The 1996–97 Idaho Vandals men's basketball team represented the
University of Idaho during the
1996–97 NCAA Division I men's basketball season
The 1996–97 NCAA Division I men's basketball season concluded in the 64-team 1997 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament whose finals were held at the RCA Dome in Indianapolis, Indiana. The Arizona Wildcats earned their first national cham ...
. New members of the
Big West Conference, the
Vandals were led by first-year head coach
Kermit Davis (third overall) and played their home games on campus at the
Kibbie Dome in
Moscow, Idaho
Moscow ( ) is a city in North Central Idaho, United States. Located along the state border with Washington, it had a population of 25,435 at the 2020 census. The county seat and largest city of Latah County, Moscow is the home of the Universit ...
.
The Vandals were 13–17 in the regular season and in conference play, fifth in the East division standings, but failed to qualify for the
Big West tournament. It was the first time Idaho had missed the postseason in
eighteen years.
An assistant at Idaho for two seasons under
Tim Floyd, Davis was promoted to head coach in April
1988
File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Australian ...
. After consecutive
conference titles and
NCAA appearances, he left in March
1990
File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...
for
Texas A&M, but lasted only one season there.
Davis left Idaho again in April 1997 to become associate head coach at
LSU
Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 near ...
in the
Southeastern Conference under new head coach
John Brady;
Vandals' assistant
David Farrar was soon promoted to head coach.
References
External links
Sports Reference– Idaho Vandals: 1996–97 basketball season
''Gem of the Mountains:'' 1997 University of Idaho yearbook– 1996–97 basketball season
– student newspaper – 1997 editions
{{DEFAULTSORT:1996-97 Idaho Vandals men's basketball team
Idaho Vandals men's basketball seasons
Idaho
1997 in sports in Idaho
Idaho