Ex-Hawaii player headed to Montana State Billings

When George Pfeiffer departed as the Idaho coach a year and then landed the head coaching spot at Montana State Billings, he took one of his Vandal players -- Mike Hall -- with him.

Hall, a senior this recently concluded season and a long-range shooter, led the Yellowjackets with 16.7 points per game. 200 of his 348 shooting attempts were from the three-point distance.

Now Pfeiffer has landed another former WAC player with the signing of Lasha Parghalava, formerly of Hawaii. Parghalava made six starts in 2008-2009, played in 25 games and averaged just under 22 minutes a contest for Bob Nash. He averaged 7.6 points a game and 113 of 166 of his shots on the season were three-point attempts.

Montana State Billings is a member of the Division 2 Great Northwest Athletic Conference.

George Pfeiffer is back in coaching

Former Idaho mentor George Pfeiffer is again back in the coaching ranks, having just been hired to run the men's basketball program at Montana State Billings.

Here's the press release:

June 18, 2008
MSUB Names George Pfeifer New Head Men’s Basketball Coach

BILLINGS, Mont. – Montana State Billings Director of Athletics, Dr. Gary Gray, announced Wednesday that former University of Idaho head men’s basketball coach, George Pfeifer, has been hired as the new head men’s basketball coach.

“I am extremely pleased that Coach Pfeifer has accepted our offer to become our new men’s basketball coach,” Gray said. “George brings a wealth of basketball experience and success to MSUB, particularly from his many years as head coach in a very talented NAIA program at LCSC. In fact, LCSC was a provisional NCAA Division II member for a few of those years so he is no stranger to Division II. In addition, he has recruited against and competed well against some of the most successful Division II programs in the West Region. George also has a strong record of fund raising in the Lewiston community, and he built a model camp structure at LCSC over his many years there. We welcome Coach Pfeifer as the newest member of the Yellowjackets.”

Pfeifer comes to MSUB after three years at the University of Idaho where he served one year as assistant coach and two as head coach. Pfeifer guided the Vandals to a 12-48 record in his two years as head coach...

Go here for the remainder.

Idaho gets a win

We've had some fun at the expense of the Vandals at times so here's some payback: Coach George Pfeiffer's team nabs a league win over visiting Louisiana Tech.

Vandals down Bulldogs, 85-78
Courtesy: Idaho Athletic Media Relations
1/10/2008

MOSCOW, Idaho – Jordan Brooks and Mike Hall combined for 42 points and the University of Idaho men’s basketball team shot 51-percent from the floor in an 85-78 victory over Louisiana Tech Thursday.

The win was Idaho’s (4-10, 1-2) first of the early Western Athletic Conference schedule and its first ever over Louisiana Tech (3-11, 0-2).

“This was an offensive game,” Idaho coach George Pfeifer said. “It was definitely somebody trying to outscore somebody. What was impressive to me tonight was every time they made a run at us, we answered the run. We showed some patience of offensive.”

Clyde Johnson, who started his first game of the season, added a career-high 19 points on 8-of-10 shooting, which included a 3-of-3 performance from beyond the 3-point arc. Brooks added 10 rebounds to earn Idaho’s first double-double of the season and scored 11 of his 21 points from the free throw line. He also tallied five steals and four assists. Hall hit 50-percent of his shots from the floor and from beyond the arc and his four 3-pointers give him 21 in the last five games. Brandon Brown added 12 points off the bench.

The Vandals shot 29-of-57 from the field and 9-of-19 (.474) from beyond the arc. They also hit 18-of-24 free throws and outrebounded the Bulldogs by seven. Idaho also tallied just nine turnovers, which included just three at halftime.

Louisiana Tech scored first in the contest and the scored was tied three times in the first three minutes before Idaho pulled ahead for good at 8-6 with 16:28 remaining. The Vandals moved ahead by seven at the 11:32 mark but the Bulldogs fought back to tie the score on two occasions. With the score tied at 22, Idaho put together a 10-0 run and eventually moved ahead by 12 at 40-28 with 2:05 remaining. Louisiana Tech scored the final eight points of the half, including a 3-pointer at the buzzer, to pull within 40-36 at halftime.

The Bulldogs continued their streak and eventually scored 11 unanswered points to pull within 40-39 at the start of the second half. Idaho responded with six points and eventually moved ahead by 11 after hitting 3-pointers on three consecutive possessions. Idaho’s lead was 71-61 with 8:12 remaining when Louisiana Tech put together a 10-2 run to pull within 73-71 with 4:35 remaining. Idaho responded with the next four points and later hit 7-of-8 free throws in the final 1:04 to hold on for the 85-78 victory.

Idaho signs some help

Hopefully just in time, Coach George Pfeiffer has brought in some help for his squad. The new kid is sure to be the bain of all radio announcers.

Erekele Jgernaia joins men's basketball program
Idaho Athletic Media Relations
11/27/2007

MOSCOW, Idaho – The University of Idaho men’s basketball program announced the signing of Erekle Jgerenaia (EE-rek-lay JER-uh-Nigh-uh), a 6-8 small forward from Tbilisi – the capital city of the country of Georgia.

“Ika” will join the Vandals for the 2008 spring semester and should immediately be eligible for play.

He averaged 24 points, eight rebounds, and four assists during the 2006-07 season with his club team, the Sukhumi Juniors. He was named MVP of the 2005 Tournament of the Black Sea, a regional junior tournament with teams from Turkey, Russia, and other countries.

“Ika gives us an explosive young perimeter shooter in our program,” Idaho coach George Pfeifer said. “We have been working hard to bring him here since the summer. With his size and athleticism, he will be able to impact the game in a lot of ways. We are very excited to have him coming here for the second semester.”

Erekle is a member of the Georgian Under-20 National team and will continue to compete for the team this coming summer. He figures to be one of the main contributors in the upcoming European Under-20 Championships.