Former Mt. Spokane star Ryan Lafferty signs with Idaho

The Idaho men's basketball team continued its roster rebuild with the addition of a Spokane native who joins the Vandals with 32 games of Division I experience.

Ryan Lafferty, a guard who starred at Mt. Spokane High before spending a couple of seasons at St. Thomas in Minnesota, has signed with Idaho, the program announced Wednesday.

The 6-foot-5 Lafferty earned Class 3A Player of the Year and Greater Spokane League MVP honors in 2024 as a senior at Mt. Spokane. He averaged 19.1 points, 5.2 rebounds, 5.1 assists and two steals per game that season, leading the Wildcats to a league title and a third-place finish at the state tournament.

Mt. Spokane went 47-9 during Lafferty's last two seasons. He graduated as one of only two players in program history to eclipse 1,000 career points (1,222).

Lafferty spent his first two collegiate seasons at St. Thomas, a D-I Summit League program in Saint Paul. He appeared in 21 games as a freshman, averaging 2.1 points, 1.6 rebounds and one assist per game while shooting 51.5% from the field. Lafferty set the program's D-I record for single-game rebounding with 13 against Crown College. Lafferty played in 11 games as a sophomore last season, averaging one point, 1.9 rebounds and 1.3 assists.

"Ryan is a leader and a winner," Vandals coach Alex Pribble said in a news release. "He has a terrific energy about him, and he has all the physical tools to be an immediate impact player. He is a local kid who had a terrific high school career at Mt. Spokane. He is a two-way guy who competes at a high level on both ends of the court. Ryan will be a leader in our program and in this community."

Lafferty is the fourth transfer to sign with Idaho in recent weeks, joining Kase Wynott (Washington State), Diego Trejo-Delgado (D-II Saint Martin's) and Hudson Ward (Western Michigan), who inked with the Vandals on Tuesday. Ward, a 6-7 Canada native, spent his freshman year at Penn State before starting six games for Western Michigan last season.

The Vandals have been busy reloading their roster, which took a major hit after the 2025-26 team broke the program's 36-year NCAA Tournament drought. Standout point guard Kolton Mitchell, a Lake City High grad, transferred to Ohio. Forward Jackson Rasmussen, the Big Sky Freshman of the Year last season, departed for Oregon State.

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This story was originally published April 29, 2026 at 11:37 PM.