New sheriff in town for Vandals

Mar. 17—The University of Idaho took less than a month to announce the hiring of its next men's basketball coach.

Athletic director Terry Gawlik announced in a news release Thursday that Seattle University associate coach Alex Pribble will take over for Zac Claus.

"I am thrilled to name coach Pribble as our next head men's basketball coach," Gawlik said. "Alex is a proven program-builder and as our search progressed, it became clear that he was the right person to lead our program into the future. His energy and commitment to building a championship culture and sustainable success are in perfect alignment with my goals for our men's basketball program."

He will be officially introduced at 3 p.m. Monday at Idaho Central Credit Union Arena in the Alumni Club Room. It will be livestreamed on ESPN+.

Claus was fired Feb. 27 after the Vandals fell 68-53 to Montana in the final regular-season game. Claus, in his four years in Moscow, had a 28-88 overall record, and Idaho went 10-21 at the time of his release. The Vandals dropped an 87-76 decision to Northern Arizona in the first round of the Big Sky Conference tournament March 4 in Boise with Tim Marrion serving as interim coach.

Pribble has more than a decade of coaching experience, spending the past four seasons as the right-hand man to Chris Victor with the Redhawks.

Under Victor's leadership, Seattle posted back-to-back 20-win seasons for the first time since the mid-1960s.

In 2021-22, the Redhawks won the Western Athletic Conference regular-season title after going 14-4 in the conference and 23-9 overall. However, Seattle fell 78-76 in the opening round of the conference tournament to Abilene Christian.

This year, the Redhawks finished 20-12 overall and was 11-7 in the conference, tying for third. Seattle lost to NCAA tournament qualifier Grand Canyon 84-79 in the first round.

In fact, the only time the Redhawks advanced past the first round of the WAC tournament in the four years Pribble was on staff came during the 2020-21 pandemic season, when they fell in the quarterfinal round.

"I couldn't be more excited for Alex, and the University of Idaho has made a terrific hire," Victor said. "With his great basketball mind, love for the game and years of experience in the Pacific Northwest, there is no doubt that he will be successful. Most importantly, he is an outstanding person who will be a great mentor and leader for the Idaho basketball program and the young men that will play for him."

Pribble does have head coaching experience at the collegiate level, leading Division II Saint Martin's in Lacey, Wash., for four seasons before landing in Seattle.

Before the 37-year-old took charge of the Saints, they were much like the Vandals, never finishing above .500 in the previous four years.

But he was quick to turn that program around. Saint Martin's was 6-22 in 2014-15, then led a nine-win improvement in first season with a 15-13 mark for the Saints' first winning season since 2009-10. He left with an 83-40 overall mark.

In a bit of irony, Saint Martin's fell 86-62 to Idaho in an exhibition contest in Pribble's first game with the Saints.

But the Fairfax, Calif., native would lead Saint Martin's to big things. In 2017-18, he led the Saints to a then-school record 25 victories, the most in the program in the NCAA era. Pribble led them to the Great Northwest Athletic Conference tournament championship for the first time and in the process, earned the school's first NCAA Division II national tournament berth.

The next season was better as the Saints won 26 games, the program's first GNAC regular-season title and the first appearance in the national tournament's round of 16. SMU also achieved the highest national ranking in school history, peaking at No. 8. Pribble was named the GNAC's coach of the year.

Pribble is no stranger to the Big Sky Conference, as one of his first stops came as an assistant at Eastern Washington alongside Victor from 2013-15.

In his final season in Cheney, Wash., the Eagles finished 26-9 overall, 14-4 in the conference to share the regular-season crown with Montana. Eastern Washington went on to win the Big Sky tournament and earned the program's second NCAA tourney berth.

Pribble is married to Camille, and the couple is expecting a baby boy in April.

Pixley may be contacted at (208) 848-2290, tpixley@lmtribune.com or on Twitter @TreebTalks.

COACHING EXPERIENCE

� 2007-08: UC-Berkeley (graduate assistant)

2008-11: Tamalpais High School (head coach)

2011-13: San Francisco State (assistant coach)

2013-15: Eastern Washington University (assistant coach)

2015-19: Saint Martin's University (head coach)

2019-23: Seattle University (associate head coach)