Idaho basketball looks promising on preseason media day. More meaningful tests will come later.

MOSCOW, Idaho – Wednesday was for imagery.

At their preseason media day, University of Idaho basketball players posed in uniform for marketing photos, looking like world beaters in their striking black uniforms. And before anyone has played a game, why can’t the photos line up with desired results on the court?

Ten players return from a Vandals team that finished 11-21 last season, 5-13 in the Big Sky Conference, and tailed off at the end with a four-game losing streak and first-round exit in the conference tournament against Sacramento State, which Idaho had beaten twice during the regular season.

But this was also a gritty Vandals team that lost five games by five points or fewer and overcame frustrating injuries to tease fans with big February wins against eventual Big Sky Conference Tournament winner Montana State and in-state nemesis Idaho State.

From their vantage in the ICCU Arena Wednesday, the Vandals could see themselves building on the good from last season and outrunning the bad. Second-year coach Alex Pribble said at the start of his tenure that he wanted Idaho to play relentless defense and to push opponents on offense with a fast-paced, free-flowing attack that featured perimeter shooting. Idaho handled the defensive portion of that, and Julius Mims made the Big Sky all-defensive team, with 48 blocks and 34 steals. He also averaged 7.2 rebounds per game.

Pribble calls the 6-foot-9 senior, who played two years at North Idaho College before coming to Moscow, “a dynamic rim roller.”

“On the defensive end, he was our anchor, definitely,” Pribble added

On the offensive side, though, the Vandals were frustratingly inconsistent, at best.

“We want to play much faster this year,” Pribble said. “That was the goal last year, but we never got to that point.”

“We have the right personnel for that this year,” Vandals sophomore point guard Kristian Gonzalez said.

Depth will be the quality that carries Idaho to their goal, Gonzalez and Pribble said.

“We are interchangeable. One through four can bring the ball up or go to the corner,” Gonzalez said.

“We want to play with great versatility and interchangeability,” Pribble adds. “We have a very skilled group this year, and they are bigger, stronger guys.

“This year, our guys understand a little more the Big Sky Conference and our style of play.”

Idaho will also count on regional talent. Four players are from Idaho, two from Spokane and four from elsewhere in Washington. Pribble said he was hired relatively late in the recruiting cycle, when many players had already signed with teams.

“Since then, I see Idaho kids back in the transfer portal,” he said. “It was our priority to bring them here.”

Kolton Mitchell, a redshirt freshman from Lake City High in Coeur d’Alene, played at Idaho State last year. Jack Payne, a 6-6 redshirt sophomore from Boise, was at Colorado State.

Mitchell, a 6-1 guard, said he appreciates being closer to home.

“I love the vision coach Pribble has for turning this program around,” Mitchell said. “It felt like family here, and I knew this was the place I wanted to be.”

Gonzalez, 6-3, from Chula Vista California, was originally recruited by Sacramento State but decommitted to come to Idaho.

“Coach ‘Prib’ called me right after I decommitted,” he said. “I loved everything I heard from him. I loved his vision.”

Significant talent turnover at perennial Big Sky contenders Eastern Washington, Weber State and Montana could make for a wide-open conference race, Pribble said, one that includes the Vandals.

“Me and Kolton have seen how to win at this level,” Gonzalez said of the backcourt duo. “It takes experience.”

“The league is wide open now, and that plays to our advantage,” Mitchell said. “I am really looking forward to it.”