College of Idaho basketball teams host "Meet the Yotes" night, hoping to connect with fans to start the season

CALDWELL, Idaho — On Thursday, The College of Idaho men's and women's basketball teams hosted "Meet the Yotes" night. The event gave fans a chance to see both teams scrimmage and compete in a three-point contest. There was also a dunk contest and much more.

The highlight of the night was the three-point shootout where the women's team had a lead through most of the contest until Johnny Radford got hot to steal it for the men's team at the end.

The women's team shooting the ball with proficiency gives head coach Janis Beal excitement about how her team plays.

"We're going to have a good inside game this year too," Beal said. "So being able to, once (the defenses) collapse, we can kick it out. I think that's huge for our girls just being able to open things up a little bit."

During the men's scrimmage, the team showed why they are coming into the season ranked No. 3 in the NAIA rankings. The team's goal is a national title, and they think they know what it takes to get there.

“It’s going to take a lot of grit and toughness," Colby Blaine, men's team head coach, said. "We have twelve returners so we understand a lot of our concepts so, we gotta have grit to get through the beginning of the season and not believe that we know how to do it all, but actually show it and prove it early in the year.”

While Blaine will rely on his veterans, freshman Samaje Morgan looks to make an impact quickly. The former 5A Oregon player of the year looked great in the scrimmage, getting to the rim, hitting threes, and making the game-winning basket from half-court.

“It just gives us a guy, who’s got confidence and swagger who can really help everybody else excel especially on the offensive end. He’s someone we need.” Blaine said.

Both teams start play next weekend.