Quinn Denker would have kept D2 Cal State San Marcos in consideration had Coach B.J. Foster chosen to remain in place and not move on to head the Southern Nazarene University (OK) basketball program. The versatile 6-foot-3 guard enjoyed both how he was utilized on the court and the team posting 20-11, 17-5 winning records. But the official announcement of Foster's move to the Sooner State on April 11 closed that door. Suddenly, getting recruited to a new school became front and center and Denker ultimately landed at the D1 University of Idaho, courtesy of new Vandal Coach Alex Pribble. He's quite the example of landing on your feet.
Denker's Fascinating Background
In high high school at Bellarmine College Prep, Denker received recruiting interest from then Seattle University Head Coach Jim Hayford. But college eligibility rules were altered in the midst of the COVID-19 outbreak, and the NCAA "granted players an additional year of eligibility," according to Denker. Pribble assisted Hayford at the time and out of that came a solid Denker-Pribble connection. When Hayford was let go during the 2021-22 season, Pribble expressed Seattle interest when Denker was later playing at West Valley College.
He then chose to play at Golden State Prep in Napa, entering what turned out to be a good news/bad news situation. "We were able to play 52 games that season and traveled to Phoenix, Florida and Indiana. There was no school so I was practicing four times a day against good competition. But as Denker explained, "college coaches weren't allowed to go out and recruit until the end of the season."
Thwarted once again, he headed back to the South Bay to play as a freshman for West Valley College Coach Danny Yoshikawa, formerly an assistant at St. Mary's College. In his freshman season, Denker averaged 14.7 points, 5.0 assists, 4.1 rebounds, shooting 48%+ from the floor and 43%+ from three-point range,while being showered with Freshman of the Year, First Team All-State, First Team All-League and First Team All-Defense honors. The Vikings lost in the state championship game to CCSF. "But I didn't receive a lot of D1 interest so I attended Cal State San Marcos."
This season, San Marcos enjoyed a big run in the second half of its schedule, coinciding with Denker's return to health. He was named to the NCAA West Region All-Tournament Team and the California Collegiate Athletic Association All Tournament Team for his performances in San Marcos' four post-season games in March. Denker led CSUSM with 26.3 points per game while going 53% (35-of-66) from the field, 47.8% (11-of-23) from three and 92.3% (24-of-26) from the free throw line. He was his team's leading scorer in all four March contests and posted a career-high 31 points in the semifinals of the CCAA Tournament against Chico State. Over the season, Denker averaged 14.5 points over the season, shooting 44%, 40% and 92% as well as totaling 3.4 rebounds and 2.8 assists.
About his health , "I developed an auto immune infection in my body called MRSA. This made me very sick and was damaging my body and preventing it from having max energy output and even was affecting my heart and lungs. I developed a infection mass in my lower body that needed surgical removal and left me out of commission for several games.
Denker continued, "After my recovery, I worked hard to get back into playing shape and because I was working so hard I developed a rare tendinitis in my wrist that put me in a trainer-made makeshift cast that I needed to wear in order to play in games. I wore it for several games and it limited my ability to shoot and dribble with my dominant hand. I kept playing through it all though because my team needed me. After my hand recovered from that, I was finally healthy and ready to go which definitely helped lead to my in game performances at the end of the season."
Ultimately, Denker received a pair of D1 offers (the other being Cal State Northridge) alongside strong interest from multiple other D1 programs. Idaho remained the leader because "working for so long (to land a D1 offer), it was really important for me not to be wooed and to stay true." Of Seattle's four other announced signees, Denker is familiar with each and is already working out with EJ Neal.
Why Choose the Vandals?
"Coach Pribble is impressive. "He has great resolve in his way being the right way and he goes and proves it." Pribble won big as the head coach at St. Martin's University in Washington and he played an integral role in Seattle's move into consistent winning. A Bay Area native, who played and later assisted at California, each of his new recruits thus far are uniquely either from the Bay Area or the Seattle area.
Denker also wanted noted in that "I am now a combo guard. I still can shoot well, ballhandle and pass but I'm stronger, I can post up and set up mismatches on screens. One of the reasons Coach Pribble became interested in me is because of my versatility."
Denker will major in Communications. "Then I want to play professionally and eventually enter the coaching ranks, like my Dad and his Dad."
