Brasch won’t join NIC staff

North Idaho College interim men’s basketball coach Jared Phay is going back to the drawing board. Not to doodle Xs and Os or zone defenses, but to find another assistant coach.

Plan A fell through when former Community Colleges of Spokane coach Sam Brasch decided not to join the staff. It appeared Brasch was set to return to coaching, although he hadn’t signed the official paperwork. He changed his mind and informed Phay of his decision following Saturday’s practice.

Brasch, who was the head coach at CCS for 21 years, acknowledged that he changed his mind, but he referred questions to Phay. Brasch has been out of coaching for two years.

“I don’t think there was one reason; there was probably a bunch,” Phay said. “He might have been so excited at first that he didn’t think about everything else involved. I’m not quite sure.”

Phay said he will huddle with athletic director Al Williams to figure out how to proceed. Phay and Williams were optimistic that Brasch would be the ideal hire with his experienced background and knowledge of the game.

“We’d like to get one more guy,” Phay said. “If nothing works out, then nothing works out and we’ll be OK.”

Corey Simmons, who was a prep teammate of Phay’s at Falls Christian, has joined Phay’s staff. Simmons, who played at Blue Mountain Community College and Northwest College in Kirkland, Wash., had been an assistant at Post Falls High.

NIC began practicing Oct. 1, roughly a month after former coach Hugh Watson accepted the coaching job at Lincoln Memorial University in Harrogate, Tenn. NIC opens the season against NBC Thunder on Nov. 2.

•The Scenic West Athletic Conference has altered its conference scheduling again. This year, the first half of the SWAC season will feature single games. The second half will be similar to last year, when the host team will face the visitors on consecutive nights. Teams will have 18 SWAC games, but the schedule won’t be truly balanced.

For example, NIC will entertain rival CSI once in the first half, but visit CSI for two games later in the season. The flip side is that NIC will play at national power Dixie once, but entertain the Rebels twice.

•The NIC Booster Club is organizing a men’s basketball all-class reunion for Nov. 12-13. Events will include a reception at the Coeur d’Alene Resort on Nov. 12, and an alumni game on Nov. 13. The NIC men’s team will entertain the Northwest All-Stars later that night.

There will be a halftime ceremony honoring the alumni players and officials will announce the formation of the Rolly Williams Scholarship, in recognition of the former NIC coach. Information: (208) 769-3348.