Miles Klapper Makes his Long Awaited Return to the Bay Area as the Vandals Take on the Cardinal
December 21, 2023
By Dylan Tehada
On Sunday, December 17, the University of Idaho men's basketball team squared off against Stanford in Palo Alto. This game held extra significance for Burlingame native and redshirt freshman for the Vandals, Miles Klapper, as this marked his long awaited return to playing hoops in the bay. As regular season play looms near, Klapper and the Vandals seek to go on a run and win their first Big Sky Conference title since 1990.
Klapper has been playing basketball for as long as he can remember. Hoops has always been his favorite sport, but his dedication to the game grew immensely for Klapper in middle school. Despite being a late bloomer, Klapper found ways to impact the game at a young age and developed a strong skill set at an early age. After middle school, he played one year at Burlingame High School and then transferred to Serra High School during his sophomore year.
After graduating from Serra, Klapper took a prep year to build his skill set and played in the NEPSAC at Bridgton Academy in Maine. Klapper’s ultimate goal throughout his career was to play collegiate hoops, and after one year at Bridgton, he saw that dream come to fruition when he received an offer from University of Idaho’s Head Coach Alex Pribble.
After spending his first summer with the Vandals, Klapper decided to redshirt his freshman year to continue improving his game and building his strength and speed.The Vandals are off to a solid start this season with a record of 6-5, and look to take that momentum into conference play. Their most recent game against Stanford University presented both a challenge and an opportunity for the Vandals to make a statement against a good Power 5 team. On top of the opportunity to play against a well known program, this game held extra significance for Klapper as it marked his first collegiate game back in his hometown.
“To be able to have all my friends and family come out and watch me, even though I wasn't playing, to support the team was a really cool experience,” Klapper said.
Klapper has been a part of the UPB community from the very beginning when he was in sixth grade. He routinely attended group sessions with Coach Packie Turner and saw immense growth in his game. His dedication to the game grew as he watched professional athletes come into UPB to work on their craft and learned the work ethic and discipline necessary to take the game to the next level.
“Being able to see what goes into being a pro taught me a lot about how hard you have to work to make it to that next level. There's so many people [at UPB] that have helped mentor me over the years and have seen my journey. It's definitely a place that has really helped me get to the place I am today,” Klapper said.
As years went by, Klapper saw his skillset continue to grow especially in the mental side of the game as he learned how to develop a strong mentality when overcoming adversity.
“Some of the stuff [UPB] talked about like visualizations and MVPS has stuck with me and [are tools] that I still use to this day and helps me a lot. The mental side of the game is something that really sticks out to me when I think about it,” Klapper said.
As a redshirt freshman, Klapper seeks to make an impact through his work ethic as the Vandals seek another Big Sky Conference title. Klapper has come a long way in his basketball journey and continues to strive towards reaching his full potential. His key for success to realizing his unlimited potential: be obsessed.
“I would just say you got to be obsessed with [basketball], and you gotta love it. There's times when it gets really hard, and if your goal is to get better, you have to be consistent,” Klapper said. “You got to do something every single day, for a long period of time. There's going to be times when you're gonna get burnt out, but you have to find joy in it.”
