Vishal Banipal to Transfer From Idaho State

According to Barry Hayes of Hoop Stars Canada, guard Vishal Banipal will transfer from Idaho State.

6'2" guard Vishal Banipal (Calgary, AB/Southwest Academy '11) has departed Idaho State after one season.

Banipal signed with ISU last August, right before the start of the school year. The man nicknamed "The Sniper" had no impact in his first year, playing just 40 minutes all season long, averaging 0.7 points per game.

It is not too big of a shock to see him transfer... he was signed so late in the summer last year, which probably means he wasn't in former coach Joe O'Brien's immediate plans. That would also make it very possible he wasn't really in new Coach Bill Evans' plans. To that end, it is easy to see why he might be moving on. Hopefully he will turn up somewhere and play some good basketball.

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Interview With Vishal Banipal

If you remember, Idaho State got a late recruit with Vishal Banipal.

The Bengals website had an interesting interview with him on their site.

How did you choose Idaho State?
“Well when I came here on my visit it was really good and everyone is basically like a family here and they welcomed me.”

What are your expectations/goals for the season?
“Our expectations are to get to the conference tournament and do well. As far as personal goals, I just want to do well and hopefully get Big Sky freshman of the year.”

If he could accomplish anything like that it would certainly be a great, late season coup for Joe O'Brien. Check out the rest of the article to learn a little bit more about the newest member of Idaho State.

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Idaho State Signs Vishal Banipal

There has been a lot of talk about how Idaho State coach Joe O'Brien was still recruiting players for this season. Well, they just recently signed one.

Vishal "The Sniper" Banipal will be headed to Idaho State this season. He is a 6'1'' combo guard originally from Alberta, Canada, who played one year in the USA at Southwest Academy in Lansing, Michigan.

In the midst of a strong year, Banipal received NCAA interest from Liberty, Central Michigan, Idaho State and a load of Junior College offers.

"The Sniper" as his teammates referred to him, figured he would need to take the JUCO route in order make the jump to the NCAA, however when he received the call from Idaho State, the rest was history!

"It was the happiest day of my life," expressed Banipal.

"Thank God I got that call from Idaho State. I knew I could play D1 basketball but I was prepared to take the JUCO route."

The Alberta product will enter his freshman year with the ISU Bengals, who compete in the Big Sky conference. The official visit has been taken, the papers have been signed, and this Canadian will be on campus sooner than later.

It certainly is late for a player to sign for this season, but such is life for Bengals basketball. He is a solid outside shooter (hence the nickname) and appears to have decent athleticism. Still, being signed so late, it is hard to envision him having much of an impact this season.