Vandals Receive Oral Commitments From Jc Duo

Two players have made oral commitments to play for the University of Idaho men’s basketball team.

Snow College (Ephraim, Utah) post Travis Visentin and Coffeyville (Kansas) College swingman Steve Smith have committed to the Vandals.

The early signing period begins today.

Visentin, 6-foot-8 and 255 pounds, has scored 11 points in each of Snow’s two games this season. The sophomore averaged six points and five rebounds last year.

He was recruited by UTEP, Loyola Marymount and Southeastern Louisiana.

“They were kind of shocked that he went to Idaho, but he had a great visit and loved the staff, players and school,” Snow assistant Curtis Condie said. “He came back from his visit and said that’s the place for me.”

Visentin has only played organized basketball for four years. At his present size, Visentin would be the biggest player in Idaho’s program.

Smith, 6-5 and 215 pounds, is a freshman at Coffeyville. He’ll have three years of eligibility at Idaho.

Coffeyville also produced Corry Beavers, who signed with Idaho but is leaving because his mother is in failing health in Memphis.

Smith scored 21 points in Coffeyville’s season opener. He also was recruited by Arkansas-Little Rock.

“I wanted to sign early and get it out of the way so I can concentrate on the upcoming season,” he told JuCo Junction.

College volleyball

Washington State University outside hitter LaToya Harris has been named the Pacific-10 Conference volleyball player of the week for Oct. 31-Nov. 5.

Harris, a sophomore from Portland, helped keep postseason aspirations alive for sixthplace WSU (15-8, 6-8) as it defeated California and No. 17 Stanford. During the week, Harris hit .303 with 29 kills (4.14 kpg) and nine errors in 66 attempts. She also posted 20 digs (2.86 dpg) and nine blocks (1.29 bpg).

In the win over California, Harris hit .350 with 11 kills, seven digs and five blocks, then posted a .283 hitting percentage with 18 kills, 13 digs, four blocks and three aces in the upset victory over the Cardinal.

Harris leads the Cougars in kills (4.05 kpg), digs (3.09 dpg) and service aces (0.35 apg).

This is the first weekly honor for Harris, who earned Washington State’s 17th player-of-the-week honor all-time. The Cougars travel to Oregon and Oregon State this weekend then close out the regular season at home Dec. 16-17 against No. 7 UCLA and and No. 6 USC.