When Wayne Tinkle took over as coach of Montana's basketball program in 2006, he figured the only way to put his imprint on the team was to recruit the best available players he could find. That decision meant debatable character traits and academic question marks among players were tolerable, so long as they could put the ball through the hoop and help his Grizzlies win.
Not surprisingly, Tinkle quickly learned that strategy contained serious pitfalls. Some of the players he recruited never even put on a Montana uniform, and the Grizzlies struggled to a 14-16 record in Tinkle's second season.
For Tinkle, a former Montana basketball standout himself, it was a quick lesson on how to build a program.
"At that point, I drew a line in the sand and said, 'Listen, we're going to go after high-quality kids with character, with more talent,'" Tinkle said. "We're going to convince them Montana is the place to go. It's the right fit for them. Our motivation is not to win so we can go to a higher level as a coaching staff. Being a former player at Montana, our motivation is to try to take this program somewhere it's never been. And we sold that in the living rooms."
The revamped plan has paid off for Tinkle, who is in his sixth season in charge. By assembling a group of talented, high-character players, he has been able to preach discipline, toughness and the need to outwork opponents every game.
Now, the Grizzlies have an opportunity to do exactly as Tinkle had hoped — take the program to new heights.
Montana (25-6) earned a No. 13 seed in the NCAA tournament and will play No. 4 Wisconsin (24-9) at Thursday in Albuquerque, N.M., during the first round of East Region play. The Grizzlies have won 14 consecutive games this season and advanced to the big dance by beating Weber State, 85-66, in the Big Sky tournament championship.
That Montana drew Wisconsin is appropriate, Tinkle said, because he considers the Badgers a model for his program. Tinkle is a native of Milwaukee, and former Badgers player Freddie Owens is an assistant coach on his staff.
"We try to mirror ourselves to them at a smaller level," said Tinkle, a three-time all-conference player at Montana in the late 1980s. "I really respect the way they do things there.
"They may not have ACC-type talent or (be) signing McDonald's All-Americans, but they sure get the best out of their guys because they buy in to the team concept, to percentage basketball, and that's what makes them so successful."
Statistics seem to bare out the similarities in the styles of play between Montana and Wisconsin this season.
Montana led the Big Sky in scoring defense (61.7 points per game), field-goal percentage defense (40.4 percent) and 3-point field-goal percentage defense (32.4 percent).
Wisconsin, meanwhile, led the Big Ten in scoring defense (52.9 points, also tops in the nation), was second in field-goal percentage defense (38.3 percent) and first in 3-point field-goal percentage defense (28.9 percent).
Of course, defense isn't the only area in which Montana excels.
The Grizzlies reached the NCAA tournament on the strength of two first-team all-conference players in 6-foot-1 guard Will Cherry (16.0 points) and 6-5 forward Kareem Jamar (13.8) — both of whom Tinkle called "Pac-12-level players." But Montana has a balanced offensive attack in which all five starters nearly average in double figures scoring.
Owens said Montana has thrived because Cherry and Jamar are more than simply two excellent scorers.
"Even though those two on paper statistically are our best players, they bring much more to the table than what you see on the stat sheet," Owens said. "It's all the little things: being leaders in practice, finishing first in line drills. They help the younger guys come along and help show them what's expected. Those two guys are our coaches on the floor, and they do a good job of it."
Cherry also was named the Big Sky Conference Defensive Player of the Year and ranks sixth in the nation in steals per game at 2.6.
"He's got very quick hands and cat-like reflexes," Owens said. "He does a really good job of anticipating passes and getting out for easy buckets. He knows when to gamble and when not to, and that's a huge advantage for us."
Although Montana has played just one team from a power-six conference this season — a 71-46 loss against Oregon State on Dec. 4 — Tinkle is certain his players won't be awestruck while competing against Wisconsin. The Grizzlies earned an NCAA tournament berth just two seasons ago as a No. 14 seed and lost, 62-57, against No. 3 New Mexico.
Cherry, a junior, was a freshman starter for Montana in that game. Guard Shawn Stockton (nephew of NBA Hall of Famer John Stockton), 7-foot forward Derek Selvig and 6-7 forward Mathias Ward were reserves on that team. Selvig and Ward now start with Cherry, while Stockton comes off the bench.
What's more, Tinkle said his players hold the advantage of being accustomed to winning. Montana has won at least 20 games in each of the last three seasons and played in the postseason each year. Between NCAA tournament appearances, the Grizzlies participated in the College Basketball Invitational tournament last season.
Montana is just 2-9 all-time in the NCAA tournament, and the Grizzlies have won one game in the last 37 years there. But Tinkle believes he has a group of talented, disciplined players capable of springing an upset — one that would further validate the way Tinkle has built his program.
"They know it's a super-human challenge in front of us," Tinkle said. "If we can stay as close to Montana basketball as possible on Thursday, we hope to give ourselves a chance, but it's a daunting task. We're not going to be satisfied with being at the dance. We want to try to make some noise."
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