Vandals Men's Basketball Camps - University of Idaho

Vandal Men's Basketball Camps
Camp Staff

Head Coach Don Verlin

Don Verlin has joined the University of Idaho family as head coach of the Vandal men’s basketball program. Verlin, who was the longest tenured assistant coach in Utah State history, brings his offensive expertise from the fifth-winningest Division I basketball program of the decade.

“Don is a winner. He has been involved with winning programs his entire career,” Spear said. “He has been mentored by one of the most respected coaches in the game – Stew Morrill.

“Don is a program-builder, a great evaluator of talent, and he understands what it takes to be successful in the Western Athletic Conference.”

Verlin has been with Morrill for 15 years, which includes their time together at Colorado State University before Morrill was hired at Utah State 11 seasons ago. The offensive guru for the Aggies, Verlin has been a key component in Utah State’s nine successive post-season appearances and nine-successive 20-plus-win seasons. In his 16 years at the NCAA level, Verlin’s teams have won 73 percent of their games and over the past 20 years his teams have 467 victories. The teams with which he has been involved never have had a record below .500.

“I’m extremely honored to be chosen the head basketball coach at the University of Idaho,” Verlin said. “I am tremendously excited and am looking forward to building a winning basketball program here.”

Verlin said the schools share not only a conference affiliation that will be beneficial in his transition but a college-town atmosphere that is a draw to his recruiting style and his family.

“One of the things that really impressed me was the passion Rob Spear and (Idaho president) Tim White have for the University of Idaho,” Verlin said.

Verlin, who was in charge of USU's complex offensive schemes, helped turn the Aggies into one of the best shooting teams in the country as they currently are in a position to finish first in the nation for field goal shooting, as they did in 2005. The team has ranked among the top three shooting teams nationally in four of the last five years.

"Don has been with me 15 years and it’s always tough to see someone go when they've been with you that long," Morrill said in a statement released by the school. "I am very happy for him and his family. He will be a terrific head coach and we will miss having him as part of our program. Even though we will be competing in the same league, Don will always be family and that will never change."

Prior to Utah State, Verlin spent two tenures at Colorado State, as he was an assistant at CSU during the 1992 season before moving to Cal State Bakersfield for the 1993 and 1994 seasons. During his two seasons as an assistant in California, Cal State Bakersfield won back-to-back NCAA Division II national championships.

Verlin returned to Colorado State ahead of the 1995 season and then spent the next five seasons in Fort Collins. Prior to his first stint at Colorado State, Verlin was an assistant at Columbia (Calif.) Junior College from 1989-91. Columbia posted an 81-23 record in his three years there and won two conference championships.

Verlin, 42, graduated from Cal State Stanislaus with a degree in physical education in 1991. He earned a master's degree in education from Colorado State in 1993.

Born June 15, 1965 at Roseville, Calif., Verlin graduated from Del Oro High School at Loomis, Calif. He and his wife, the former Serena Shumway, have one son (Jacob, 12) and one daughter (Sydnee, 5). He also has a twin brother (Ron) who is an assistant basketball coach at Pacific.

Coaching experience
1999-2008    Assistant Coach    Utah State
1995-98    Assistant Coach    Colorado State
1993-94    Assistant Coach    Cal State Bakersfield
1992    Assistant Coach    Colorado State
1989-91    Assistant Coach    Columbia (Calif.) JC

Education
1993    Colorado State    Master’s (Education)
1991    Cal State Stanislaus    B.A. (Physical Education)
1983    Del Oro (Loomis, Calif.) HS

Assistant Coach Mike Burns

Newly instated Vandal coach Don Verlin added a critical piece to his staff with the hiring of Mike Burns as assistant coach with the University of Idaho men’s basketball program.

“I have known Mike Burns for a long time,” Verlin said. “He worked his way up through the coaching ranks, paid his dues and will fit in extremely well in our basketball program. I have great trust in Mike and he will be responsible for implementing a large portion of our offensive schemes. Mike is a standup guy and a class act. Everyone at the University of Idaho athletic department – from the administration to the other coaches and student-athletes – will be very happy that he and his family made this decision.”

Burns has strong ties to the Northwest and most recently led Community Colleges of Spokane to a No. 1 ranking in the Northwest Athletic Association of Community Colleges and a second-place finish at the NWAACC Tournament. His team finished with a 30-2 overall record and had a 24-game winning streak snapped with a one point loss in the title game against Yakima Valley CC. He was named the NWAACC East Region coach of the year.

Prior to CCS, Burns spent three seasons at the helm of the Eastern Washington University men’s basketball program. In 2006-07, Eastern led the Big Sky Conference and ranked third in NCAA Division I with an average of 84.2 points per game. The team also was sixth nationally in field goal percentage (49.5 percent) and sixth in assists (17.7). While at EWU, Burns coached Rodney Stuckey, who went on to be selected No. 15 overall in the 2007 NBA Draft by the Detroit Pistons.

Burns spent the 2003-04 season as an assistant at Washington State University under Dick Bennett after spending the previous three years at EWU as an assistant coach on Ray Giacoletti’s staff. While at Washington State, he helped the Cougars finish with six more victories than the previous season, and the team qualified for the conference tournament for the first time since 1990, when all 10 schools qualified.

Under Giacoletti, Burns served as the team’s recruiting coordinator, coached perimeter players and was responsible for team defense. Eastern won 58 percent of its games overall (52-37) and 68 percent in conference play (30-14) in that three-year stretch en route to garnering the school’s first-ever berth in the National Invitation Tournament in 2003 and first-ever NCAA Tournament berth the following season.

In April 2002, following his second season at the helm of the Eagles, Giacoletti promoted Burns to associate head coach.

Burns has deep roots in the state of Washington, having graduated from Tyee High School and Central Washington University. He had coaching stints at both of his alma maters, as well as Highline Community College in Des Moines, Wash.

Burns and his wife, Mary, are the parents of one-year-old twins – a boy named Bode and a girl named Kylie.

Assistant Coach Mike Score

Mike Score joined the Idaho men’s basketball staff as an assistant coach in 2007.

Score spent the past three seasons at Utah where the Utes advanced to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament during the 2004-05 season. Prior to his time at Utah, Score spent four seasons as an assistant at Eastern Washington University after earning his start in coaching with four seasons at Southeastern Community College (Iowa).

During Score’s tenure at Eastern Washington, the Eagles went to the NCAA Tournament in 2004 and the NIT in 2003 - the school’s first post-season appearances. Eastern also won the Big Sky Conference regular-season and tournament titles in 2004. He has recruited heavily in the Pacific Northwest, Canada and overseas.

"Joining the Vandal program and coach Pfeifer’s staff is a great opportunity," Score said. "I have known and trusted coach Pfeifer for a long time and respect what he has done in his coaching career. The University of Idaho is a great place and I know we will have success here."

Before his tenure at Eastern Washington, Score spent four seasons as an assistant coach at Southeastern Community College at West Burlington, Iowa. He helped guide Southeastern to the 1999-2000 National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) championship and a 34-4 record. Eight players from that squad went on to play at NCAA Division I schools.

Southeastern was 94-41 in Score’s four seasons there as he helped recruit three junior college All-America selections. Score coordinated recruiting, academics, film exchange and scouting, and was also the team’s summer camp director.

Score was a student assistant coach at the University of Washington from 1994-96, where he was involved in video exchange and various administrative duties.

Score received two bachelor’s degrees from Washington in 1996, one in business administration and another in political science.

A 1991 graduate of Everett (Wash.) High School, Score was born Dec. 10, 1972, at Seattle, Wash. He married the former Carly Kropff Aug. 6, 2005.

Assistant Coach Mike Freeman

Mike Freeman joined the University of Idaho men’s basketball staff as the Director of Operations in 2007.

Freeman comes to Idaho from Lambuth University at Jackson, Tenn., where he was an assistant coach during the 2006-07 season. The team was ranked in the top ten for twelve consecutive weeks, reaching as high as fourth in the country, and advanced to the NAIA National Tournament. He coached the Basketball Times NAIA Player of the Year in Ivan Jenkins, who was the second overall pick in the 2007 CBA Draft.

Freeman graduated from Iowa in 2006 with a degree in Communication Studies and a minor in Sports Studies. He also earned a certificate in Entrepreneurship. While at Iowa, he was the student manager for the men’s basketball team from 2001-2006 where the Hawkeyes earned trips to three NIT’s and two NCAA Tournaments. In 2005-06, Iowa earned a 25-9 overall record, which was the second most wins in school history. The team also finished undefeated at home for the first time in school history at 17-0 and earned a No. 3 seed at the NCAA Tournament.

Freeman is originally from Cedar Rapids, Iowa.