BONNERS FERRY — Bonners Ferry High basketball stars Asher Williams, Thomas Bateman and Brody Rice signed their official college commitments during a ceremony held Thursday, May 22 at the Bonners Ferry High gymnasium.
Roughly 50 friends, family and fans attended to see Williams sign with Montana Tech University (Butte, Mont.) of the NAIA and Bateman and Rice sign with Treasure Valley Community College (Ontario, Ore.) of the NWAC.
Williams averaged 28.6 points per game his senior season, one in which he led the Badgers to back-to-back 4A State Championship titles by averaging 27.7 points, 4.3 rebounds, 3 assists, and 3.3 steals per game during tournament play. He scored over 2,200 points during his career and is ranked as sixth all-time in Idaho history, according to an unofficial list compiled by Idahosports.com. The 6 foot, 6 inch guard is a four-time 4A Intermountain League honors recipient, which includes two league MVP honors, the three-time 4A All-State Player of the Year, the 2025 MVP of Idahosports.com’s 4A All-Tournament Team, and the 2025 4A/3A Player of the Year of Idahosports.com’s All-North Idaho Team. He broke the school record for most points scored during a single game this season, netting 50 against Timberlake during the Backwoods Brawl spirit competition. He’ll be coached by Adam Hiatt, a 1997 Bonners Ferry High graduate, who attended the ceremony and briefly spoke about what Asher will bring to the Orediggers.
“Asher had a storied career and one of the best resumes in the history of Idaho high school basketball,” coach Hiatt said. “He led Bonners Ferry High School to its first state championships in school history and was arguably the best player in the entire state over the past two seasons. He possesses all the basketball tools to be an immediate impact player for Montana Tech. We expect him to develop into a program standard-bearer in short order.”
Montana Tech’s men’s basketball posted a 24-7 record, won its fourth straight Frontier Conference regular season and tournament titles, and finished the season ranked No. 21 in the NAIA’s coaches’ poll during the 2024-2025 campaign.
Bateman averaged 16.4 points per game his senior season and scored over 1,000 points during his high school career. He averaged 16 points, 7.7 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 1.3 steals and 1.7 blocks per game during 2025 state tournament and played a key part in helping the Badgers reach the state title game in three straight seasons. The 6 foot, 5 inch guard/forward combo is a three-time 4A Intermountain League honors recipient and was named to the All-State Team twice, garnering Second Team honors in 2024 and First Team honors in 2025. He was also named to the First Team of the Idahosports.com 4A All-Tournament Team and 4A/3A All-North Idaho Team.
Rice averaged 8.7 points per game his senior season and was an integral part of facilitating the top-ranked offense in the state (74.7 points per game). The 6 foot, 3 inch guard averaged 12.3 points, 4.7 rebounds, 5.3 assists and 1 steal per game during 2025 state tournament and was named to the All-State Second Team due to his efforts. He is a two-time 4A Intermountain League honors recipient and was named to both the 4A/3A Idahosports.com All-North Idaho Team and to the Second Team of Idahosports.com’s 4A All-Tournament Team.
Bateman and Rice will both be coached by 2011 Priest River High graduate and former state champion Eric Holbrook, who led the Chukars to a 13-15 overall record in his first year as head coach.
These three Bonners Ferry High seniors led the Badgers to an 82-16 record over four years, which included a 47-4 record over the junior and senior seasons. They’ll forever be remembered for leading Bonners Ferry High boys basketball to their most successful seasons in school history to date.
This post was originally published on this site be sure to check out more of their content.
