The 1980–81 Idaho Vandals men's basketball team represented the

University of Idaho The University of Idaho (U of I, or UIdaho) is a public land-grant research university in Moscow, Idaho. It is the state's land-grant and primary research university,, and the lead university in the Idaho Space Grant Consortium. The Universit ...

during the 1980–81 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The

Vandals The Vandals were a Germanic people who first inhabited what is now southern Poland. They established Vandal kingdoms on the Iberian Peninsula, Mediterranean islands, and North Africa in the fifth century. The Vandals migrated to the area betw ...

were led by third-year head coach

Don Monson Donald Lloyd Monson (born April 11, 1933) is a former college basketball head coach and the father of head coach Dan Monson. He was a high school head coach for 18 seasons and college head coach for 14 seasons: five at Idaho and nine at Oregon. ...

and played their home games on campus at the

Kibbie Dome The William H. Kibbie-ASUI Activity Center (commonly known as the Kibbie Dome) is a multi-purpose indoor athletic stadium in the northwest United States, on the campus of the University of Idaho in Moscow, Idaho. It is the home of the Idaho ...

in Moscow, Idaho. Idaho won its first eleven games (including road wins at

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Washington State Washington (), officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. Named for George Washington—the first U.S. president—the state was formed from the western part of the Washington ...

, and Gonzaga), went in the regular season, and won the

Big Sky Conference The Big Sky Conference (BSC) is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division I with football competing in the Football Championship Subdivision. Member institutions are located in the western United States in the eig ...

regular season championship, their first conference title in 58 years. The Vandals' conference record earned them the host position for the conference tournament (top four teams of the eight), which Seeded seventh in the

West region Western Region or West Region may refer to: Places *Al Gharbia, Abu Dhabi, the Western Region *Western Region, Bahrain *Western Region, Eastern Cape, South Africa *Western Region, Ghana *Western Region (Iceland) *Western Region, Nepal *Western Regi ...

of the 48-team NCAA tournament, they traveled to

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, In the first round, Idaho lost by one point in overtime to they ended at , with most of the key players

Polls

Idaho was ranked for the first time in school history in February, for three weeks in the

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coaches poll The Coaches Poll is a weekly ranking of the top 25 NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) college football, Division I college basketball, and Division I college baseball teams. The football version of the poll has been known officiall ...

. Curiously, they entered its top twenty after a road rose then exited after completing the regular season with a nine-point road win. The Vandals received votes, but did not appear, in the AP writers poll (top twenty) until January 1982; they were ranked sixth in both polls at end of that regular and eighth in both final polls.

Attendance

Prior to this season, the school attendance record for basketball was 6,449, set five years earlier at the Kibbie Dome's inaugural hoop game in January

1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Phila ...

against Palouse neighbor

. That was surpassed in 1981 with 6,800 for the conference opener with

Weber State Weber State University (pronounced ) is a public university in Ogden, Utah. It was founded in 1889 as Weber Stake Academy. It is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities. History Weber State University was founded ...

on Thursday, January 8. The final two home regular season games both saw new records, as title-contending

Montana State Montana State University (MSU) is a public land-grant research university in Bozeman, Montana. It is the state's largest university. MSU offers baccalaureate degrees in 60 fields, master's degrees in 68 fields, and doctoral degrees in 35 fiel ...

and

Montana Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columbi ...

visited: 7,100 on Thursday, which was shattered with 9,000 two days later for Idaho's nineteenth consecutive home ( Two years later, the record increased to 11,800.)

All-conference

Sophomore guard Brian Kellerman was the Big Sky's

player of the year Several sports leagues honour their best player with an award called Player of the Year (POY) . In the United States, this type of award is usually called a Most Valuable Player award. Association football In association football, this award is he ...

and a first team all-conference selection. Vandals on the second team were sophomore forward Phil Hopson, senior center Ron Maben, and junior point guard

Ken Owens Kenneth James Owens (born 3 January 1987) is a Welsh rugby union player who plays as a hooker for the Scarlets and Wales. He made his debut for the Scarlets in 2006, taking over from Matthew Rees as their first-choice hooker upon Rees' departu ...

, the MVP of the conference tournament.

Notes

Center Jeff Brudie earned a degree in

civil engineering Civil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including public works such as roads, bridges, canals, dams, airports, sewage ...

, graduated from the UI law school, and is a district judge in Lewiston.

Roster

Schedule and results

, - !colspan=9 style=, Big Sky tournament , - !colspan=9 style=, NCAA Tournament

References

External links

Sports Reference
– Idaho Vandals: 1980–81 basketball season
''Gem of the Mountains:'' 1981 University of Idaho yearbook
– 1980–81 basketball season

– student newspaper – 1981 editions

– 1980–81 Idaho Vandals {{DEFAULTSORT:1980-81 Idaho Vandals men's basketball team Idaho Vandals men's basketball seasons

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyom ...