1978–79 Idaho Vandals men's basketball team

The 1978–79 Idaho Vandals men's basketball team represented the University of Idaho during the 1978–79 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. Members of the Big Sky Conference, the Vandals were led by first-year head coach Don Monson and played their home games on campus at the Kibbie Dome in Moscow, Idaho. They were 11–15 overall and 4–10 in conference play.^[2][3][4]

1978–79 Idaho Vandals men's basketball
Conference	Big Sky Conference
Record	11–15 (4–10 Big Sky)
Head coach	Don Monson (1st season)
Assistant coaches	Bob Emhiser Barry Collier[1]
Home arena	Kibbie Dome
Seasons ← 1977–78 1979–80 →

1978–79 Big Sky men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
Weber State †	10	–	4		.714			25	–	9		.735
Northern Arizona	8	–	6		.571			14	–	14		.500
Idaho State	8	–	6		.571			14	–	13		.519
Montana	7	–	7		.500			14	–	13		.519
Gonzaga	7	–	7		.500			16	–	10		.615
Montana State	6	–	8		.429			15	–	11		.577
Boise State	6	–	8		.429			11	–	15		.423
Idaho	4	–	10		.286			11	–	15		.423
† Big Sky Conference tournament winner

After four seasons with last place finishes in the conference, Jim Jarvis resigned as head coach in June 1978 under recurring allegations^[5][6] of illegal recruiting.^[7][8][9] The program had been placed on probation for one year in January, resulting in a reprimand for Jarvis and his assistant coach by the university.^[6][10][11]

He was succeeded in August by alumnus Monson, an assistant at Michigan State,^[8][12] who had significantly greater success. Although the Vandals were again in the cellar in 1979, the four conference wins were the most for the program in four years and the eleven wins the most in five. The groundwork had been made for significant improvement; Monson led Idaho to consecutive conference titles (1981, 1982) and the NCAA Sweet Sixteen in 1982.

Idaho's best-attended home games this season were the final two; 4,500 saw a fifteen-point loss to Boise State,^[13] while 4,600 enjoyed a 21-point upset of Idaho State in the finale.^[14] It was the Vandals' first win over the Bengals in four years; ISU had won the previous seven meetings.^[14][15] A month earlier, the Vandals won decisively at Boise to snap two losing streaks; six to the Broncos and fifteen in conference play.^[16]

The long-awaited win over Idaho State allowed the Vandals to regain possession of the "King Spud Trophy," an oversized metallic potato with a face and a crown,^[17][18] first played for in 1962.^[19] Bengal head coach Lynn Archibald thought it should go to the losing team: "It's the ugliest thing I've ever seen. The only good thing that happened last week was losing it."^[20]

No Vandals were named to the all-conference team; junior guard Don Newman was on the second team, and junior forward Reed Jaussi was honorable mention.^[21][22][23]

Roster

1978–79 Idaho Vandals men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown G 3 Don Newman 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 190 lb (86 kg) RS Jr LSU New Orleans, LA G Ted Strugar 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) — Fr Archb. Grace HS Minneapolis, MN G 10 Bill Hessing 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) — Jr Capital HS Boise, ID C 11 Jeff Brudie 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) — So Bonneville HS Idaho Falls, ID F 14 Reed Jaussi 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) — Jr Idaho Falls HS Idaho Falls, ID F 30 Terry Gredler 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) — Jr G/F 31 Dan Forge 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) — So Lewiston HS Lewiston, ID F/C 45 Chris Price 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) — RS Sr   San Bernardino, CA F Ron Langrell 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) — Sr Roseburg HS Roseburg, OR Bob Bronson — — Jim Bateman — — Jerry Lile — — Gaylen Weigand — —	Head coach Don Monson (Idaho) Assistant coach(es) Bob Emhiser Barry Collier (Butler) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt

Source:^{[14][24][25][26][27][28][29][30]}