NAMPA, Idaho – Kobe Terashima didn't suit up in a single Northwest Nazarene men's basketball game last season.

Despite not playing a minute, the redshirt junior provided more help to the Nighthawks than head coach Paul Rush could have imagined.

Terashima was forced to sit out last season after transferring from Montana State Billings per GNAC rules.

Instead of taking it easy, though, the point guard ran the scout team, helping push the Nighthawks every day in practice.

"I wanted our team to be successful," he said. "It was cool to be able to step into that role and try to help guys out."

Normally the scout team is filled with redshirt freshmen who not only don't have collegiate experience, but can struggle to figure out what they are supposed to be running. Coaches need the scout team to quickly pick up the opposing team's action so they can be working with their own team on game planning.

"For him to run the show and put guys in the right spot definitely raised the level of what we saw every day at practice," Rush said. "That helped us get better."

Terashima and the Nighthawks plan to hit the floor for the first time together at 5 p.m. January 15 when they host Saint Martin's in the first game of a modified 12-game GNAC schedule.



Terashima was so good at doing the scout there were times Rush had to stop practice to reassure his team.

"There were times he was doing stuff better than the opponent's point guard would," Rush said. "They would have an action they would run and (Kobe) would make better reads and passes. I'd have to stop practice and say, 'Hey guys, I know we are getting beat on these, but we won't during the game because their point guard can't do this.'

"That is unique in a scout to say this player is better than we are going to see tomorrow night."

It wasn't just the scout where Terashima poured his efforts in, though. He was also basically an assistant coach on the bench during games. He was constantly yelling out encouragement to his teammates or pointing out what the opponents were trying to do and just trying to help the Nighthawks win games.

"Doing scout helped me on the bench too, because when I'm running their plays I know what they are going to do during the game," he said. "So, as I saw them running it I can talk that out to our guys."

One of the people he took under his wing was redshirt freshman point guard Jaylen Fox. Terashima worked with Fox constantly during practice and games to try to help the youngster get established.

"Having a player like that to be able to compete against every day was definitely good," Fox said. "I'd ask him a lot of stuff about how things work on a play or what the other team's read is going to be. Him having that experience and us having a good relationship helped a lot."

Terashima was recruited to Billings out of Rocky Mountain High School in Meridian, Idaho. As a freshman, he led the GNAC in assists per game at 4.4.



Things turned his sophomore year, though, when the Yellowjackets got a new coach and the pair didn't mesh. After a reduced role, he entered the transfer portal and decided to come back to the Treasure Valley.

Initially, the Nighthawks coaching staff thought Terashima might get to play right away since he had his scholarship taken away, but the appeal didn't work out and he had to sit out the year.

Beyond running scout and coaching from the bench, Terashima also worked to improve his shot-making ability.

"We really just worked on being more efficient and consistent," he said. "I feel like that was the biggest part of my game I can use improvement for. If I have my shot dialed in and (the defense) has to play honestly on that, then my assist numbers should go up."

And if it all works out this winter, then there will be plenty of opposing teams trying to figure out how to emulate Terashima on their scout team.