Thursday, June 11, 2009.

At some point Bryan Gates is going to leave his head coaching post with the Idaho Stampede. And the way things are going, it'll be for all the right reasons. Gates is getting specific mention now for a place on an NBA bench. Yahoo! Sports NBA columnist Adrian Wojnarowski, looking at the hiring of Paul Westphal as the new head coach of the Sacramento Kings, writes, "Westphal is expected to hire Dallas assistant Mario Elie, and strongly consider ex-Phoenix and Milwaukee coach Terry Porter and veteran NBA assistant Brian James. Bryan Gates, a rising star in the NBA's D-League for the Idaho Stampede, is expected to be a strong candidate for a spot on the staff.

That would make waves in the NBA, as Gates didn't play college basketball and began his coaching career as a towel-toting volunteer assistant under Bobby Dye when the Stampede were born in 1997. All he has is a love of basketball. And, as it turns out, an acute knowledge of it. In three seasons as Stampede head coach, Gates is 100-50 (very impressive, and very symmetrical) with three trips to the playoffs and one D-League championship.

Young Drew, we hardly knew ye. Drew Hawkins, a late-bloomer who had nothing but upside, has suffered a concussion playing softball and has had to leave the Boise State football team. Because it's a recurring injury, Drew and his family, which includes former BSU and current Colorado coach Dan Hawkins, have decided Drew's football career needs to come to an end. The youngest Hawk walked on with the Broncos last year as a quarterback and had some moments of brilliance. He then switched to wide receiver after spring football. Drew always displayed his inherent football smarts and probably has a future in coaching if he wants one.

Hawkins was going to provide good size at the wideout spot, and that was news. All you have to do to be reminded of Drew's string bean past is look up those Hawkins family photos in old BSU media guides. He's now listed at 6-2, 175, and I'm thinking that was his weight before winter conditioning considering what he looked like on the blue turf this spring. But it's an unfortunately moot point now.

Phil Steele, whose College Football Preview magazine is renowned for its accuracy, was on Idaho SportsTalk again yesterday. Steele has Boise State's strength-of-schedule tabbed as No. 117 in the country, but he says not to blame Tulsa. He expects big things of the Golden Hurricane, who have become a Conference USA power and host BSU on ESPN October 14. Steele feels high-octane Tulsa could be even better at quarterback, pointing to former Mountain View High star Jacob Bower, who transferred there last year. Bower has "more NFL potential" than predecessor David Johnson, who only threw for 46 touchdowns last year. Thing is, Bower doesn't step into the same situation as Johnson--only five offensive starters are back.

If this Boise Burn surge is all about defense, let's talk about defense. The Burn are fourth in af2 in scoring defense, allowing 41 points per game (actually a good number in arena football). They're second in pass efficiency defense, mainly because they're second in the league in interceptions with 21 (Levi Madarieta and Terrance Sanders each have six). And Boise is the best defense in the league on third down, allowing only 25 percent to be converted. Those are some of the numbers the Burn take into Saturday night's game at Tri-Cities. More defense: Burn linebacker Levi Madarieta has earned the af2 Hit of the Week award. The former Weiser Wolverine decisively drove Central Valley receiver LaMonte Jones to the turf after a 10-yard catch in last week's 67-48 win.

Saturday's Ironman 70.3 Boise fills a void on the valley sports calendar. The inaugural Boise event in 2008 brought international competition not seen in these parts since the Women's International Challenge, the bike race that ended seven years ago. Both Ironman 70.3 Boise champions last year were among the elite in the world in the sport: New Zealand's Terrenzo Bozzone in the men's competition and Australia's Kate Major on the women's side. The top local finishers were Kevin Everett of Boise among the men and Boise's Jenny Tobin in the women's race.

Boise State's Simon Wardhaugh, Ryan Grinnell and Pontus Thomee have a shot at All-American status at the NCAA Track & Field Championships in Fayetteville, AR. Wardhaugh is into tomorrow's finals in the hammer after launching the fifth-best throw in the preliminaries yesterday. Grinnell didn't advance in the long jump, but he made the finals in the high jump. And Thomee qualified out of prelims in the javelin. Women's javelin at-large entry Sasa Kampic did not make it through, nor did Idaho's James Rogan, an Eagle High grad who competed in the hammer throw.

Former Timberline pitcher Braden Tullis was taken in the eighth round of the Major League Draft yesterday by Texas. That's high enough to be taken seriously. Tullis said on IST yesterday he was expecting to go between the sixth and 10th rounds, and the Rangers split the difference. There's a good chance he'll land with the Rangers' Northwest League affiliates, the Spokane Indians, and be able to play in front of family and friends against the Hawks in Memorial Stadium. Tullis pitched for Skagit Valley College in Washington this season, going 9-2 with a 1.56 ERA.

This Day In Sports...June 11, 1989, 20 years ago today:

Michael Chang, 17 years old, becomes the youngest men's winner of any Grand Slam tennis tournament in history when he defeats Stefan Edberg in five sets in the finals of the French Open. Chang would be one of the premiere American players of the 90's, but the victory on the red clay of Roland Garros in Paris would be the only Grand Slam title of Chang's career.

(Tom Scott hosts the Scott Slant segment Sunday nights at 10:30PM on KTVB's Sunday Sports Extra and anchors five sports segments each weekday on 1350 KTIK/The Ticket. He also handles color commentary on KTVB's telecasts of Boise State football.)

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