Friday, July 17, 2009.

Well, it has come to pass. The guy who was collecting towels, loading ball racks and filling water dispensers less than 12 years ago has landed a spot on an NBA staff. Bryan Gates has accepted an invitation to Sacramento. Gates will be the fourth assistant on the Sacramento Kings bench under new coach Paul Westphal. It's not a glory spot--in fact, Gates will spend more time behind the scenes, working with players on shooting in practices and creating video scouting reports on opponents. But he's good with that. It's 1997 all over again, Gates figures. Only this is The Show.

In case you haven't heard the story, Gates attended Boise State from 1991-96 and did not play basketball. Nor did he graduate, which keeps him from landing a college job (where I personally think he'd be awesome). Gates pleaded with coach Bobby Dye to allow him to be a volunteer intern in the Stampede's first season in 1997-98. Dye said yes--and grew to really like the eager young Gates.

After that first unpaid year, Dye put a package together that allowed Gates to sell tickets as an account executive and double as an assistant coach. "Is it a good contract?" Gates excitedly asked Dye. "Before or after taxes?" said Bobby. Gates worked under the Stampede's next three coaches, Russ Bergman, Rory White and Larry Krystkowiak before jumping to the D-League with the Austin Toros under the late Dennis Johnson in 2005-06. It was after that season Bill Ilett hired Gates as coach of the Stamps.

His first job as a head coach came in April of 2000 with Oklahoma of the USBL. His first game was against the Gulf Coast Sun Dogs, featuring boxer Roy Jones Jr. at point guard. Gates countered at the point with Doug Gottlieb, now an ESPN analyst. Gates won three division titles in the USBL during summers while he assisted with the Stampede during the winters. From the Hickory Nutz in the Carolinas to the tough environment of Beirut, Lebanon, Gates has continued to win--and win some more. His regular season record with the Stampede was a symmetrical 100-50, with an NBA D-League championship and two Coach of the Year awards. Can't wait to see where it goes from here.

You may be anxiously awaiting the next bit of Boise State recruiting news, but don't hold your breath. Despite my assumption that the Broncos are about halfway there for the 2010 class now that they've received four verbal commitments, coach Chris Petersen says they could be done already. You're well aware that BSU has only five seniors on this season's roster. That's five scholarships for next year. There are always a few more on the shelf. But Petersen says the schollies he has in his pocket are likely to be awarded to deserving walk-ons.

If the formula was perfect, BSU would manage its 85 scholarships by dividing them by five and bringing in 17 players per year. So how will the Broncos fix this imbalance in recruiting? Petersen says the classes of 2012 or 2013 may have more junior college transfers than you normally see at BSU--to create more seniors to go with the members of the 2010 class when they finish their careers. Do you follow that?

If you're handicapping the Boise Burn's positioning in the af2 Playoffs, you've probably figured out that--as much as they'd like to nail down a ninth straight win tomorrow night at South Georgia--a loss won't hurt them. Spokane is not going to lose to Central Valley tomorrow, so that will leave the Burn as the fourth seed in the National Conference. The Burn would host either Bossier-Shreveport or Arkansas in the first round of the playoffs in two weeks.

This is the third straight day (and fourth time this week) we've talked about Logan Watkins. But why not? He's not only the hottest Boise Hawk, he's the hottest player in the Northwest League. Watkins went 5-for-6 last night as the Hawks blasted Yakima, 14-5. Watkins has now hit safely in eight straight games, during which time his batting average has zoomed from .217 to .344. The 19-year-old second baseman has 16 hits in the last five games alone. And Watkins was not alone in the Hawks' most lopsided game of the season, as Hak-Ju Lee and the newly-arrived Richard Jones each had four-RBI nights. And another new addition, Justin Bour, hit Boise's long-awaited first home run at Memorial Stadium this year. The Hawks have now won four of their last five games, with the series finale against Yakima coming up tonight.

There hasn't been a player to win back-to-back Idaho Men's Amateur championships since Scott Masingill in 2000 and 2001. Pocatello's Quinn Carbol, now 17 years old, will seek to buck that trend when he defends his 2008 title in the tournament that tees off today and runs through Sunday at Falcon Crest in Kuna. Five other past champions are in the field: Joe Malay (1986), Rick Spaeth (1991), Matt McPhie (2003), Joe Panzeri (2005), and Ryan Bendawald (2007). If you're looking for a golfer to watch this weekend, try University of Idaho captain Brad Tensen, the former Capital High standout. Tensen is having a strong summer and is poised to make a run.

This Day In Sports...July 17, 1961:

Baseball Commissioner Ford Frick rules that New York Yankees outfielder Roger Maris must break Babe Ruth's single-season home run record of 60 in 154 games or less for the mark to appear in the record books without an asterisk. Maris, of course, would break the record--but it would take an additional eight games. We await the asterisk for Barry Bonds...for entirely different reasons.

(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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