Idaho Vandals: Men's hoops receives local commitment; football looking to establish run

Football dominates the conversation at the University of Idaho -- for both on, and off-field reasons -- this time of year, but today we have some men's basketball news. 

Trevon Allen, of Clarkston (Wash.), gave an oral commitment to join coach Don Verlin and the Idaho men's basketball team in 2016 , the two-sport star told the Lewiston Tribune. 

Allen, also a standout wide receiver player for the Bantams, averaged 17.3 points per game as the point guard for a Clarkston basketball team that won the Washington 2A state title last season. 

The 6-foot-3 guard had narrowed his decision to either Idaho or Eastern Washington, ultimately opting to choose the school that recruited him the longest, and the one that's also his parents' Alma mater, though he told the Tribune his parents didn't pressure him to follow in their footsteps.  

"I was the only point guard they were recruiting out of the class of 2016, and they've been recruiting me a long time," Allen told the newspaper. "They've been really loyal, told me to 'Stay patient, we'll be here whenever you want to let us know.' I was really thankful for that, because they could easily have let me go and went on to the next man. But they hung through it with me."

Allen can officially submit his National Letter of Intent when the early signing period begins Nov. 11. By my count, Allen is the first verbal commit in the 2016 class. 

I didn't have the chance to watch Allen on the hardwood, but for what it's worth, I recently covered his football season opener on Sept. 4 and he was by far the best athlete on the field. He showed impressive speed and leaping ability, catching touchdown passes of 75 and 16 yards. On the former, he ran about 50 yards down the sideline after the catch. The defenders didn't have a chance to catch him. 

OK, enough basketball (for now), let's back to the gridiron, shall we? The Vandals (0-2) host Wofford (1-1) on Saturday (2 p.m., ESPN3) and we have a few previews links for your reading pleasure: 

-- Idaho coach Paul Petrino wants to establish the run, but the scoreboard hasn't allowed him to do so. Here's my story in today's paper about the UI ground game.

-- In case you missed it, we have our weekly opponent Q&A with Wofford beat writer Todd Shanesy.

-- Also from the Wofford side of things, the Terriers have a pair of talented freshmen offensive linemen powering their triple-option rushing attack. 

Michael-Shawn Dugar can be reached at (208) 883-4629, by email to mdugar@dnews.com or on Twitter to @MikeDugar.