Idaho State men’s basketball Head Coach, Ryan Looney announced two coaching changes to complete his coaching staff for the upcoming 2024-25 season.
After one season as Assistant Coach with the Bengals, Cam Clark departed for an Assistant Coaching role at Houston Christian University and Graduate Assistant, Tim Nolan, will be leaving the program after working tirelessly for two seasons in his GA role, graduating with his Master’s Degree in Athletic Administration.
The Bengals will bring in Devin Kastrup and Akil Reese as Assistant Coaches for the 2024-25 season.
Devin Kastrup joins ISU after serving as Head Coach at Cloud County Community College, in Concordia, Kansas, for the last three seasons (2021-24). Kastrup’s presence at CCCC was immediately felt as he flipped their record from 7-16 to 14-17 the following season, and finished his final year 21-11.
“I am excited for the opportunity to come work in beautiful Pocatello for Coach Looney and Idaho State” Kastrup tells us. “Coach is one of the smartest basketball minds in college basketball and I jumped at the chance to join him in continuing to elevate Bengal basketball.”
Prior to Cloud County CC, Coach Kastrup took over Southwestern CC in Creston, Iowa that would finish with just three wins in 2018-19 and manage to more than triple the number of wins for the Spartans in 2019-20, finishing with 10. Two players from the 2019-20 team would be named All-Region XI selections as Kastrup would then lead the Spartans to 13 wins the 2020-21 season which included five Top-20 victories. Kastrup would lead the Spartans to finish 11th nationally in scoring defense, 20th nationally in field goal percentage defense, 3rd nationally in made three-point field goals, and 24th nationally in free throw percentage. Three players from the 2020-21 squad would be recognized on the Iowa Community College Athletic Conference (ICCAC) All-Region Teams for SWCC.
Before taking over the helm of Southwestern’s men’s basketball team, Kastrup was the Assistant men’s basketball Coach at his alma mater, Western Colorado University. During his first-year coaching at WCU, 2017-18, he helped guide the program to more than double their wins from the previous year, and earn more wins during a single season than the team had earned since 2012 as the Mountaineers made the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) playoffs for the first time in five seasons. The next two years, Kastrup would coach four all-conference selections, including one first team selection.
Kastrup played professionally for three seasons in Spain and China. During Kastrup’s first season overseas, he was named Rookie of the Year. Kastrup’s second season was cut short due to an injury. At that time, spring 2017, he returned to the United States and joined the coaching staff at the University of Maine at Presque Isle for the second half of their season. He was an Associate Head Coach for The Force Basketball, in Colorado Springs, CO, during the summers from 2015-17.
A native of Colorado Springs, CO, Kastrup played collegiately at Southwestern Iowa Community College from 2011-2013 where he would earn his Associate of Arts Degree. Kastrup would then transfer to Western Colorado University where he finished his collegiate playing career while earning a Bachelor’s Degree in exercise science and sports science with an emphasis in sport and fitness management. Serving as team captain for both the Spartans and Mountaineers, Kastrup would earn all-conference accolades while playing for the Spartans & led the Mountaineers in rebounds, blocked shots, and three-point field goal percentage.
“Coach Kastrup is a great addition to our coaching staff” says Head Coach Ryan Looney. “He is a fantastic young coach and already has really good experience. His connections in recruiting will allow us to expand our reach… we got better with the addition of Devin Kastrup.”
Akil Reese comes to Idaho State following one year as the assistant coach at Clovis North High School in Fresno, CA where Reese helped guide the Broncos to a 28-7 overall record and 9-1 in conference play, en route to winning the Division 1 CIF Central Section Championship. At CNHS Reese was responsible for film break down, scouting, and any other day-to-day tasks, while also taking the lead as their Player Development Coach.
“I’m thrilled to be joining Idaho State University’s coaching staff. It feels like a culmination of my passion and efforts in basketball coaching” explains Reese. “My journey in basketball coaching began at Westchester High School and extended through various roles, including working with the New Orleans Pelicans during the NBA summer league. These experiences have not only sharpened my skills in player development but also deepened my commitment to building winning habits both on and off the court.
I’m eager to apply everything I’ve learned through my experiences, both triumphs, and trials to guide our players to help them be the best possible versions of themselves. I hope to bring my experiences and enthusiasm to contribute to the team significantly.
I’m thankful for the opportunity that Coach Looney has provided me to be a part of Bengals basketball and looking forward to working with the rest of the coaching staff to push the program to new heights.”
Prior to Clovis North, Reese served as the JV Head Coach and Varsity Head Assistant Coach for Westchester High School in Los Angeles, CA from 2020-23. Taking over after being named Interim Varsity Head Coach towards the end of the 2023-24 season.
In the summer of 2022 Reese worked as an Assistant Coach for the New Orleans Pelicans NBA Summer League team. During his time with the Pelicans, Reese worked with staff on game days to ensure efficiency and consistency, assisted coaches with individual workouts with players such as Jose Alvarado, Herb Jones, and Trey Murphy, participated in practices & drills, while also having some managerial duties during team practices and games.
Also, during the summer of 2022, Coach Reese served as a player development coach with RIZE Management. During his time at RIZE, Reese provided skills and pre-draft trainings for the upcoming 2022 NBA draft class.
Head Coach Ryan Looney shares his thoughts on bringing Coach Reese onboard, “We are blessed to have Coach Reese on our staff. Akil has extensive experience with player development during the NBA Summer League, which can help our program immensely. He also has an extremely high-level of character, and is very well liked in the basketball community in the state of California.”
Idaho State is set to begin their summer training and workouts within the next few weeks as they begin their quest for the 2024-25 season championship. The Bengals look to build their chemistry and team cohesion after welcoming ten new players and two new coaches to the squad.
