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Eastern Washington University Basketball

Idaho, Eastern Washington see two players each make All-Big Sky preseason basketball teams

Eastern Washington Eagles forward Kourtney Grossman (22) makes a basket against Idaho Vandals forward Sarah Brans (2) during a Big Sky women’s basketball game on Feb. 15 at Reese Court in Cheney. (James Snook/The Spokesman-Review)
By Dan Thompson The Spokesman-Review

Two Idaho players and two Eastern Washington players were named to the All-Big Sky Conference preseason men’s and women’s basketball teams, which were released by the league on Thursday.

Idaho’s Hope Hassmann and Jack Payne were named to the women’s and men’s teams, respectively. Eastern’s Kourtney Grossman and Andrew Cook were also voted onto the teams, which are each composed of six players, including a preseason MVP.

Sacramento State’s Benthe Versteeg is the women’s preseason MVP, while Montana’s Money Williams is the MVP for the men.

Hassmann, a junior from Maple Valley, Washington, was an all-conference honorable mention last season when she averaged 12.3 points and made 92.3% of her free throw attempts across 30 starts for the Vandals.

Payne, a redshirt junior originally from Boise, was also an all-conference honorable mention a year ago when he started 32 games and averaged 10.8 points and 5.1 rebounds.

Kourtney Grossman was the Big Sky’s Freshman of the Year in 2024-25 and was also an honorable mention on the all-conference list. She had 14 double-doubles last year and averaged one overall, grabbing 10.5 rebounds per game and scoring an average of 10.5 points. She is originally from Billings, Montana.

Andrew Cook’s selection for the Eagles is bittersweet, as the grad senior guard is out for the season after having surgery to repair his broken ankle, an injury he suffered in practice earlier this month. He is coming off a 2024-25 season – his first at Eastern – when he averaged 16.1 points per game and made 88.7% of his free throws.

Cook is expected to rejoin the Eagles soon after he completes his initial recovery at home in Huntington Beach, California.

Rounding out the men’s preseason all-conference team are three Portland State players: Terri Miller Jr., Jaylin Henderson and Tre-Vaughn Minott. In the preseason polls released on Wednesday, the Vikings were predicted to finish second, behind first place Montana.

Joining Grossman, Hassmann and Versteeg on the women’s team are Montana State’s Taylee Chirrick and two players from Montana, Avery Waddington and Mack Konig.