Nieman Fulfilling Prophecy UI Freshman One Of Big West’s Best

Present Alli Nieman an unlikely situation, and she’ll give the All-Alli likely response.

Question: If you were asked to vote for the Big West Conference freshman of the year, who would you vote for?

“I don’t think I’d vote for me,” said Nieman, immediately rejecting the thought as if she’d be stricken with a knee injury if the idea crept into her head.

Tell Nieman, the University of Idaho women’s basketball forward, there’s big talk she’ll probably be the one when the conference announces its selection Wednesday. With head down and face flush, a hint of a smile crosses her face.

Self-promotion isn’t Nieman’s schtick. Playing sports is. And the impact she’s had on the Vandals’ success has been staggering.

After four straight losing seasons, the Vandals enter the Big West Conference Tournament that begins Wednesday in Reno, Nev., with a respectable 13-13 overall, 8-6 conference record. They finished second in the Eastern Division behind Nevada (13-12, 9-5) and play No. 3 Pacific (9-17, 8-7) of the West at approximately 2:30 p.m. Earlier this season, the Tigers beat the Vandals 64-54 at Memorial Gym.

In the Vandals’ 26 games, Nieman led in scoring 16 times and led or tied in rebounding 22 times.

Did the Vandals think Nieman would make her mark this quickly?

“You bet!” said Idaho’s third-year coach, Julie Holt. “History showed what she has done from the ninth grade on. She’s been put in that role her whole life.

“Plus, just knowing her as a person …”

And to know her, is to expect All-Alli responses.

In her hometown of Sandpoint last year, the town folks politely but persistently probed about her college decision. Volleyball or basketball? And where?

“We’ve heard you’ve gotten some letters from colleges,” they said.

“Yes, a few,” she responded, with a hint of a smile crossing her face.

A few? How about enough to wallpaper the side of a barn?

“They wrote from everywhere,” her mother, Wendy, recalled.

“Oregon was berserk for her, especially the women’s basketball coach. They wrote to her five times a week. Puzzles, little pictures, everything. I’m not exaggerating. If we didn’t get a piece of mail from Oregon, Alli would say, ‘Hmm, I wonder what’s wrong?”’

Idaho won the bidding war in an early knockout for two simple reasons. Volleyball coach Tom Hilbert and Holt worked together so Nieman is able to play both sports. She redshirted in volleyball last fall, but will play both sports the next three years and just volleyball her fifth year.

The second deciding factor was that her parents and kid brother Paul can easily make it to Idaho home games.

“Everyone said, ‘You should go to the Pac-10, you’re selling yourself short,”’ Nieman said. “Conferences really didn’t matter to me.”

However, she can’t ignore that she was named Big West Conference player of the week twice this season, most recently in mid-February after scoring 36 points against Nevada. Nor can she discount her statistics.

Nieman, a solid 6-foot-1, is among the conference overall leaders in six of nine categories. She’s third in scoring (18.3 points per game), third in rebounding (9.4 average) and fourth in free-throw percentage (147 of 191 for 77 percent).

Coincidentally, her closest competition as freshman of the year is expected to be Mead High School graduate Stacy Clinesmith, who runs Big West tournament-favorite UC Santa Barbara (21-5, 14-1).

“I would be stunned if it wasn’t one of the two,” said coach Mark French, whose Gauchos open against Boise State (9-16, 7-7) Wednesday at 12:30 p.m.

Clinesmith, a Spokane Stars AAU teammate and good friend of Nieman, hasn’t been anything short of sensational her first year. She is among the leaders in four categories. She leads the Big West in 3-point percentage (49 of 115 for .43 percent) and ranks third in assists (4.9 average).

“Alli Nieman is a great player and one of the premier players in the Big West. I feel very much the same about Stacy,” French said. “You kind of have to pick and choose between the two of them. It could come down to who did the most damage for each individual coach.”

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: 2 Photos (1 Color)

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: NIEMAN’S NUMBERS Points per game 18.3 Rebounds per game 9.4 Free throws .770 Field goals .488