The 1962–63 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, United States. Established in 1889 and opened three years later, it was the state's sole university for 71 years, until 1963. The un ...

during the

1962–63 NCAA University Division men's basketball season The 1962–63 NCAA University Division men's basketball season began in December 1962, progressed through the regular season and conference tournaments, and concluded with the 1963 NCAA University Division basketball tournament championship game ...

. The

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

Vandals The Vandals were a Germanic people who were first reported in the written records as inhabitants of what is now Poland, during the period of the Roman Empire. Much later, in the fifth century, a group of Vandals led by kings established Vand ...

were led by third-year head coach Joe Cipriano, and played their home games on campus at the Memorial Gymnasium, in

Moscow, Idaho Moscow ( ) is a city and the county seat of Latah County, Idaho. Located in the North Central Idaho, North Central region of the state along the border with Washington (state), Washington, it had a population of 25,435 at the 2020 United States ...

. In his only season with the Vandals, forward/center Gus Johnson was a Northwest sensation, and led the team to a record. Under the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

rules of the era, junior college transfers that had previously attended a four-year college were not allowed to play in tournaments during their first season at the new (third) At the Far West Classic in

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: *Portland, Oregon, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon *Portland, Maine, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine *Isle of Portland, a tied island in the English Channel Portland may also r ...

in late December, Idaho lost two of three games without him. With Johnson on the floor, the team was entering the final weekend, but dropped two in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

. Led by leading scorer Chuck White and Johnson, the Vandals were at their best in their main rivalries from the old

Pacific Coast Conference The Pacific Coast Conference (PCC) was a collegiate athletic conference in the United States which existed from 1915 to 1959. Though the Pac-12 Conference claims the PCC's history as part of its own, with eight of the ten PCC members (includin ...

: versus

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

, versus

Palouse The Palouse ( ) is a geographic region of the northwestern United States, encompassing parts of North Central Idaho, north central Idaho, southeastern Washington (part of eastern Washington), and by some definitions, parts of northeast Oregon. ...

neighbor

Washington State Washington, officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is often referred to as Washington State to distinguish it from the national capital, both named after George Washington ...

, and against

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

. The primary nemesis was

Seattle University Seattle University (Seattle U or SU) is a private Jesuit university in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is the largest independent university in the Northwestern United States, with over 7,500 students enrolled in undergraduate and grad ...

, led by

guard Guard or guards may refer to: Professional occupations * Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault * Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street * Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning * Prison gu ...

Eddie Miles Edward Miles Jr. (born July 5, 1940) is a retired American basketball player. His shooting ability was such, that he was known as "The Man With the Golden Arm". Early life Miles was born on July 5, 1940, in North Little Rock, Arkansas. He wa ...

, who swept all three games, half of UI's losses. Idaho dropped its only game with

Oregon State Oregon State University (OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Corvallis, Oregon, United States. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate degree programs and a variety of graduate and doctoral degrees through all 11 of the universit ...

at the Far West without Johnson, but won all three with Gonzaga, for a record against its four former PCC foes and a collective against the six Northwest rivals. In the last season before the

Big Sky Conference The Big Sky Conference is a List of NCAA conferences, collegiate athletic conference, affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA's NCAA Division I, Division I with college football, football competing in the Football Cha ...

, the Vandals were undefeated in ten games against those teams; this included a sweep of Idaho State for the King Spud Trophy and unofficial state title. Attendance at the Memorial Gym was consistently over-capacity, with an estimated 3,800 for home games in the cramped of WSU on December 20 caused the region to take The teams met nine days later in Portland without Johnson, and Idaho had to rally from behind to win by Johnson and center

Paul Silas Paul Theron Silas (July 12, 1943 – December 10, 2022) was an American professional basketball player and head coach in the National Basketball Association (NBA). As a player, he was a two-time NBA All-Star and earned five selections to the ...

of Creighton waged a season-long battle to lead the NCAA in rebounding. Silas claimed this by averaging 20.6 per game, 0.3 more than In February, a low-profile article in ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with a circulation of over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellen ...

'' introduced the team to the nation. Despite their record, the Vandals were not invited to the post-season. The NCAA tournament included only 25 teams and Oregon State and Seattle U. were selected from the Northwest. The NIT invited just twelve teams, with none from the

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Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is bounded by the cont ...

time zones. If Idaho had been invited, Johnson was ineligible to participate.

Aftermath

That spring, 24-year-old Johnson was the tenth overall selection in the

1963 NBA draft The 1963 NBA draft was the 17th annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The draft was held on April 30 and May 7, 1963, before the 1963–64 season. In this draft, nine NBA teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college baske ...

and went on to a

hall of fame A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or Wiktionary:fame, fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actu ...

career with the Baltimore Bullets. Cipriano also moved on to coach at

Nebraska Nebraska ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Ka ...

for seventeen until his death. Without Johnson (and White), the Vandals fell to in and were in the new

, fifth place in the six-team league. They had a dismal record through and lost every game against their Northwest rivals, a collective vs UW, WSU, UO, OSU, Seattle U., and Gonzaga.Go Vandals.com
– men's basketball – 2011–12 media guide – p.72,74,75,90,98 High scorer White became a hall of fame

high school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., ...

head coach in

Anchorage, Alaska Anchorage, officially the Municipality of Anchorage, is the List of cities in Alaska, most populous city in the U.S. state of Alaska. With a population of 291,247 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it contains nearly 40 percent of ...

; but both Cipriano and Johnson died before age fifty, due to Team captain Lyle Parks earned a degree in

chemical engineering Chemical engineering is an engineering field which deals with the study of the operation and design of chemical plants as well as methods of improving production. Chemical engineers develop economical commercial processes to convert raw materials ...

, and sophomore Chuck Kozak graduated from the UI's law school

Roster

Schedule and results

References

External links

Sports Reference
– Idaho Vandals: 1962–63 basketball season
''Gem of the Mountains:'' 1963 University of Idaho yearbook
– 1962–63 basketball season

– student newspaper – 1963 editions {{DEFAULTSORT:1962-63 Idaho Vandals men's basketball team Idaho Vandals men's basketball seasons

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest and Mountain states, Mountain West subregions of the Western United States. It borders Montana and Wyoming to the east, Nevada and Utah to the south, and Washington (state), ...