6-foot-3 senior-to-be guard Quinn Denker has traded in records of 11-21 for 19-14 plus 12-6 from 5-13. One doesn't have to be math accomplished to determine that those improvements are a tremendous gain.
The backdrop is Denker has departed from the University of Idaho after leading the Vandals in scoring at 12.5 points per game and also 3.7 assists a contest. He finished third on the team with 3.3 rebounds an outing too. In his initial year, Coach Alex Pribble's and his crew finished 11-21 and 5-13 in the Big Sky Conference.
Denker's new home is University of Northern Colorado which enjoyed those 19-14 and 12-6 records under fourth year Coach Steve Smiley. And yes, UNC and Idaho reside in the same conference which will make for an interesting road game in Moscow, Idaho next season. About 2,500 additional feet in elevation separate Greeley from Moscow as well as a bit over 1,000 miles. Moscow sports a population of 25,000 while Greeley has 110,000 inhabitants but it's not like Denker has chosen the bright lights of the big city.
Why UNC? "I chose Northern Colorado because I liked what they are doing there—our values are aligned. The focus is on winning. I love the way they play on both sides of the ball. I also liked the players, the character of the guys. I talked with the coaches and they are winners. Winning is an expectation."
Regarding his stint at Idaho, Denker offered, "it was a whole new team with 15 new guys and a new system we tried to implement. We made strides and showed resilience."
What will be Denker's role on his new team? "Coach Smiley told me what I was good at and gave me specifics on where I needed to improve." Regarding the latter, "there is a whole plan on how we are going to do that."
Northern Colorado returns a talented all conference point guard in Jaron Rillie who averaged 11.0 points per game while shooting 47% overall alongside 128 assists (4.6 a game) versus 58 turnovers. "He's a good shooter and now we'll have two of the top five guys in assists in the league (playing together)," Denker noted. "We'll have the best center in the league and a huge core of returnees too."
As for the coming season, "We still have a couple of spots left to fill but we have the core and the new additions, including a guard from overseas. We just signed a big wing from USF (6-foot-8 Isaiah Hawthorne out of Tracy High)."
The approach to him by Northern Colorado came out of the blue."I wasn't expecting to remain in the Big Sky Conference," Denker explained. "When they called, I went 'huh?'" which quickly became “I’d really love to play there.”
So Denker will work out with his trainer Anthony Demartini of CED training this summer, always with a mindset of greater effort at getting better. That ethos will fit right in with his new team.
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