A look of newness

MOSCOW, Idaho – It was just a momentary outburst at a meaningless intrasquad scrimmage, but it was enough to grab his players’ attention – and make Vandals fans perk up, too.

Idaho men’s basketball coach Don Verlin, acting as a spectator at the end of the UI bench last week, stormed across the Memorial Gym court and ordered one of his assistants to yank Brandon Brown out of the glorified practice.

Brown had just buried a pretty 3-pointer, yet Verlin clearly wasn’t pleased with the shot.

“You’ve got to execute the offense, son,” the first-year coach told Brown. “If you don’t, you’ll never play here.”

That sort of discipline represents a shift from the past two years under George Pfeifer. It’s something the team’s most experienced player was glad to see.

“His style? It’s very structured and definitely more disciplined than a lot of coaches I’ve played for,” senior guard Trevor Morris said. “… He likes his stuff done his way. That’s good for us, I think.”

Verlin makes his debut Friday against Evergreen State after being a career assistant, including the last 15 years under Stew Morrill at Utah State and Colorado State. After replacing Pfeifer, who’s now at Montana State-Billings, Verlin is fully aware of how much time it will take to pump life into a program that’s averaged six wins the last four seasons.

“They’re great people up here, and they want to win,” he said. “They’ve got a passion for it. So like I told them all along, you’ve got to be a little patient. It’s a work in progress. But hopefully, we can get there.”

The coaching staff’s initial efforts to infuse talent into what’s been a constantly changing roster will probably pay off more next season than in the next few months. Pacific transfer Steffan Johnson and Marcus Lawrence, who came from UNLV, will bring a wide range of skills to the backcourt in 2009-10 after sitting out this year under transfer rules.

Until then, the Vandals will bank on Morris and point guard Mac Hopson, who is eligible to play after transferring from Washington State a year ago. The junior brings quickness, keen passing abilities and a swagger to Idaho after showing hints of promise with the Cougars.

He’s also grown into the de facto leader of a team that lost its top four scorers from last season, when it went 8-21.

“This is what I came here for,” said Hopson, the son of former UI standout Phil Hopson. “I came here to change around this program. And I’m going to change around this program with Coach Verlin. … I’m the leader of this team.”

Surrounding Morris and Hopson will be a cast of unknowns. Verlin brought in 11 newcomers, eight of whom played at the junior college level last year. The list of newbies includes two Brazilians (Luiz Toledo and Luciano de Souza), who join fellow countryman Luis Augusto on the roster.

Augusto and 6-10 Marvin Jefferson will split time at center, while de Souza, a rangy 6-7 junior, is in the mix at power forward.

With Jefferson, the Vandals have more size than past seasons. But they’ll still be undersized, especially against the likes of No. 7 Michigan State and No. 11 Gonzaga next week.

“We’ve got an inside presence now,” Morris said. “The thing about that is we’re still one of the smallest teams in the WAC. We’ve still got to play hard, and defense is going to be a huge key for us.”

During his time with the Aggies, Verlin was known as an offensive guru. Any tips he can pass on should come in handy. Idaho was eighth in the WAC last year in scoring (64.8 points per game) and 321st out of 328 Division I teams in free-throw percentage (.605).

Kashif Watson and Brandon Wiley, a pair of perimeter threats who hail from JCs, should furnish an offensive spark. Wiley led the Vandals with 21 points in an exhibition win last week over Walla Walla University.