.

The University of Idaho this week will seek permission from the State Board of Education to join the Sun Belt Conference as a football-only member in 2014, the Idaho Statesman reported Monday. UI athletic director Rob Spear told the Statesman that the apparent invitation from the Sun Belt has brought a “sense of relief.” Idaho left the Sun Belt in 2005 after four years to join the WAC, which has disintegrated with its core membership leaving for more stable conferences.

Spear told The Spokesman-Review that Idaho will likely meet with the State Board on Wednesday. The Vandals will operate as an FBS independent this fall, and they had already scheduled games as an independent for 2014.

ESPN.com reported Monday the Sun Belt will add Appalachian State and Georgia Southern in 2015. Both schools are currently in the FCS. In the story, Sun Belt comissioner Karl Benson, who brought Idaho to the WAC in 2005, said Idaho and New Mexico State were being considered by his new conference.

The Vandals had come back twice this season versus New Mexico State to set up wild finishes. But they couldn't make the same late-game charge this afternoon in the quarterfinals of the WAC tournament. Sixth-seeded UI fell 65-49 to finish the year 12-18.

In the final game of his accomplished career, Kyle Barone scored 19 points, but he had only five rebounds — half his average during WAC play — against the big frontline of the Aggies. Connor Hill was the only Vandal to reach double-digit points, with 14 on 5-of-11 shooting. UI made just 3 of 19 3-pointers (16 percent) after canning 13 last week against Seattle U. 

With another quarterfinal loss, Idaho moved to 0-5 in the WAC tourney under Don Verlin. NMSU (22-10) advanced to play No. 7 seed Texas State, which shocked second-seeded Denver 72-68.

Christian Caple was at the game and filed this story.

Stephen Madison and the other veterans for Idaho know what the Orleans Arena is like early on the first real day of the WAC tournament: lots of empty seats, quiet, kind of surreal in such a big venue. “You’ve got to bring your own energy, bring your own passion and just show what you’ve got,” Madison said.

We'll see what the Vandals have got at noon against New Mexico State in the quarterfinals. Keep reading below.

After 125 games over four seasons, Kyle Barone is at or near the top in almost every meaningful statistical category in Idaho men's basketball history. And Sunday he accomplished another feat: He became the first Vandal to be honored as WAC player of the year.

Barone, the 6-foot-10 senior center who has played the most games in UI history, led the WAC by averaging 18.2 points and 10.9 rebounds per game in conference play. Last night he registered his 16th double-double of the season and ninth game with at least 20 points and 10 rebounds.

The Garden Grove, Calif., product was the only Vandal to be recognized by the coaches, and his award comes after UI finished sixth in the conference. But he was clearly the most consistent (and often dominant) player this season, from start to finish.

More below.

Mike McChristian's day was made well before the Vandals tipped off with Seattle U. He got a surprise visit from his mother, who flew in from California just in time to watch her son drop a career-high 26 points — and go on one of the most impressive 3-point displays in recent Idaho history — in a 76-72 win.

We've got our story and notes below after the Vandals' final game of the regular season.

It's been two weeks since the Idaho basketball team played at Cowan Spectrum. In that time, the Vandals have won two out of three and had their seed (and opponent) determined for next week's WAC tournament. But before the postseason starts, they play their last game of the regular season against Seattle U at home.

We've got the full rundown below, and we also have more on the remarkable career of Kyle Barone.

For the second time this season and fourth time of his career, Kyle Barone, Idaho's accomplished center, has been named the WAC Player of the Week. The conference's top rebounder and third-leading scorer strung together two more double-doubles last week — his 14th and 15th of the season. He had 26 points and 14 rebounds in a win at Texas State on Saturday that helped UI lock up the sixth seed in next week's WAC tournament.

Barone will be honored Saturday night as part of Idaho's Senior Night festivities. The Vandals (11-17, 6-11) host Seattle U at 7:05.

February was a miserable month for the Idaho Vandals. They squeaked out a win at home over San Jose State on Feb. 2 … then lost five straight WAC games. But even with the late-season swoon, the Vandals likely have done enough to avoid the opening round of the WAC tournament that will feature the bottom four teams. Today's 90-81 win at Texas State all but assured that.

We've got more on Idaho's 11th win of the season below.

If Idaho's season wasn't slipping away before tonight, it certainly is now. The Vandals were poleaxed by Texas-San Antonio in the final 20 minutes of a 74-56 loss. It was another unsightly loss for UI — its fifth in six games — and suddenly the Vandals are in danger of falling into seventh place in the WAC and the play-in round of the conference tournament in two weeks.

We've got all the details below, including coach Don Verlin questioning his team's heart and effort.