Quinn Denker Goes Rocky Mountain High

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 displays his shooting form on a corner 3

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."

Denker with a last-second 3 for the win

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."

Denker speaks on multiple subjects

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.

Quinn Denker Goes with Coach Alex Pribble & Idaho

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."