Small school basketball: Spokane Colleges focus on growing with local talent
During the first few scrimmages, the mix of new guys along with the returning players has affirmed what Spokane men’s basketball coach Jeremy Groth expected when his roster was constructed over the past few months: the Sasquatch will be ready to compete right away.
Sophomore Grant Olsen, an all-league player a season ago, and Eli Hunter, a guard out of Bozeman, Montana, are both expected to take on larger roles for Spokane.
The new faces who will see minutes right away are Javonte Boles and Jack Del Mese, both freshmen and the latter being a Spokane native.
Del Mese is a guard from University High who led the Greater Spokane League in scoring in 2024 and Boles is from Nampa, Idaho.
Bryce Lynd is the other newcomer from Spokane, a 6-3 freshman who graduated from Mead.
“We’re trying to keep the best local players that are around the area in Spokane,” Groth said. “We’re trying to keep those guys here in Spokane, if we can, if they don’t get a great four-year deal, and they’re open to staying around. We want to try to keep those guys home.”
The roster in general has seen a new level of toughness that Groth is expecting to flash against the Sasquatch’s opponents.
North Idaho men
As with most junior college rosters, the turnover from year to year can alter plans for the season ahead. The Cardinals have nine freshmen, five sophomores and one junior on the roster, but the five sophomores are big-time players who will drive this team.
But the incoming freshmen will push the sophomores with their talent level, head coach Corey Symons said.
“It’s getting them into the system and getting the younger guys up to speed,” he said. “We had a great recruiting class, we just need to get ready for the regular season.”
The freshmen to watch are Nyale Robinson, a guard out of Seattle; Justus Haseley, a guard out of Canada; and two Wasatch Academy players in Aly Toure (Mail, Africa) and Austin Ouko (Switzerland).
Ne’quan Brown, a sophomore all-conference guard in 2024, is currently sidelined from contact while recovering from a blood clot. The expectation is that he will be ready for the season opener.
Spokane women
The goal for the Sasquatch is to reach their peak sooner than the rest of the teams from the Northwest Athletic Conference.
Doing that means they will be ahead of the curve when it comes to the other JUCO programs.
With so much turnover year to year, it is up to head coach Brittany Davis – formerly Kennedy – to construct a roster that competes right away with a ceiling to contend for a title.
Spokane has five returning players and that is an indication of the culture Davis and her staff have built.
“I will say, we’ve been very blessed and fortunate,” she said. “We haven’t had kids leaving because they don’t want to play anymore. They are moving on because they’ve played their two years. It is a testament to my assistants and players who are creating that culture of, ‘I want to be here and play for Spokane.’ ”
NIC women
The Cardinals made a run at the conference title in 2024 and head coach Nathan Covill recruited with the goal of winning it this season.
Key returners are sophomores Summer Faleafa, from New Zealand, and Chloe Collin, out of Canada.
Faleafa has turned some heads at the NCAA Division I level.
NIC made a concerted effort to bring in more size this offseason, and the team did so in order to compete with the more athletic players in the Scenic West Athletic Conference (a member of the National Junior College Athletic Association).
Now two years into their move, Covill feels as if his roster is where he wants it to be to challenge on a more consistent basis.
But they won’t sneak up on anyone this year after they challenged for the title last year.
“We want to play our best basketball in February and March,” Covill said. “And the group of young ladies that we’ve had so far are spirited, get along well, have been great to coach, so I’m excited about it.”
Notes
For the first time since 2022, the men’s and women’s teams will face off in the renewed rivalry.
Since NIC left the NWAC, the Cardinals and the Sasquatch have been unable to find a gap in the schedule to play.
All four coaches are thankful for the opportunity to rekindle the local flame with the hopes that the games will be scheduled regularly again moving forward.
“It’s exciting to play those guys again over in North Idaho,” Groth said. “Corey does a good job. Obviously, they’re a very successful program as well. So it’s good to renew that rivalry. Looking forward to that again.”
“Brittany (Davis) is someone who I’ve always reached out to about getting the game, and this year we’re able to make it work,” Covill added. “And so I would love to, as long as I’m here, I’d love to continue to play them.”