Former Treasure Valley hoops stars shine in first week of college basketball

Isaiah Wright sat out all of last season after transferring from Utah to San Diego, but there was no rust in his game when he debuted for the Toreros’ men’s basketball team last week.

The graduate of Borah High scored a game-high 22 points to go with seven assists and five steals in an 81-64 win at San Jose State.

Wright, a junior guard, was 9 for 13 from the field and 2 for 2 from 3-point range, including scoring eight of San Diego’s first 10 points.

The performance earned Wright recognition as the West Coast Conference Player of the Week.

Another Borah star impresses

In his Division I debut, Central Arkansas freshman DeAndre Jones earned a shout-out from his coach.

Jones had 10 points, seven assists, five rebounds and three steals as the Bears beat Southwest Baptist in their exhibition opener.

“DeAndre Jones is the real deal,” Central Arkansas coach Russ Pennell told ucasports.com. “He’s just a true point guard, and I thought he was outstanding.”

Boise’s Simpson honored by Big 12

True freshman Mandy Simpson started at forward in Oklahoma’s 96-73 season-opening victory against Belmont last week.

The 2017 Boise High graduate finished with 12 points, five rebounds and three assists in 28 minutes, going 4 for 6 from the floor and 4 for 4 from the free-throw line.

Simpson was chosen as the Big 12 Freshman of the Week for her performance.

Big night for former All-Idaho player of year

Centennial High graduate and 2017 5A All-Idaho Player of the Year Tori Williams made a statement in her season-opening debut for the Utah women’s basketball team.

The freshman guard came off the bench to score a game-high 18 points on six 3-pointers — all in the fourth quarter — as Utah downed Nevada 87-61.

Williams was the featured player in The Salt Lake Tribune’s story from the game.

Skurdal brothers lead Embry-Riddle to D-I upset

Ryan Skurdal and Logan Skurdal — both graduates of Rocky Mountain High in Meridian — combined for 22 points as NAIA Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University upset Division I Northern Arizona 82-70 on Monday.

Last week, Logan scored a career-high 29 points and set a school record with nine 3-pointers in a 95-69 rout of Ottawa-Arizona.

Slocum redshirting this year

Destiny Slocum, a Mountain View grad, is redshirting this season at Oregon State. She transferred after her freshman season at Maryland, where she was the Big Ten Freshman of the Year.

This story was originally published November 15, 2017 at 3:06 PM with the headline "Former Treasure Valley hoops stars shine in first week of college basketball."