The Bobcat Nation

COACH AND PROGRAM

Last year was supposed to be Montana State's big season. Five starters returned, and veteran coach Mick Durham had a proven track record. In the end, it proved to be wishful thinking. Montana State stumbled to 15-15 overall, 7-7 in conference play for fourth, and quickly exited the conference tournament. After 16 years, Durham hung it up.

Montana State looked to its rival Montana for help, hiring top assistant Brad Huse, who also had a proven 184-60 record as a head coach in the small college ranks at Jamestown (North Dakota) College. He also is familiar with MSU, having served as an assistant in Bozeman from 1994-1996. Huse was a fine recruiter for the Grizzlies, and obviously, with the noise the Griz had been making of late, downstate neighbor MSU made a decision: If you can't beat them, hire their assistant.

"It's great to be back on campus," said Huse, a Bobcat assistant from 1994-96, including MSU's 1996 Big Sky Championship season. "I was an assistant here in the mid-'90s, and during that short phase we had a lot of success. We had back-to-back 21-win seasons, and there was great excitement. I know it can be done here. That is what leads me back."

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His 2003-04 Jamestown squad spent the regular season ranked No. 1 in the nation in NAIA, and he took one team to the Elite Eight. The three-time DAC-10 Coach of the Year also served as the school's athletic director from 2000-04. A 1989 Montana Tech graduate, Huse earned his bachelor's degree in engineering and spent three years in that profession.

"My wife still tells people she married an engineer," Huse said.

PLAYERS

Huse's work is certainly cut out for him. His leading returning scorer, Derrick Edmonds, averaged just 8.8 points per game last year. Edmonds, a 6-1 senior, is a solid player but did his work coming off the bench last year.

Just two starters return -- forward Nick Dissly, a 6-4, 205-pound senior (7.2 ppg, 4.2 rpg); and Durham's son, Casey Durham, a 5-11, 160-pound junior (6.1 ppg, 2.6 rpg). So basically there are no marquee players to build around. Edmonds and former Bozeman High School teammates Dissly and Durham are experienced and proven, but won't light up the scoreboard. Huse and his staff hit the recruiting trail hard to find some firepower, signing five new players, three of them junior college players.

Yes, immediate help is desperately needed. One good thing about a mid-major conference like the Big Sky is that junior college players often come in and become big contributors right away, as opposed to major conferences where often there is a one-year transition period.

Huse's best newcomer might be junior college transfer Mecklen Davis, a scorer from Cuesta College in San Luis Obispo, Calif. Davis, a 6-2 junior, averaged 17.6 points, 4.9 rebounds and 3.8 assists a game last year. He was even more impressive as a freshman, averaging 23.0 points, 6.6 boards and 2.0 assists. The two-time all-conference choice also served as team captain in both his seasons at Cuesta.

"Mecklen does a little bit of everything," Huse said. "He's not the type of guard where you'd say he does one thing better than the other. He just has a knack for scoring and we certainly lose some scoring due to graduation. I like that he is a physical and determined player. He is also versatile, as he was forced to play a lot of point this year. We picked up a good all-around player here."

Davis took an interesting path to the Bobcat program. The two-time All-CIF First Team choice at Atascadero High played as a 6-2 power forward during his last two prep seasons, helping his school to a 27-3 mark as a senior. He averaged 20 points and six rebounds a game and became only the second player to earn San Luis Obispo County Player-of-the-Year honors twice.

Huse signed another junior college guard in Carlos Taylor, a 6-3 junior. Taylor averaged 7.1 points and 2.8 boards a game last year at Southeastern (Iowa) Community College, registering a team-high 74 assists in 32 games (2.3 apg). The Memphis native scored 10.4 points a game as a freshman.

"We identified early on that we needed experience at guard, and that, coupled with Carlos' size, made him a player we targeted," Huse said. "He had an outstanding freshman season, and after a rough start this year was one of the two best guards in that league for the last month-and-a-half of the season."

One other returning guard is 6-1 sophomore Jacques Wilson (4.0 ppg, 1.4 rpg). Prep recruit Erik Rush, 6-5, will also get a chance to contribute.

Stockpiled with guards and small forwards, Huse needed to add size, and he did that by signing 6-9, 210-pound Adrian Zamora from Gavilan Junior College in California. Zamora averaged 19.3 points 10.0 rebounds and 4.0 blocks last season. Huse is impressed with the 6-9 center from Watsonville, Calif.

"Adrian gives us some good, solid, experienced depth inside," Huse said. "He is a good defensive player with the ability to rebound and block shots. He will have to physically make the adjustment to Division I basketball, but I expect that to happen quickly. He will help us this year."

Other returning big men include 6-10, 230-pound senior Ted Morris (5.2 ppg, 2.7 rpg), and a pair of red-shirt freshmen, 6-9, 245-pound Chawn Johnson and 6-8, 215-pound Branden Johnson.

Danny Piepoli, a 6-6 combo forward, is a prep recruit from Pasadena, Calif., who could play this season; Carson Durr (3.3 ppg, 2.0 rpg), a 6-6 senior, should also play.

BLUE RIBBON ANALYSIS

BACKCOURT: C+
BENCH/DEPTH: C-
FRONTCOURT: C-
INTANGIBLES: C-

Durham and Edmonds are solid role players in the backcourt, but it's newcomer Davis who should make an impact. He put up some big numbers in the California junior college ranks, and he should be able to translate that to the Big Sky level. Wilson also has promise.

The bench is another matter. Last year MSU reserves didn't produce much. There is some size with Chawn and Branden Johnson (no relation) at forward, but both red-shirted last year and have played a combined zero minutes at the Division I level. Center Ted Morris is big, but he needs to score and rebound more, as does forward Durr.

Again, a junior college player, Zamora, should have the biggest impact in the frontcourt. Morris could step in and help as a starter, and Dissly also plays forward, though he's undersized at 6-4.

Is the intangible a fresh face on the sideline in Huse? Bobcat fans hope so. Huse's best years in Bozeman are ahead of him.

COACH AND PROGRAM
Perhaps it wasn't a stunning turn of events -- a successful mid-major coach leaving for greener pastures. But the timing was sudden. Montana coach and favorite son Larry Krystowiak up and bolted for an assistant's job with the Milwaukee Bucks in June.
Krystowiak, who played for the Bucks in his decade-long NBA career, was a hometown hero in Missoula, for many reasons. One, his playing days at UM were legendary -- he finished as the school's all-time leading scorer. Two, he's from Missoula. And three, the last two years were golden for the Griz under his watch. He led Montana to two straight NCAA appearances, and last year the Grizzlies drilled a very good Nevada team, 87-79, in the tournament's first round, before falling to Boston College two days later.

Montana finished the year 24-7, second in the Big Sky, but champion of the conference tournament, where it upset Northern Arizona on its home floor to garner the league's only NCAA berth.

It was no secret Krystowiak was trolling for a new job. He was a finalist at Pepperdine and was at some NBA summer venues networking. Instead of lamenting his departure, UM moved quick and hired long time assistant Wayne Tinkle, another former UM player.

Tinkle coached under the last three Montana coaches -- Don Holst, Pat Kennedy, and Krystowiak. Montana is on its fourth coach in eight years. Tinkle is obviously excited about his new job after paying his dues for nearly a decade as a loyal foot soldier assistant.

PLAYERS
Krystowiak left the program in good shape. Tinkle has some talent to work with, talent he signed as the chief recruiter for the Grizzlies. The Grizzlies are led by returning All-Big Sky performer Andrew Strait. The 6-8, 245-pound junior led the Grizzlies in scoring and rebounding (16.6 ppg, 6.4 rpg), was the team's MVP, and saved one of his best performances for the NCAA Tournament. Against Nevada, Strait tore up the Wolf Pack's talented front line for 22 points. Strait should be the top inside player in the Big Sky this season. He's springy, aggressive, and a good inside scorer.
Jordan Hasquet (8.1 ppg, 4.0 rpg), a 6-9, 235-pound sophomore, had a nice freshman year, ending it with a 13-point game in the tournament against Boston College. With Strait, they form the conference's top front line. As good as Strait and Hasquet were last year, Tinkle wants them to turn it up a notch this season.

"Andrew had a great year offensively, [but] he's going to need to rebound the ball a little better," Tinkle said. "Jordan showed some flashes down the stretch, [but] he's going to have to be a more consistent defender and rebounder."

An intriguing new forward is Gus Chase, who stands 6-4, but weighs in at a sturdy 245 pounds. Height, or the lack thereof, wasn't a problem for Chase at Sheridan (Wyo.) Junior College last season, where he averaged 10 rebounds to go along with 19 points a game. He was chosen one of the top five junior college forwards by Lindy's last season, and should be one of the top newcomers in the Big Sky Conference in 2006-07.

"Gus was a top-level junior college player," Tinkle said. "We expect scoring from him, some toughness, and to improve our physicality around the basket."

If there's a question mark for the Grizzlies, it's in the backcourt, where all-conference player Kevin Criswell departs after capping a successful four-year career. Honorable mention all-conference pick Virgil Matthews also graduated. This is the Grizzlies' weak spot, as there is no noted standout in the backcourt.

"Those guys were experienced and tough," Tinkle said. "The backcourt will have to be by committee."

Sophomore Austin Swift (2.6 ppg, 0.9 rpg), a 6-5, 205-pound sophomore, is Montana's most versatile wing player.

Tinkle is also hoping 6-6 senior Matt Dlouhy (7.4 ppg, 3.7 rpg), 6-0 junior Matt Martin (6.7 ppg, 1.4 rpg) and 5-10 senior Bryan Ellis (4.1 ppg, 1.9 rpg) can combine to replace the contributions of Criswell and Matthews.

Tinkle also mentioned that new freshmen guards Zach Graves, 6-2, and Cameron Rundles, 6-1, may have to contribute.

Can the Griz repeat? It's a good bet as Tinkle at least brings continuity. Even through he hasn't been the head coach, he's been there on the sideline the last five years. Northern Arizona and Eastern Washington loom as strong competitors, but even with a first-year coach on board, the team to beat in the Big Sky is from Big Sky country.


BLUE RIBBON ANALYSIS
BACKCOURT: C
BENCH/DEPTH: B+
FRONTCOURT: A
INTANGIBLES: A

Montana needs to address its backcourt problems as top-quality starters Kevin Criswell and Virgil Matthews have graduated. Dlouhy is more forward than guard; Martin and Ellis will need to pick it up, and one freshman guard is going to have to contribute. If someone can just be solid, not outstanding, that might be enough, as long as the Griz big men get the ball.

The Grizzlies have a solid bench. Chavez and Ellis are back, and Tinkle likes the promise of Strait. Senior Stuart Mayes, a 6-5 senior (2.9 ppg, 2.3 rpg) and 6-7 sophomore Kyle Sharp (2.9 ppg, 2.5 rpg) should also contribute. Tinkle proclaimed this year's recruiting class as one of the best in several years, so that should help any depth issues.

Montana has the best frontcourt in the conference. Potential league player of the year Strait and excellent sophomore Hasquet anchor the inside. Add JUCO transfer Chase and the Grizzlies should be sensational up front. Tinkle is unproven but Montana's best intangible is a winning tradition and being in the NCAA Tournament the previous two seasons. The Grizzlies could make it a third.