Now and future stars | Inland Northwest Sports Special

the Inland Northwest is a Powerhouse for athletes making their mark on the Collegiate and professional level tonight we sit down with some of our area standouts I hope that I've been a pretty good leader to like my um teammates and to my community we are catching up with the WCC Player of the Year Ivon egyp a glance at her senior campaign and we're hearing from a former Spokan Chief making history in the NHL it's kind of just a unbelievable story that I honestly wouldn't change anything for plus

a story of resilience miles rice reflects on his battle with cancer as the cougs proved to be one of the top teams in the country we expect to win every game so the success that we're having right now is no shock to any of us hello hello thank you for joining us for our Inland Northwest Sports special I'm Travis Green and I'm Andrew Quinn the Inland Northwest is known for producing world class athletes along with being home to some of the most iconic colleges across the country over the next ha

lf hour we're sitting down with standout athletes on the Collegiate and professional level well it's no secret who the leader of this year's zags team is Andrew uh super senior Anton Watson is the longest tenur bulldog and has been a little bit of everything in his career in Spokan I sat down with Anton to chat about his career and his rise into the player he is today [Music] [Applause] he's the king of spok Cam commercials Billboards and the unquestioned leader of the Gonzaga men's basketball t

eam however the journey to stardom hasn't been an easy one for Anton Watson it starts on my freshman year um getting injured um I was starting first couple games there and then I got injured and it took me a while to to get back to my normal form and back comfortable playing how I following shoulder surgery which cut short his freshman season Watson was forced into a bench roll over the next two seasons but he spent that time learning his craft you know being behind Killian he taught us a lot of

things and then when CAD came um it was kind of hard just take a step back and come off the bench but um I learned a lot of things from Chad so just using that knowledge and building off that building my work ethic and using that motivation um has really helped me get to the spot right now last year Watson broke out and became a viable front Court starter alongside Drew Timmy man it felt really good um I felt like you know a couple years I was in a little slump and you know I wasn't playing the

basketball the way I felt like I should be playing it so last year to play how I was playing you know just making plays defense that was a big thing for me just rebounds kind of just being an injury guy you know it helped me evolve into the player I am today being more aggressive on offense I'm just thankful for all those years where you kind kind of have to go through the struggle and you know it shines in the end coming into this season Watson had to take over a large leadership role on a bra

nd new team I would say this has probably been the most difficult year of like trying to be a leader for me um just because there a lot of new guys you know a lot of younger guys it's just been pretty tough but I feel like at this point in the season you know everyone's starting to pick up more learn more and um yeah we're finally starting to click a little bit now Watson is a Julius Irving award finalist and is second in school history in career steals I feel like when the team needs me most um

that's when I need to step up you know I'm going just keep continuing to work keep staying humble keeping my head down you know I don't really pay too much M to Awards but you know I just want to win games and if I'm doing that I feel like the awards are going to come as Watson finishes up his career in Spokane he hopes to be remembered for staying the course I want him to think me as a winner you know a competitor and just a good teammate every single team I I been on here I've had to do somet

hing different in my role and you know I feel like I've done my role pretty well and I'm just appreciative really of everyone here all the fans you know they always show love it really allows me just to play basketball the game I love and you know just be myself on the court so know I'm thankful for everyone here you have it the first team all WCC member right there what a ride it's been for Anton Travis it's hard to imagine where the Bulldogs would be this season if it weren't for the addition

of one Graham eek ain't that the truth the Wyoming transfer has stepped in and led Gonzaga in scoring and rebounds I sat down with EK to chat about how much fun he's had in his first season in a bulldog uni it's honestly a joy and Coach just talking about playing with great Zeal and joy um and that's what we have been doing as a collective and it it's just great to to go out there playing FR of these fans um all the love they show us is wonderful and just we have a great time every single night

every single day that we step on the court every moment that we get with each other it's always great EK was named an all WCC first teamer along with ant Tom Watson and Ryan nard for that full sit down with graham just head over to cr.com the Gaga women's basketball team is a force on the court yeah 29 and two you you could say that a big reason for the team success has been the Bulldog star senior I sat down with Gonzaga forward Ivon eim to talk about being a leader on this year's team [Music]

now as I like understand like the system a little bit more I understand my game and my um teammates game a little bit more I feel like I try my best to use my voice because I want to help them I want to use my voice to help people and make them better and make the team better so I want to be that Player for my team that is always doing um what they need um and being consistent at that eim has become a superstar this season a process which began in the off season following back to back losses to

end last year's campaign throughout um the offseason in the summer focusing on how can we stay resilient how can we be uncomfortable how can we be consistent um I think those are the main things that we lacked at the end of the season that we've tried our best this year and that we're continuing to try to get better at the zags open this season 7-2 before a big matchup with Stanford really got this team going being able to play in that game that environment against those players against that tea

m um I think it really showed us what we're capable of and being able to know that and being able to be like we can replicate that we can consistently become that type of team I think that's really um what set the stage for us to continue on how we have been and just continuing to keep ourselves at a high standard egim success this season is no surprise to head coach Lisa Fortier I don't get to be on all the award watch lists but if she's not on one then someone made a mistake because she is pla

ying really well um she can score it around the basketall she rebounds but there are some clips I watch and I'm like how did she go get that one and then go get that one and then go get that one all in the same possession um just because she's Relentless the zags are now on track to host the first two rounds of the NCAA tournament being able to have that it it would truly be something special and something so like rewarding for us as well and as eim finishes out her human physiology degree and h

er senior season at Gonzaga she hopes to leave behind a strong example to follow I hope that like my experience and um what I've done here can kind of be an inspiration for people to be like I want to do that or I want to be more than that I hope that I've been a pretty good leader to like my um teammates and to my community and kind of helped uh become a leader for the coaching staff as well and some fantastic news yvon's time at Gonzaga is not over just yet that's right the WCC Player of the Y

ear and defensive player of the year and a Katrina mlan award final announced she will return for a fifth season next year to lead the Bulldogs we expect to win every game so the success that we're having right now is no shock to any of us still ahead WSU guard miles rice has turned heads as one of the most decorated freshmen in Pack 12 history we look back at his journey back to the cougs after his battle with cancer plus we're hearing from Rice's teammate the king of North Macedonia Andre yaki

mowski on his impressive senior campaign that's coming up in just 5 [Music] minutes wsu's miles rice has had quite the journey from being recruited over Zoom to Red shirting to beating cancer it has all led to a breakout basketball season leading to an AP Top 25 ranking for the cougs for the first time in six 16 years they just show how much they know they really love me how much they wanted me to be a part of their program and I thought to myself if they could take a chance on me it wouldn't hu

rt for me to take a chance on them rice came to WSU and had to battle for playing time before coach Smith ultimately made the decision to red shirt him I was a little stubborn and you know he was he knew that I was going to be a project that he had to work with and we had a couple older guys that were good and you could tell that Miles Talent was on par he was just younger and didn't know if he was quite mature enough to lead a group of guys older guys and we'll never know cuz we didn't let him

now I'm like maybe we should have after a year on the bench Rice was ready for his opportunity but disaster struck and rice lost another year battling Hodgkins lymphoma the road back after cancer was not an easy one uh it was definitely a little challenging at times you know you know mentally you you would say am I really cut out for it here and there but uh just pushing through that wall cuz that's when that doubt tries to tries to creep in but you got to knock that out you just got to keep wor

king throughout his journey rice has stayed positive loud and confident attributes he credits to his mother she used to make me like run for class president and you know speak in front of the school so I'm I'm not nervous when it when it comes to you know big crowds or anything just just being me I've always been that type of kid that's going to be outspoken and you know just very you know energetic rice began this season playing a solid two guard role until point guard Joseph yufu went down wit

h an injury coach Smith knew he already had the right replacement he wanted to kind of like put give me more stimulated into the offense and you know have me make a little bit more decisions and he didn't want to just throw me into the fire and you know just put everything on my PL that once so he kind of like gradually did it and then we've been able to just you know take off since since he's put me at the point guard and I I'm I'm grateful for it and I and I love it and I've been loving the wa

y that we've been playing he's been even better than expected so that's in him being your quarterback be do that in his first year is really kind of I think raised the the level of what we can be rice has become wsu's leading scorer and continues to wow his teammates on the court guy keeps blessing the kid uh he's extremely talented he's probably the fastest person I've played with like with the ball in his hand like transition he just gets to go took a visit here and I played against him I was

like yo like this kid's pretty good and then they found out he had cancer but he battled it and beat it so everybody's rooting for him and he keeps us all going that kid sure is pretty good Washington State Men's Basketball will be dancing for the first time since 2008 Andrew and the cougs will do so with a senior that's chosen to stay in Pullman all four years a rarity in today's landscape of college basketball what's but what's even more Uncommon is the journey he took to pman Serbian Croatian

and bosnan they're kind of similar but if I speak Macedonian the people there won't they won't understand me so those three languages and then Macedonia obviously uh and then Italian and then English so that's like six languages Andre yakimowski can hold a conversation across the globe something he's had to learn to pursue his passion of basketball the north Macedonian moved away from his hometown to play in the capital at the start of his teenage years two years later he moved to Italy I mean

I left my country when I was 15 years old I I didn't speak the language I didn't know anything about Italy I just left home hoping for a better future and that's how how everything started a venture to chck a dream that would Blossom yakimowski caught the attention of multiple college programs and I had a lot lot of wordss I I think maybe like 15 20 offers but Washington state were the first one reaching out the first to offer meant a lot to yakam mski along with the word of one of the alltime g

reats when I came uh on on official visit uh it was Clay Thomson Jersey retirement he said to me like oh this those three years that I had Washington state are the best years of my life and I was like oh like this guy is aiming Champion then he's saying the best year that he had was at Wu and the rest is history yakimowski is the longest tenur coug on this year's historic team while teammates have left for seeming greener pastures Yaki has stayed and consistently improved this season he's averag

ing career highs across the board it means a lot to to this program to this coaching staff and especially to me you know being a 40-year guy um and to see those kind of results uh you know it means that we're doing good job and I'm happy that I stick with this program for you know for four years with the cougs as a lock to make the NCAA tournament he'll get to live out a dream he had when it all started the whole world is watching even back home in Macedonia like they're they're watching Mar tre

mendous and will do so representing his two homes Macedonia and Poland it means a lot for for the country and for my people who are following me all these years uh and it's definitely the dream come come true to me you know as as a senior to to to be able to lead the team to to March Menace it it will be a perfecte we sit down with Spokane native and former Spokane Chief Kyler Yamamoto to chat about his return to Washington and his first year in Seattle as a member of the Kraken plus Julian Stra

ther is having a solid rookie season with the Denver Nuggets I talk with the former zag up next welcome back the NBA is filled with former Gonzaga basketball players yeah I got a chance to catch up with rookie guard Julian Strather on his first season with the Denver Nuggets check it out like every student that finishes their time in college Julian strawther is off to start his career all of a sudden you have a new job it's your first job except his job description is a bit different than most k

er got it again it's crazy when when when Nia yic is is looking for you on on the skit pass or he's coming to you to play two-man game strawther was taken by the Denver Nuggets with the 29th pick in the 2023 draft a pick the Nuggets traded up for to take the former Bulldog showing confidence in him from the start how much belief everybody in in the staff has in me in the front office I mean they've been giving me the green light to to be great and and then they're pushing me in that direction ev

en everybody all the vets in the locker room I mean I've enjoyed every every last bit of my uh my process as a rookie so far he's had a solid start to his rookie campaign stur has scored double figures nine times including two games over 20 points all while coming off the bench he couldn't imagine a better team to start his career with it's a perfect fit um just in terms of I feel like the way the way everyone messes well together and there's no locker room egos it reminds me of you know my time

at Gonzaga another reminder of his time at Gonzaga is seeing multiple teammates playing on opposing teams which dor says is his favorite part of being a pro it's probably just seeing everybody else that's made it up here and just seeing everybody living out their dreams I feel like it's the coolest thing ever you know to just play against jayen Suggs and and Chad and you know just sharing the floor with them as we're all just living out our dreams I feel like it's the coolest thing ever while h

e is miles away stur is keeping tabs on gonzaga's season and still talks with his former teammates despite the zags falling out of the AP rankings for the first time in eight years he still has faith in his Bulldogs he knows about how you finish the year it's not how you start it's how you playing in March so I I'm still I'm still all behind my guys regardless of what everybody's saying I I think I think we got a good shot heading to the ice now former Spokan Chief Kyler Yamamoto is enjoying his

first season as a member of the Seattle Kraken I sat down with the first ever Washington born Kraken player to talk his hocke Journey his Whirlwind off season and the rise of hockey in his home state Yamamoto with the puck holds it looks fir SC my S with the Chiefs was awesome I never really thought I was going to go to the Chiefs um you know growing up coaches parents Billet parents they were all pushing towards college so I ended up signing there and then you know it's probably the best ever

made it's kind of just a unbelievable story that I honestly wouldn't change anything for following a tremend his stint at home and Spokane Yamamoto was drafted by the Edmonton Oilers where he spent his first Seven Seasons as a pro this off season the Oilers traded Yamamoto to the Detroit Red Wings I mean usually when you get traded um you know the GM will call you and like wish your congratulations so it was kind of weird because he never called me from Detroit and everything so it's kind that's

a little weird but it was funny because I had like five or so six seven guys on their team who texted me and was just like hey fired up for the year can't wait to meet you play with you in the Summers and then to find that out like a day later it was pretty funny just be like oh hey thanks guys but I'm pretty sure I'm getting bought out there but you know I think it worked out for the best thus Yamamoto became a free agent for the first time and his home State team came calling but after signin

g with the Kraken Yamamoto entered unfamiliar territory besides Adam Larson I don't think I knew anybody on the team so um you know it's definitely a bit different walking the locker room you know for the first time walking in all the guys were very open you know very and everything like that so um you know I think it definitely worked out for the best a perk of playing so close to home as Yamamoto relishes playing in front of family friends and the Rowdy cracking faithful when I signed I'm pret

ty sure my parents were even more excited than I was they were they were so fired up man some some games where my parents will text me and ask for tickets it's like there'll be like 15 16 people and stand on my whole boy all right to be able to just play in front of the fans here um you know they're amazing honestly I want to say they're better than Edmonton's fans the haton house see we just call it the Chill Zone it's awesome you heard it there still ahead we take you back down to the Poo to c

heck out a legendary house amongst the Idaho [Music] vandals a key story line comes out of every combine and this year it was all about freakish speed from the lineman that's right wsu's Brennan Jackson was one of those players breaking the internet take a look at this the 64 264 lb Edge clocked an official time of 4.69 Travis insane that was one of the fastest times for a d linman that day here's what he had to say about his time with I'm a coug for life I mean six years over there it was incre

dible I mean all the that happened obviously it wasn't a smooth sailing for for all the years that that we were there but um I wouldn't change it for the world I think it made me who I am today and that that Community is so special and I just can't wait to put on for him meanwhile two other cougs were invited out to this year's combine red shirt sophomore safety Jaden Hicks declared for the draft he tallied an impressive 155 tackles over the past two seasons including eight tackles for loss and

he lays bone crushing hits like oh my go right there and Junior Corner sha Smith also declared for the draft the all Pack 12 honorable mention finished his career with 103 tackles along with three Force fumbles and interception yeah look at that play in the Senior Bowl wow another Vandal W baby Vandal wide receiver Hayden Hatton also declared for the draft following a record-breaking career in Moscow and while many of you may know Hayden for his dominence on the field he's also known amongst the

team for his unique living situation that's right Hayden and his twin brother Hogan who's the Long Snapper for the vandals lived together their senior year and gave us a chance to hear about the humble haton abode so when their cousin Jack walked on at U ofi for basketball it only made sense for him to move in with his twins when I came here and we started living together I mean now they're my best friends in the whole world and our parents are 10 times closer cuz they come and visit all the ti

me it changed our family forever Andrew how cool is that brought together they were living across the country and now this family just even more close we just love the Hatton unbelievable yeah we're definitely going to miss those Hatton boys good luck to them definitely good luck to all our local players that's it for our Inland Northwest special for more on any of these stories just head to our website cr.com we'll see you guys later