Men's Basketball | 10.22.2026

LEWISTON, Idaho – The LC State Men's Basketball team, receiving votes in the national poll, opens the 2026-27 campaign under ninth-year head coach Austin Johnson this weekend with a trip to Arizona that will test a new group of Warriors. With the departure of three key seniors, LC State returns with a roster loaded with talent along with eight newcomers.
 
LC State graduated forward Grayson Hunt, guard Peyton Nordland and the program's all-time leading scorer, John Lustig. Though an impactful group, Johnson feels confident in the recruiting efforts that led to high-level signings in the offseason, paired with high-level players that the program retained. Two such players are First-Team All-Cascade Conference honoree Dylan Skaife and All-CCC Honorable Mention Brandon Suber.
 
Skaife led the Cascade Conference in 3-pointers made last season as a sophomore with 90, which ranks fourth in a single season at LC State. The guard averaged 12.5 points per game and shot .409 from the field and had at least four 3-pointers in a game 11 times. Suber, a senior this season, led the Warriors and was fifth in the CCC in assists with 102 last year. He averaged 10.3 points per game and shot .514 from the field.
 
"We are hoping Dylan can take another step not just in performance, but also in leadership and urgency," Johnson explained. "We need him to be assertive as he returns after a productive season. Suber will have a bit different role for us this year, but I am hopeful he will once again produce at a high level for us as a playmaker. It's early, but so far it looks like a lot of our returners had good offseasons and came back to campus improved in one way or another."
 
Other key contributors from last season include Dallon Morgan and Josh Salguero who played big roles across the court despite limited time due to injury. Jamare' Childs led the team in 3-point percentage (.410) and was second in 3-pointers made (64), and fellow senior Trevor Manning tied for the team-lead last year with 22 steals. Carter Hansen and Mateen Usui return for their first full seasons after sitting out last season as freshmen.
 
"The new norm of college basketball is turnover of rosters," Johnson added. "We are grateful we returned as much as we did although we'd be remiss to not mention what an incredible group of seniors we had last year in Lustig, Hunt and Nordland."
 
The most notable addition to the 2026-27 roster is Lapwai's Titus Yearout who joins the Warriors after a career at NCAA I Division Idaho. Yearout was a member of the Vandals' Big Sky Championship team last season after a storied career at Lapwai that included two Idaho 1A DI State Player of the Year honors and back-to-back Idaho State titles.
 
The Warriors added another key transfer Dylan Victorio out of Citrus College who helped the Owls to back-to-back Western Conference titles. Royce Fisher, a standout at Lewiston High School and the 2026 5A Idaho State Player of the Year, will be looked to for an immediate impact as well.
 
"We anticipate Titus Yearout and Dylan Victorio making an impact as transfers," Johnson said. "Titus is in his fifth season of college basketball and had some great experience at U of I. Victorio brings a physicality on the wing that we needed. We anticipate other transfers stepping up as well, but so far, those two have made the biggest impact on the group. We also expect Royce Fisher to have a significant role as the season goes on and he gets into a rhythm."
 
Fisher is one of three Lewiston products on the roster, along with freshman Jordan Walker and transfer junior Carson Way. LC State also added Ahlius Yearout, Titus' brother and former Lapwai standout.
 
"We want to have an enduring program that can consistently pursue championships every year regardless of where the individual players are from," Johnson said. "That being said, it's really cool to have a group of local guys that have grown up around the program, been to camps and have great respect for our program. In some ways they take it a bit more personal from an investment and pride perspective. We've had Carson, Royce and Jordan in our camps when they were younger and to see them competing on the court for us is a neat thing."
 
Along with being natives of the Valley, all three have special connections to LC State. Carson's brother, Riley Way, was a standout on the Warrior Baseball team for five years. Royce's dad, Jason, competed for the rodeo team at LC State, and Jordan's dad, Tim, was a basketball coach at LC State.
 
The basketball tradition in Lapwai is well known across the state, so Johnson expressed his excitement to have the Yearout brothers as part of the program. Ahlius enters his sophomore season after a year at Blue Mountain CC but will miss most of the season rehabbing an injury.
 
"Titus is someone we recruited very hard in high school so to get to finally coach him means a lot. He is one of the better players to come through the Valley in quite some time," Johnson explained. "Ahlius was a late addition after an unexpected injury and we are thankful we could be a landing spot for him as he continues to get acclimated to college hoops. He is a big-time competitor and has made us better every day since getting cleared.
 
"There are great youth programs and high school coaches in the Valley basketball scene, so to be able to have some of them on our roster hopefully is a reflection of the positive basketball culture this community has," Johnson continued. "Each of these five guys take a lot of pride in the opportunity they have and the longtime connection they have to this program. My hope is the community will come out and support these guys through the ups and downs of the season and recognize how special it is that we have this many local guys competing on the roster at one time."
 
Fans will have a variety of opportunities to see the entire LC State roster compete throughout the season, including when the Warriors take on NCAA DI powerhouse Gonzaga in a charity exhibition on Oct. 28.
 
LC State opens the season Oct. 23-24 in Arizona against Park-Gilbert (Ariz.) and No. 3 Arizona Christian at the Fultz Memorial Classic in Glendale, Ariz., before taking on the Bulldogs on an exhibition where proceeds will benefit the victims of this summer's Spokane wildfires.
 
"Our first handful of games will be very challenging," Johnson said. "To open the season against Park-Gilbert and ACU on the road should give us a quick idea of things we need to improve upon. The main things I hope to see are for us to grow closer as a team in terms of connectedness and execution both offensively and defensively. The Gonzaga game will be a fun experience for our guys, and we are grateful for GU being on board to schedule it and give back to a community that has really been shook up by the fires in August."
 
The home opener is set for Oct. 30 when LC State hosts Northwest Indian College, then the Warriors hit the road once more to face Montana Western and (RV) Montana Tech at Tech's Best Western Tip Off Classic in Butte. LC State will host Montana Western in its second non-conference matchup on Nov. 20 before the Clearwater River Casino & Lodge Classic Nov. 23-24 where the Warriors will take on Pacific Union (Calif.) before a rematch with Park-Gilbert.
 
"We play a good non-conference schedule once again," Johnson explained. "Right out of the gates headed to Arizona and then shortly after playing Montana Western and Montana Tech on the road will be really tough and competitive environments. Hopefully those games will help us enter conference play with a clearer identity of who we are and who we need to become to be successful."
 
Cascade Conference play starts on Dec. 4-5 when LC State welcomes No. 15 Eastern Oregon and No. 16 College of Idaho to the P1FCU Activity Center. The Warriors split with both teams last season and LC State shared the regular-season conference title with EOU.
 
The first CCC road trip is the longest as the Warriors head to Southern Oregon and Oregon Tech, two of the best in the CCC last season, then return home to host Bushnell (Ore.) and CCC tournament champion Corban (Ore.) in the first weekend of 2027.
 
LC State was picked to finish third in the CCC preseason coaches poll behind College of Idaho and Eastern Oregon. Oregon Tech was picked fourth, Corban was fifth and Southern Oregon was seventh. Bushnell, Northwest (Wash.), Warner Pacific (Ore.), Evergreen State (Wash.) and Walla Walla (Wash.) rounded out the poll, respectively. The top five teams in the poll each received at least one first-place vote, with LC State garnering two.
 
"I think the CCC should be really good again this season," Johnson explained. "C of I, EOU and Corban return a huge chunk of their national tournament rosters. OIT returns a good core off a national tournament team and SOU returns their main guys as well. I think the conference preseason poll showed there is great, expected parity with five teams receiving a first-place vote. When you factor in playing back-to-back nights, so much of it will come down to who can stay healthy and who can be mentally tough enough to handle the adversity that goes on during a college basketball season. Each program has a specific identity, and the coaches do a great job in this league of maximizing their rosters."

Tickets are on sale now for the 2026-27 season of Warrior Basketball at lcwarriors.com/tickets.
 
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