Presented by MAZ-TECH AUTOMOTIVE.
Friday, April 1, 2016.
Boise State’s annual Pro Day worked out just fine yesterday for the Broncos’ top three draft prospects. All 32 NFL teams were represented to see Darian Thompson concentrate on his 40-yard dash. He ran it in 4.5 seconds after recording the disappointing 4.69 at the NFL Combine in Indianapolis in February. The 4.5 is acceptable for a safety known for his football smarts. Soon-to-be-linebacker Kamalei Correa, who had a good Combine, participated in only three drills. Rees Odhiambo had the measurables, coming in at 6-4, 315 pounds. He also ran 4.7 in the short shuttle, not bad for an offensive tackle who broke his left ankle five months ago.
You can’t fib on heights and weights now. Wide receiver Shane Williams-Rhodes was 5-6, 170. Williams-Rhodes had a solid day, though, putting up the fastest 40-yard dash time at 4.4 seconds. SWR also had the top mark in the short shuttle at 4.11 seconds and the best vertical leap at 38 inches. That’s a pretty good counterpunch for a height-challenged guy. Cornerback Donte Deayon, officially 5-8 and 158 pounds, ran a 4.49 in the 40 and was second in the short shuttle (4.17) and the vertical leap (37 inches). One other player clocked a sub-4.5 in the 40—safety Mercy Maston ran a 4.42.
I wrote the other day about Boise State identifying a No. 2 running back behind Jeremy McNichols, and that’s part of the storyline in the Broncos’ second scrimmage of fall camp tomorrow. Rushing numbers aren’t usually eye-popping in the spring, but Ryan Wolpin, Devan Demas and Cory Young will try to get noticed, be it through footwork or receiving ability or pass protection. The scrimmage is open only to Boise State students, faculty and staff.
Idaho offensive line coach Kris Cinkovich, who doubles as the Vandals’ offensive coordinator, has to get props as spring football continues up north. Since Cinkovich switched his position duties to the O-line two years ago, there has been massive progress. Three seasons ago, the Vandals were last in the nation in sacks allowed with a staggering 53. That number improved to 41 in 2014, but that was still 123rd. Last year, Idaho was all the way up to 86th in the country, yielding just 29 sacks. The O-line is anchored by Capital High grad Steven Matlock, a senior and three-year starter. Matlock was a guard at Idaho before moving over to take Mike Marboe’s vacated spot last year. The Vandals hop on a bus tomorrow for their first spring scrimmage at Lewiston High’s Bengal Field.
Nevada and Morehead State play for the title tonight in Game 3 of the CBI Championship Series at Lawlor Events Center. There’s been excitement for the postseason in Reno. The Wolf Pack drew 7,431 Wednesday night after averaging 5,570 in its first three CBI home games. So should Boise State have played in the CBI? I think it all depends on the vibe at the end of the season. The Broncos were right to sit out this tournament. There was some sizzle a few weeks ago in the Biggest Little City—not so much in Boise. It would have been tough to draw that many in Taco Bell Arena, considering the CBI field. Footnote: it’s a good thing BSU didn’t accept a spot in the Vegas 16 (that turned out to be eight). It looked like glorified practice down there.
Mark Coyle is enjoying his first year at Syracuse. The former Boise State athletic director is jockeying between Houston and Indianapolis this weekend to see both the Orange men’s and women’s teams play in the Final Four. You’d think that accomplishment is a rarity, but this is the 10th time it’s happened in the new century. UConn has done it four times, most recently two years ago when the Huskies men and women each won a national championship. Still, it feels good for Coyle, who left the Broncos for Syracuse last June. “You work hard as an athletic director,” Coyle told Syracuse.com. “You work hard as an athletic department staff, and to say you work at a program that has two teams in the Final Four is a great experience, no doubt.”
Mum’s the word on the Idaho Stampede’s future in Boise, so we don’t know yet if tonight’s and tomorrow night’s games are the franchise’s final two ever at CenturyLink Arena. Maybe they’re historic, maybe they’re not, as the Stampede host the Santa Cruz Warriors, the D-League affiliate of the NBA team chasing a different kind of history right now. Either way, it’s a last chance this season to appreciate a former Boise State rival. Former San Diego State star J.J. O’Brien has been a force for the Stamps. The 6-7 forward is averaging 14.2 points and 5.3 rebounds over 44 games.
The Idaho Steelheads have another division title contender to deal with this weekend. Don’t look now, but the Colorado Eagles, the same team that swept the Steelheads at CenturyLink Arena last weekend, have moved into a tie for second with Utah in the ECHL Pacific Division, three points behind Idaho. Now the Steelies face Colorado in Loveland tonight and tomorrow night, with first place on the line again. The Steelheads and Eagles have five games remaining in the regular season; the Grizzlies have six. Of course, it’ll all come out in the wash in the Kelly Cup Playoffs beginning in two weeks.
Graham DeLaet has always liked this tournament, and the Shell Houston Open liked him again yesterday as he shot a five-under 67 in the first round. The former Boise State star got out of the gate great, birdying four of his first five holes while draining a couple 30-foot putts. DeLaet is three shots off the pace, in a tie for 11th. His beard is getting really, really long now, but his face survived the heat. “Yeah, those last few holes it was gettin’ hot—the sun popped out, and that humidity was coming out of the ground,” DeLaet told PGA Tour Radio. No mention of the beard.
Tomorrow could be the most important day in Boise State women’s gymnastics history—if it all pans out. The 15th-ranked Broncos have never made the NCAA Championships as a team, but they’ve posted their best regular season ever with a 15-0 record and are coming off another Mountain Rim Gymnastics Conference title. Boise State is set for the Tuscaloosa Regional tomorrow, seeded third behind Alabama and Cal. The top two teams from each of the NCAA’s six regionals will qualify for nationals, so the Broncos have to upset somebody tomorrow. They’re led by Krystine Jacobsen, who earned first-team All-America honors after finishing the regular season tied for first in the country on uneven bars. Jacobsen is the first Bronco to end up ranked first in any event in school history.
The Treasure Valley has two first-place college baseball teams. College of Idaho took over the top spot in the North Division of the NAIA West Grouping last weekend, a half-game ahead of perennial juggernaut Lewis-Clark State. Coyotes third baseman Mitch Skaggs, the former Capital High standout, earned his second straight division Player of the Week award in the process. The Yotes host Corban for a pair of doubleheaders tomorrow and Sunday at Wolfe Field. NNU has moved into first place in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference. The Crusaders play twin bills at Concordia today and tomorrow.
This Day In Sports…brought to you by ZAMZOW’S…nobody knows like Zamzows.
April 1, 2006, 10 years ago today: George Mason’s Cinderella run in the NCAA Tournament ends with a 73-58 loss to eventual national champion Florida at the Final Four in Indianapolis. The suburban commuter school from Fairfax, VA, produced one of the great stories in the history of March Madness, knocking off Michigan State, North Carolina, and Wichita State to reach the Elite Eight. The 11th-seeded Patriots then stunned No. 1 seed Connecticut, 86-84 in overtime, to reach the Final Four. In December of that year, George Mason took out a full page ad in the Idaho Statesman wishing fellow Cinderella Boise State good luck against Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl.
(Tom Scott hosts the Scott Slant segment Sunday nights at 10:30PM on KTVB’s Sunday Sports Extra and anchors five sports segments each weekday on 93.1 The Ticket. He also served as color commentator on KTVB’s telecasts of Boise State football for 14 seasons.)
Scott Slant sponsor sites:
<P
Zamzows
