I've done this each of the last 2 years and people have really enjoyed it, so I decided to do it again. The 2023-24 Griz Athletics year came to an end over the weekend and now I'm going to grade every program and give a brief rundown on every program in the department. Let me know if you agree with these grades!
Football: A+. When I sat down to write this, I tried to think to myself “what grade would Bobby Hauck give this team?” Then I decided hell with it, I’m giving Football an A+. After a lot of fans were either nervous or frustrated or both going into the season, everybody had a much better tone by the end of it. Griz Football would go 13-2, advanced all the way to the FCS National Championship game before losing to South Dakota State, were the outright Big Sky Conference champions for the first time since 2009, obliterated the cats, and have rightfully gotten Griz Football back to where it should be. Things weren’t always easy though. It was ugly in September after squeaking by D2 Ferris State and dropping the conference opener to winless NAU. From there on though, the sleeping giant awoke, the staff made the necessary decisions and adjustments, and this team would finish the regular season 10-1 en route to the #2 seed in the playoffs, and one of the most memorable playoff runs in Griz Football history that saw NDSU come to Missoula in a game that was maybe the greatest of all time (NDSU or App State?). I thought about downgrading Football to an A just because we didn’t win the national championship, but considering what the preseason expectations were and especially after how we were all feeling at the end of September, I think this warrants an A+. Now headed into 2024, expectations for Griz Football are sky high with a loaded team returning. It’s Frisco or bust (actually Natty or bust) this season, and I have to think we’re one of the betting favorites this season.
Women’s Tennis: A-. A historic season for Steve Ascher and the girls. After going a measly 2-10 in what was an incredibly difficult non-conference schedule (maybe one of the most brutal non-conference schedules I’ve ever seen in any sport), Women’s Tennis was well prepared for Conference play and boy were they. They would finish league play 6-2. Good enough for a share of the Big Sky regular season title. Only the second ever title in program history, and their first in ten years. Although things didn’t go their way at the conference tournament losing to 3 seed Sac State (who would end up winning the conference tournament) It was still a banner year for Women’s Tennis as Steve Ascher would win Coach of the Year, Hailey Murphy would win Big Sky MVP after not losing a conference match all year, and Kelsey Phillips would win Freshmen of the Year. The good news though is both Murphy and Phillips return to the team next year, and I bet the Griz will be the preseason favorites. This is a young team with a lot of talent returning. There will be a couple of holes to fill towards the middle and bottom of the lineup, but all the young players in the program look very promising. I think next year they will get over the hump and win the tournament.
Soccer: B+. A pretty good season overall for Soccer. They finished the regular season 13-2-3 overall, and Chris Citowicki captured his second Big Sky regular season championship. Non-conference was highlighted by a win over Oklahoma and a tie against Ohio State (who came to Missoula). They would go 7-0-1 in conference play with the only blemish being a road tie to Eastern, to win the regular season title. Unfortunately, things did not go well at the conference tournament as the Griz would lose to NAU (the host team) in the semis. NAU is the one league team that the Griz have always had trouble with and it didn’t help that NAU was hosting the tournament. Because of how strong of a regular season the Griz had, the Griz were almost able to get an at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament which would’ve been the first in school history in any sport besides Football, but it was just a tad too high. Had they not tied with Eastern in the regular season and instead won that game, they might’ve gotten in. The good news though is Soccer is primed for another big year as the majority of the team returns, they killed it in the portal bringing in transfers from Washington and Princeton who could’ve both went to a lot bigger programs, we get NAU and Idaho both at home in the regular season, and the conference tournament is in Missoula this year! Plus another dynamite non-conference schedule that features 5 Mountain West teams (Colorado College, Boise State, @ Fresno State, @ Air Force, @ Wyoming) plus the two debunked PAC2 teams (Oregon State, @ Washington State) and IUPUI who won the Horizon League title last year. I expect big things for Soccer this year. They will likely be the preseason favorites and anything short of not making the tournament, especially when the conference tournament is in Missoula, would be a complete and utter failure.
Trck & Field: B. I’m really liking the hire of Doug Fraley so far. In his second year as head coach, he’s got the program back on track. The men took 4th at the outdoor championships in Bozeman over the weekend and Evan Todd became a 3 time conference champion in the Javelin with a throw so far (175m) that it automatically qualified him for a spot at the U.S Olympic Team Trials later this summer. The women took 7th as a team which was kind of a disappointing result as they were sitting in 3rd place for most of the day before it all fell apart for them. Erin Wilde, the Sophomore from Whitefish won her second conference championship in the high jump, and there were many other all conference finishers. Both teams exceeded preseason expectations as the men were picked 5th and the women were picked 9th, so they are for sure improving. The next step is to get the men into the top 3 and the women into the top 5, and I have confidence that this staff can do that. Exciting times on the horizon for the Track & Field programs. Both programs need to improve in the distance events but the men need to also get better in the field events and the women need to get better in the sprints. Should be an exciting 2025 campaign for the program next year.
Women’s Basketball: B. In year 3 of the Brian Holsinger era, the Lady Griz program is finally back to where it should be, competing for championships. While they did not win the regular season or tournament titles, the Lady Griz finally won 20+ games for the first time since 2014, advanced to the second round of the WNIT, and should be one of the favorites to compete for the Big Sky title next year. There is still some work to be done in the portal and Holsinger still has to replace a couple of assistants, but he’s gonna have a big team next year which will really help. Excited to see this program in action next year.
Men’s Basketball: B-. Certainly an improved year for the Men’s program based on the previous few years. They finished the regular season 21-10, and in a normal year would have received a higher grade than a B-, but it’s how the season ended that led to a lower grade. At the Big Sky conference tournament, the Griz got an absolute gift from God as both the 1 seed Eastern and 2 seed UNC both lost out in their opening games, paving the way for the men to win the tournament. They rolled through their first 2 games against PSU and ISU and would just have to beat the under .500 cats to advance to the NCAA tournament. With 16 minutes to go in the game, the Griz were sitting on an 11 point lead as it looked like we were cruising our way to the dance, before possibly the biggest collapse in Griz Basketball history occurred. The men would go on a 10 minute scoring drought as the cats completely overtook the game. In astonishing fashion, the cats would close out the game going on a 40-16 run to win the title over the Griz 85-70. A cat team that frankly had no business whatsoever going to the NCAA tournament all because the Griz completely pissed it away. A good regular season was completely ruined in a span of 15 minutes. Now men’s Basketball heads into a pressure packed 24-25 season. It’s a contract year for Decuire in a season that’s bound to be extremely competitive. The Griz will have a good team next year highlighted by the return of Brandon Whitney, Money Williams, and Te’jon Sawyer but will welcome in 6 new transfers that Decuire will quickly need to gel and get on the same page. Weber, UNC, and the cats are all gonna have good teams next year. It will be a heck of a race, but the Men need to have a big year, otherwise there will be many calling for a coaching change come this time next year. I’m hopeful we will not be faced with that decision.
Golf: C+. It’s hard to really give Women’s Golf a fair grade because it was a really strange year for them. After the Fall season, head coach Kris Nord made the decision to retire in the winter, with the Spring season on deck, Haslam made the decision to Promote assistant coach Jimmy Mee to head coach. I like that decision and think Mee is gonna do a great job. The women finished 7th at the conference championship which was slightly disappointing considering they were sitting in 3rd after day one. The good news is there’s a lot of promising young players returning to this program highlighted by Sophomore to be Elle Higgins who had the individual lead after day 1. Plus the sisters Hannah and Raina Ports both returning. This is a young team returning and if they can get more consistent, we may have something next year. I also wanna shoutout my former High school Golf teammate Tricia Joyce on a fantastic career with the Griz Golf team. Excited to see what’s next for her.
Men’s Tennis: C. Men’s Tennis is another one I had a hard time giving a grade to as injuries completely derailed their season. Coming out of non-conference play, the men looked like they were primed for a big year as they picked up some marquee wins against Marquette and Grand Canyon. It was towards the end of non-conference and the start of conference play that the injuries really started to pile up. Jason Brown was forced to go deep into the lineup, and we dropped some matches that we wouldn’t have if we were at full health. The men were able to rally and salvage some of their season by qualifying for conference tournament, but they never stood a chance with a depleted lineup losing in the first round to NAU. Looking forward, the men should have a pretty good team returning. Lots of young talent will be back and they will get many of the tougher Big Sky teams at home next year. I think they will be one of the favorites god willing they don’t get completely destroyed by injuries again next year.
Cross Country: D. As I mentioned in the Track section, this is an area where we really need to improve on both sides. We have never had very good distance runners. The men took 6th which isn’t a terrible result while the women took 8th. I have confidence that Doug Fraley will improve our distance programs as time goes on.
Volleyball: D-. After getting everyone’s hopes up in the 22 season, Griz Volleyball came right back down to Earth in the 23 season with an abysmal 11-18 record. I was hopeful that Griz Volleyball had finally turned the corner, but to be honest I wasn’t shocked by this result. They certainly played a tough non-conference schedule, but that’s not an excuse to go 7-9 in conference play. I just don’t think Allison Lawrence is a very good coach. She’s headed into the final year of her contract this fall and is about to receive her PhD, so maybe she’ll make the decision to move on after this upcoming season. The Big Sky is starting to play a lot higher level of Volleyball and it’s disappointing to see us falling behind. I don’t think things are going to be very good this year either. I think it’s time for a change.
Softball: F. I don’t think I need to expand on this too much other than to point out that our conference record was 1-14. The Softball program has fallen on very hard times and anyone who follows the program close enough knows it’s time for a coaching change. Any day now we should be getting a decision from Haslam on the future of the program, and I remain hopeful that he will make the right decision and choose to make a coaching change. It’s time for a new era of Griz Softball and someone who will inject some life into this struggling program. There is literally not one statistical category that has looked good for this team over the last 2 years. Pull the trigger Haslam. Please, pull the trigger!
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Overall Grade: B. Overall, it was a vastly improved year for Grizzly Athletics. I would call it a good year as a whole for the department. Football did it’s job carrying the torch for the rest of the department. I often say that when Football is good, everyone else is also good, and for the most part that was true this year. Looking forward, I think the 24-25 athletic year has the potential to be great. The one area that we absolutely have to improve in is the conference tournaments as almost all of our top sports underperformed at their respective tournaments. I’m confident that this was just a blip and many of these programs will be well motivated headed into next year by their performances at the tournament. Looking forward to an exciting 2024-25 athletic year. Have a great Summer everyone! Go Griz!
Football: A+. When I sat down to write this, I tried to think to myself “what grade would Bobby Hauck give this team?” Then I decided hell with it, I’m giving Football an A+. After a lot of fans were either nervous or frustrated or both going into the season, everybody had a much better tone by the end of it. Griz Football would go 13-2, advanced all the way to the FCS National Championship game before losing to South Dakota State, were the outright Big Sky Conference champions for the first time since 2009, obliterated the cats, and have rightfully gotten Griz Football back to where it should be. Things weren’t always easy though. It was ugly in September after squeaking by D2 Ferris State and dropping the conference opener to winless NAU. From there on though, the sleeping giant awoke, the staff made the necessary decisions and adjustments, and this team would finish the regular season 10-1 en route to the #2 seed in the playoffs, and one of the most memorable playoff runs in Griz Football history that saw NDSU come to Missoula in a game that was maybe the greatest of all time (NDSU or App State?). I thought about downgrading Football to an A just because we didn’t win the national championship, but considering what the preseason expectations were and especially after how we were all feeling at the end of September, I think this warrants an A+. Now headed into 2024, expectations for Griz Football are sky high with a loaded team returning. It’s Frisco or bust (actually Natty or bust) this season, and I have to think we’re one of the betting favorites this season.
Women’s Tennis: A-. A historic season for Steve Ascher and the girls. After going a measly 2-10 in what was an incredibly difficult non-conference schedule (maybe one of the most brutal non-conference schedules I’ve ever seen in any sport), Women’s Tennis was well prepared for Conference play and boy were they. They would finish league play 6-2. Good enough for a share of the Big Sky regular season title. Only the second ever title in program history, and their first in ten years. Although things didn’t go their way at the conference tournament losing to 3 seed Sac State (who would end up winning the conference tournament) It was still a banner year for Women’s Tennis as Steve Ascher would win Coach of the Year, Hailey Murphy would win Big Sky MVP after not losing a conference match all year, and Kelsey Phillips would win Freshmen of the Year. The good news though is both Murphy and Phillips return to the team next year, and I bet the Griz will be the preseason favorites. This is a young team with a lot of talent returning. There will be a couple of holes to fill towards the middle and bottom of the lineup, but all the young players in the program look very promising. I think next year they will get over the hump and win the tournament.
Soccer: B+. A pretty good season overall for Soccer. They finished the regular season 13-2-3 overall, and Chris Citowicki captured his second Big Sky regular season championship. Non-conference was highlighted by a win over Oklahoma and a tie against Ohio State (who came to Missoula). They would go 7-0-1 in conference play with the only blemish being a road tie to Eastern, to win the regular season title. Unfortunately, things did not go well at the conference tournament as the Griz would lose to NAU (the host team) in the semis. NAU is the one league team that the Griz have always had trouble with and it didn’t help that NAU was hosting the tournament. Because of how strong of a regular season the Griz had, the Griz were almost able to get an at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament which would’ve been the first in school history in any sport besides Football, but it was just a tad too high. Had they not tied with Eastern in the regular season and instead won that game, they might’ve gotten in. The good news though is Soccer is primed for another big year as the majority of the team returns, they killed it in the portal bringing in transfers from Washington and Princeton who could’ve both went to a lot bigger programs, we get NAU and Idaho both at home in the regular season, and the conference tournament is in Missoula this year! Plus another dynamite non-conference schedule that features 5 Mountain West teams (Colorado College, Boise State, @ Fresno State, @ Air Force, @ Wyoming) plus the two debunked PAC2 teams (Oregon State, @ Washington State) and IUPUI who won the Horizon League title last year. I expect big things for Soccer this year. They will likely be the preseason favorites and anything short of not making the tournament, especially when the conference tournament is in Missoula, would be a complete and utter failure.
Trck & Field: B. I’m really liking the hire of Doug Fraley so far. In his second year as head coach, he’s got the program back on track. The men took 4th at the outdoor championships in Bozeman over the weekend and Evan Todd became a 3 time conference champion in the Javelin with a throw so far (175m) that it automatically qualified him for a spot at the U.S Olympic Team Trials later this summer. The women took 7th as a team which was kind of a disappointing result as they were sitting in 3rd place for most of the day before it all fell apart for them. Erin Wilde, the Sophomore from Whitefish won her second conference championship in the high jump, and there were many other all conference finishers. Both teams exceeded preseason expectations as the men were picked 5th and the women were picked 9th, so they are for sure improving. The next step is to get the men into the top 3 and the women into the top 5, and I have confidence that this staff can do that. Exciting times on the horizon for the Track & Field programs. Both programs need to improve in the distance events but the men need to also get better in the field events and the women need to get better in the sprints. Should be an exciting 2025 campaign for the program next year.
Women’s Basketball: B. In year 3 of the Brian Holsinger era, the Lady Griz program is finally back to where it should be, competing for championships. While they did not win the regular season or tournament titles, the Lady Griz finally won 20+ games for the first time since 2014, advanced to the second round of the WNIT, and should be one of the favorites to compete for the Big Sky title next year. There is still some work to be done in the portal and Holsinger still has to replace a couple of assistants, but he’s gonna have a big team next year which will really help. Excited to see this program in action next year.
Men’s Basketball: B-. Certainly an improved year for the Men’s program based on the previous few years. They finished the regular season 21-10, and in a normal year would have received a higher grade than a B-, but it’s how the season ended that led to a lower grade. At the Big Sky conference tournament, the Griz got an absolute gift from God as both the 1 seed Eastern and 2 seed UNC both lost out in their opening games, paving the way for the men to win the tournament. They rolled through their first 2 games against PSU and ISU and would just have to beat the under .500 cats to advance to the NCAA tournament. With 16 minutes to go in the game, the Griz were sitting on an 11 point lead as it looked like we were cruising our way to the dance, before possibly the biggest collapse in Griz Basketball history occurred. The men would go on a 10 minute scoring drought as the cats completely overtook the game. In astonishing fashion, the cats would close out the game going on a 40-16 run to win the title over the Griz 85-70. A cat team that frankly had no business whatsoever going to the NCAA tournament all because the Griz completely pissed it away. A good regular season was completely ruined in a span of 15 minutes. Now men’s Basketball heads into a pressure packed 24-25 season. It’s a contract year for Decuire in a season that’s bound to be extremely competitive. The Griz will have a good team next year highlighted by the return of Brandon Whitney, Money Williams, and Te’jon Sawyer but will welcome in 6 new transfers that Decuire will quickly need to gel and get on the same page. Weber, UNC, and the cats are all gonna have good teams next year. It will be a heck of a race, but the Men need to have a big year, otherwise there will be many calling for a coaching change come this time next year. I’m hopeful we will not be faced with that decision.
Golf: C+. It’s hard to really give Women’s Golf a fair grade because it was a really strange year for them. After the Fall season, head coach Kris Nord made the decision to retire in the winter, with the Spring season on deck, Haslam made the decision to Promote assistant coach Jimmy Mee to head coach. I like that decision and think Mee is gonna do a great job. The women finished 7th at the conference championship which was slightly disappointing considering they were sitting in 3rd after day one. The good news is there’s a lot of promising young players returning to this program highlighted by Sophomore to be Elle Higgins who had the individual lead after day 1. Plus the sisters Hannah and Raina Ports both returning. This is a young team returning and if they can get more consistent, we may have something next year. I also wanna shoutout my former High school Golf teammate Tricia Joyce on a fantastic career with the Griz Golf team. Excited to see what’s next for her.
Men’s Tennis: C. Men’s Tennis is another one I had a hard time giving a grade to as injuries completely derailed their season. Coming out of non-conference play, the men looked like they were primed for a big year as they picked up some marquee wins against Marquette and Grand Canyon. It was towards the end of non-conference and the start of conference play that the injuries really started to pile up. Jason Brown was forced to go deep into the lineup, and we dropped some matches that we wouldn’t have if we were at full health. The men were able to rally and salvage some of their season by qualifying for conference tournament, but they never stood a chance with a depleted lineup losing in the first round to NAU. Looking forward, the men should have a pretty good team returning. Lots of young talent will be back and they will get many of the tougher Big Sky teams at home next year. I think they will be one of the favorites god willing they don’t get completely destroyed by injuries again next year.
Cross Country: D. As I mentioned in the Track section, this is an area where we really need to improve on both sides. We have never had very good distance runners. The men took 6th which isn’t a terrible result while the women took 8th. I have confidence that Doug Fraley will improve our distance programs as time goes on.
Volleyball: D-. After getting everyone’s hopes up in the 22 season, Griz Volleyball came right back down to Earth in the 23 season with an abysmal 11-18 record. I was hopeful that Griz Volleyball had finally turned the corner, but to be honest I wasn’t shocked by this result. They certainly played a tough non-conference schedule, but that’s not an excuse to go 7-9 in conference play. I just don’t think Allison Lawrence is a very good coach. She’s headed into the final year of her contract this fall and is about to receive her PhD, so maybe she’ll make the decision to move on after this upcoming season. The Big Sky is starting to play a lot higher level of Volleyball and it’s disappointing to see us falling behind. I don’t think things are going to be very good this year either. I think it’s time for a change.
Softball: F. I don’t think I need to expand on this too much other than to point out that our conference record was 1-14. The Softball program has fallen on very hard times and anyone who follows the program close enough knows it’s time for a coaching change. Any day now we should be getting a decision from Haslam on the future of the program, and I remain hopeful that he will make the right decision and choose to make a coaching change. It’s time for a new era of Griz Softball and someone who will inject some life into this struggling program. There is literally not one statistical category that has looked good for this team over the last 2 years. Pull the trigger Haslam. Please, pull the trigger!
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Overall Grade: B. Overall, it was a vastly improved year for Grizzly Athletics. I would call it a good year as a whole for the department. Football did it’s job carrying the torch for the rest of the department. I often say that when Football is good, everyone else is also good, and for the most part that was true this year. Looking forward, I think the 24-25 athletic year has the potential to be great. The one area that we absolutely have to improve in is the conference tournaments as almost all of our top sports underperformed at their respective tournaments. I’m confident that this was just a blip and many of these programs will be well motivated headed into next year by their performances at the tournament. Looking forward to an exciting 2024-25 athletic year. Have a great Summer everyone! Go Griz!
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). I offer a challenge for next year if you’re intrested. Include some club sports like Lacrosse, Hockey, and Baseball.