‘Representing our home’: UI, Gonzaga bands excited to cheer men’s and women’s teams in NCAA tournaments

The Idaho men’s basketball team hasn’t been to the NCAA tournament for 36 years.

But some members of the band spurring them on? They’re nearly veterans … albeit for a different team.

In 2024, 29 members from the University of Idaho pep band filled in for Yale’s band during the NCAA men’s basketball tournament. Yale’s band was unable to travel to Spokane for a game against the Auburn Tigers. After the Yale Bulldogs beat the Tigers, Yale coach James Jones said the band’s presence made a difference for the team. The band, nicknamed the “Vandogs” at the time, subbed for the Yale band twice during the tournament.

“That was probably one of the coolest experiences of my life, just because it was kind of so sudden and then we made such an impact. It spread like wildfire,” said Sierra Harlan, who will play the trumpet in the pep band for the men’s team this Thursday. “I was super grateful that we got that opportunity.”

Jesse Harlan played in the Vandal band for Yale and will play for the UI men’s team this week.

“It’s incredible that we’ve gotten this opportunity,” said Jesse Harlan, Sierra’s husband. “We went for the Yale team and were representing them, but now it’s us. We’ve earned it. Our team has earned it. Now we’re representing our home.”

The University of Idaho and Gonzaga University are competing in the men’s and women’s NCAA tournaments this week, which means each school is sending two 29-member pep bands to travel to play at the games.

While the Vandal band gained some experience thanks to the Ivy League, no college pep band in the Northwest has more NCAA playing experience this century than Gonzaga’s, which is preparing for its 27th consecutive tournament.

“That is a huge deal, and it is not taken for granted,” Gonzaga Band Director Toph Parkin said. “There are a lot of band members who are new travelers, so this is an amazing experience for them to get to go and support the team.”

Parkin is traveling and directing the pep band for the men’s basketball team. Sophomore Katie Gilkinson is traveling with the women’s basketball pep band as the student director.

The Gonzaga men are competing against the Kennesaw State Owls at the Moda Center in Portland on Thursday. If the Bulldogs win, they will either face BYU or the winner of the Texas and NC State game. That game is slated for Saturday in Portland.

The Gonzaga women are competing against Ole Miss on Friday at Williams Arena in Minneapolis. If they win on Friday, the Gonzaga women will face either Minnesota or Green Bay on Sunday.

The Vandal marching band has 300 members, said Spencer Martin, the director of athletic bands. The pep bands for the NCAA tournament games are composed of the students who are available and needed for instrumentation, Martin said.

“This is spring break, so many students were not available,” Martin said. “We just played in the Big Sky basketball tournament last week, seven games in four days. And that band was limited to 35, so they’ve been working really hard.”

The Harlans met in the trumpet section of the Vandal marching band in 2022, during their freshman year.

The pair were married at the 1912 Center in Moscow in August. Sierra Harlan is graduating this semester with a bachelor’s in secondary education. Jesse Harlan will graduate with a bachelor’s in business management next year.

Now they’re traveling to Oklahoma City to play during the men’s Vandal game against Houston on Thursday at 7:10 p.m.

The band is known for its fun flair during games, often whipping out light-up glasses during performances. Sierra Harlan confirmed that the band has some fun plans during the upcoming games, but declined to give exact details for fear of spoiling the surprise.

Most of the students on the band have never played during March Madness. Martin himself has only attended three Vandal games during the tournament, and that was a decade ago, when the women’s team got to the tournament in 2013, 2014 and 2016.

There’s a sense of hope within the Vandal community, since both basketball teams are competing in the tournament, Martin said.

“Hopefully this becomes a regular occurrence,” Martin said. “It’s really great that both teams were so successful this year.”

The Vandal men and the Cougars have met only once before during the 1963-64 All-College tournament. If the Vandal men win on Thursday, they will face the winner of a game between seventh-seeded St. Mary’s and 10th-seeded Texas A&M on March 21.

The Vandal women, who haven’t lost a game in the last two months and have an 18-game winning streak, play Oklahoma on Friday in Norman, Oklahoma. This is the women’s fifth NCAA tournament. If the women win on Friday, they will play the winner of the game between Michigan State and Colorado State.

The Harlans understand firsthand that a band can make a difference. Sierra Harlan assures Vandal fans that bandmates are prepared to get the crowd pushing for the underdog: “They’ll know where Moscow is.”