Senior Day for Madison, Vandals
The last home game of the season at Idaho is usually Senior Night. Tomorrow, because of the Lionel Hampton Jazz Fest, it's Senior Day. The Vandals (11-16) will play host to Grand Canyon at 1 p.m. at Memorial Gym. And they'll bid farewell to one of the most accomplished seniors in recent program history. Read on.
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Stephen Madison has the fourth-most points in Idaho history, with an outside chance at finishing his career in third place -- behind only Orlando Lightfoot and Brian Kellerman. Tomorrow will be the 6-foot-6 swingman's final time to play in Moscow. He'll be joined on Senior Day by Glen Dean, a former Eastern Washington and Utah point guard who transferred to UI for his final year of eligibility, and fifth-year senior Joe Kammerer.
Here's a video about the seniors made and produced by Idaho. We profiled Madison a few weeks ago, which you can read here.
And here are thoughts from each, courtesy of Idaho SID Nick Heidelberger:
STEPHEN MADISON
-- "I’ve learned quite a bit of things. They’ve taught me how to be organized and how to be ready every day for different situations. Anything can come up and adversity can hit at any time, and to keep going even when adversity does hit."
-- "Some of my favorite memories as a Vandals, I think beating Utah State here when they were ranked 17th and it was on TV. Just hanging out with the guys and meeting new guys every year. You build a bond and a relationship."
-- "My goal for after college is to pursue my ultimate dream of playing professional basketball. After that I’d like to get into coaching, probably college coaching, and from there we’ll see."
-- "It’s crazy thinking that this is the end of the road for me. It’s been four years but it’s gone by so fast. I couldn’t have asked for anything better, it’s been a great time and I’m truly blessed."
-- "I’m going to miss all the traveling with the team, and having a lot of fun playing the game that I love and being able to go to school at a great school."
GLEN DEAN
-- "It was everything I dreamed of it to be. It’s been a great experience to play four years of Division I college basketball, and I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world."
-- "(I’ve learned) To take responsibility for my actions. From being at a few different schools, every single coach that I’ve been with has really made me step up and take more accountability for my actions and helped be grow into a better man."
-- "Probably my best memory will be this locker room and spending time with the 15 guys on the team and getting to know one-another. Getting 10 new guys together for one season, you never know how the chemistry is going to be, but with the guys on this team, we’ve all gotten along really well. We all crack jokes on one-another and spend a bunch of time laughing and enjoying each other’s company. That’s probably going to be my favorite memory with the Vandals."
JOE KAMMERER
-- "The most important thing I’ve learned from my coaches is that in whatever I choose to do, give it 100 percent. They always say ‘when you go out on that floor, leave it all on the floor. Give it 110 percent every night.’ I think that’s a good life lesson to know and to learn. Whatever you choose to do in your life, give it your all."
-- "Probably my favorite memory is when we beat Utah State a couple years ago when they were in the top 25. It was here at home and we had a great crowd and it was on ESPN. That was just a great win."