MBBALL WISH LIST FOR THE MEN'S BB PROGRAM

[mtgrizrule]

Who do all think steps up with a tremendous off season?

Are Betts, Jedkins, and Henderson all capable of being key or rotational players? These are the 3 returners we saw only glimpses of. No denying, the door is wide open, especially for Betts and Jedkins.

Can Henderson prove himself at PG?

 

[Sport]

Who do all think steps up with a tremendous off season?

Are Betts, Jedkins, and Henderson all capable of being key or rotational players? These are the 3 returners we saw only glimpses of. No denying, the door is wide open, especially for Betts and Jedkins.

Can Henderson prove himself at PG?

Griz will be insignificant until they get a big mobile big man. 6/8 pts a game ok. Anything less than 8 rebounds is unacceptable.

 

[enicmt]

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[westsider]

Solid wishlist. I'll add a little insight.
We need a few players with legendary off season commitment. Seems like we haven't had the last few years.

Are there any Jordan Gregory like off season warriors? I sure hope so. There's a few under utilized players with huge open opportunities to take advantage of.


Can you imagine Betts and or Jedkins adding no less than 20lbs of muscle?
Both are capable of being versatile inside outside defenders, basically Moorehead type impact defenders, with more rebounding upside. Betts has a very high ceiling if he can overcome injuries and 100% commit to getting stronger. No doubt, the door is wide open for both. Will both or either take advantage of the opportunity?

We need a true PG. Henderson get your ass in the weight room and be handling a basketball everywhere you go! He's already quick. Just needs better handles and strength. Again, off season commitment to strength and ball handling, does himself and the team wonders. Is it to far fetched for him to build himself into DeCuire's PG?

Who's the GRIZ with the most upside that returns? I think Hicks and Thompson could each be all conference MVP contenders. Ironically, they both need to improve their games in the same way.

They're already strong. Each needs to improve their ball handling and more consistency from 3. Hicks could be a pg, if he improves his ball handling.

Ideally, I'd like to see Hendeson, Hicks, and Thompson as the top 3 guards next season, without having to bring in a transfer guard. The incoming freshmen class has plenty of guards too.

I want to see the staff entirely focus on 6'9"+ rebounding paint defenders transfers this off season. I'll happily take an Oke type to develop.

My big wildcard, what if Dick becomes a consistent perimeter shooter?

Overall, I'm hoping every returner commits themselves this off season as I suggested. Also, hoping the staff at worse gets 1 rebounding paint defending big.

I'd really like to dust off my Jordan Gregory award for off season dedication.
Who do you all think is the most likely to earn that?

Conner Dick? Seriously? Ya, Connor Dick will be the key cog to take Montana to the NCAA tourney next year.

 

[mtgrizrule]

Conner Dick? Seriously? Ya, Connor Dick will be the key cog to take Montana to the NCAA tourney next year.

He'd surely help the team more with a consistent 3 pt shot. That's all I'm saying. The kid is everywhere busting ass.

 

[AZDoc]

Consistent deep threat to spread the floor, big man (6’ 9” or bigger) that eats up the glass, true ball handler that can distribute. Bonus is big that shoots the 3

 

[fanofzoo]

Consistent deep threat to spread the floor, big man (6’ 9” or bigger) that eats up the glass, true ball handler that can distribute. Bonus is big that shoots the 3

And we all know what will happen but its nice to have dreams.

 

[Sport]

And we all know what will happen but its nice to have dreams.

We can dream can’t we? But you’re absolutely right. Chances finding a player of that caliber is probably not gonna happen.
I think most of you will remember Brian Qually the young man from Willeston, ND who dominated the boards and became a reliable post player that could score and rebound. His freshman and sophomore years we wondered if he would ever amount to any kind of force in the middle. He was a project and many had doubts. But he flourished in his jr. and Sr.years. If he was a Jr. this year and the Portal was around and NIL was in place he’d by rights go after the big money and no one would blame him. He also played, very successfully, in Europe for several years.
Back to what’s needed for the Griz to take the next step? Everyone seems to agree it’s a big man. We’re probably not going to find one in the portal so we need to find a very raw, tall ( you can’t teach tall) and develop him. I sadly don’t think the current staff has that ability, sad to say because I really like Travis, Chris and Jay. Travis needs to get serious about finding that guy. Bringing in 6’ guards is not going to solve that problem.
I believe Brian Quale lives, or did live in Missoula. Hey Brian, want a part time job?

 

[mtgrizrule]

We can dream can’t we? But you’re absolutely right. Chances finding a player of that caliber is probably not gonna happen.
I think most of you will remember Brian Qually the young man from Willeston, ND who dominated the boards and became a reliable post player that could score and rebound. His freshman and sophomore years we wondered if he would ever amount to any kind of force in the middle. He was a project and many had doubts. But he flourished in his jr. and Sr.years. If he was a Jr. this year and the Portal was around and NIL was in place he’d by rights go after the big money and no one would blame him. He also played, very successfully, in Europe for several years.
Back to what’s needed for the Griz to take the next step? Everyone seems to agree it’s a big man. We’re probably not going to find one in the portal so we need to find a very raw, tall ( you can’t teach tall) and develop him. I sadly don’t think the current staff has that ability, sad to say because I really like Travis, Chris and Jay. Travis needs to get serious about finding that guy. Bringing in 6’ guards is not going to solve that problem.
I believe Brian Quale lives, or did live in Missoula. Hey Brian, want a part time job?

I think the Qvale family still live in Missoula. Last I briefly spoke to Brian, he said his kids are keeping him plenty busy with their sports. I doubt he'll coach until kids are much older. Larry and Wayne each waited awhile before pursuing coaching. I'd love to see Qvale coach.

Moorehead and Selvig are each coaching. I hope they each build their resumes. At some point DrCuire will retire or land another gig. He's very particular though. He could be at Montana a long time.

 

[Griz til I die]

We can dream can’t we? But you’re absolutely right. Chances finding a player of that caliber is probably not gonna happen.
I think most of you will remember Brian Qually the young man from Willeston, ND who dominated the boards and became a reliable post player that could score and rebound. His freshman and sophomore years we wondered if he would ever amount to any kind of force in the middle. He was a project and many had doubts. But he flourished in his jr. and Sr.years. If he was a Jr. this year and the Portal was around and NIL was in place he’d by rights go after the big money and no one would blame him. He also played, very successfully, in Europe for several years.
Back to what’s needed for the Griz to take the next step? Everyone seems to agree it’s a big man. We’re probably not going to find one in the portal so we need to find a very raw, tall ( you can’t teach tall) and develop him. I sadly don’t think the current staff has that ability, sad to say because I really like Travis, Chris and Jay. Travis needs to get serious about finding that guy. Bringing in 6’ guards is not going to solve that problem.
I believe Brian Quale lives, or did live in Missoula. Hey Brian, want a part time job?

They are gonna have to go to the portal for a big man. They have no choice.

 

[nicktaber58]

My wish list: recruit lincoln Roger's and 1-2 montana kids every year moving forward. After watching the AA state basketball tournament in Billings all weekend, its a joke we don't go after montana kids. Its embarrassing actually.

 

[UMGriz26]

Hate to be that person, but Montana kids aren’t the answer in hoops. Lincoln Rogers will end up D-1 but a kid of his level only comes out of Montana once every few years. The fact of the matter is that basketball has fewer roster spots than football; the standard to land on a D-1 roster is higher. That’s increasingly true with P-4 programs recruiting less high school kids.

Montana can and does have success grabbing guys from the PNW and California. Jemai Lake, coming in next season, is the #1 guy in the state of Oregon. The 2 others played for a nationally ranked program in California. Grabbing multiple MT kids out of HS every year would not bode well. We should grab only the occasional Rogers level prospect.

Travis has made the conference chipper 7 times from 11 tries. Wholesale changes are not required. Some minor tweaks in managing the offense late in games, retaining the young guys we have now, and supplementing the current roster with a transfer big and point guard are all I see as necessary to get back to the top of the conference. A reliable role player like we had in Austin Patterson would be a cherry on top, but likely could come from in house - Courtney Anderson Jr?

 

[LittleBear]

1. Wing Versatility - This may be in part because we lost Anderson, but Kepley and Isaak really struggled to guard and knock down shots. Would be nice to get a 6'5 / 6'6 3-4 hybrid who can get to the rim, guard athletes, and hit a 3

2. Wouldn't be surprised to see Betts hit portal

3. Slashing PG - Throughout the Big Sky Tourney we consistently failed to keep ball handlers out of the paint down the stretch. Would be nice to have a lightning quick guard that can get to the paint and create.

4. More length at 4-5. With NIL its going to be really hard to get a 6'10 big that can run, jump, catch, finish. We need a guy with a nose for the ball and will relentlessly crash the glass. I think we can find length at 6'7 / 6'8 that just wants the ball more than the next guy.

I know its been discussed how this staff doesn't recruit bigs. Over the years we've had:
2026 - Taylor (6'9)
2025 - Bradtke (6'10) / Davidson (6'9)
2024 - Reynolds (6'9) / Thomas (6'9) / Jones (6'10)
2023 - Bannan (6'10) / Mack (6'10)
2022 - Blakney (6'9)
2021 - Henderson (6'9) / Steadman (6'10)
2019 - Carter (6'10) / Kramer (6'10)
2018 - Besovic (7'0)
2016 - Boehning (6'10)

Many of these guys overlapped and played with each other. Outside of Bannan and Thomas, none impacted the program in a meaningful way. With how valuable bigs are in today's market It will be a challenge to attract a big over 6'9 that can actually play

 

[Griz til I die]

My wish list: recruit lincoln Roger's and 1-2 montana kids every year moving forward. After watching the AA state basketball tournament in Billings all weekend, its a joke we don't go after montana kids. Its embarrassing actually.

We did recruit him. He chose to go D2 though where he got a full scholarship instead. If he would’ve been ok with taking a partial, then he would’ve come here. Should we have offered a full? Ya maybe, but to act like we didn’t recruiter him at all would be naïve.

 

[nicktaber58]

We did recruit him. He chose to go D2 though where he got a full scholarship instead. If he would’ve been ok with taking a partial, then he would’ve come here. Should we have offered a full? Ya maybe, but to act like we didn’t recruiter him at all would be naïve.

Do you know the full story? I do. He was basically persuaded to not come. I am fully aware of the situation. Whereas, my wish list is that we had the recruiting culture in Montana where we went aggressively at t he top talent in the state every year. Absolutely zero reason to not have 4-6 montana guys on our roster on any given year. At minimum. Which means we go get 1-2 montana guys each recruiting cycle.

Just returning from the state AA state championship, speaking to a AA high school head coach, it should be embarrassing for UM & MSU to not be recruiting in state kids more.

 

[UMGriz26]

Do you know the full story? I do. He was basically persuaded to not come. I am fully aware of the situation. Whereas, my wish list is that we had the recruiting culture in Montana where we went aggressively at t he top talent in the state every year. Absolutely zero reason to not have 4-6 montana guys on our roster on any given year. At minimum. Which means we go get 1-2 montana guys each recruiting cycle.

Just returning from the state AA state championship, speaking to a AA high school head coach, it should be embarrassing for UM & MSU to not be recruiting in state kids more.

There’s ample reason to not grab 1-2 every cycle. We would suck. Do you genuinely believe Montana produces more than 1 D-1 guy every year? Let alone 1? No. We just don’t.

I’m all for grabbing the occasional legit D-1 prospect from Montana (Rollie Worster, Kendal Manuel, Jared Samuelson, now Lincoln Rogers). But to make that the staple of our recruiting would be beyond stupid. High school basketball in Montana is not good.

The Cats tried this formula. Of the MT guys they recruited on a scholarship, all but one ended back at the NAIA level. Do Royce Robinson, Caleb Bellach, and Alex Germer ring a bell? They didn’t stick at the D-1 level, and they were better prospects than everyone but Lincoln Rogers in this class. They all would have been the top prospect last year.

 

[nicktaber58]

There’s ample reason to not grab 1-2 every cycle. We would suck. Do you genuinely believe Montana produces more than 1 D-1 guy every year? Let alone 1? No. We just don’t.

I’m all for grabbing the occasional legit D-1 prospect from Montana (Rollie Worster, Kendal Manuel, Jared Samuelson, now Lincoln Rogers). But to make that the staple of our recruiting would be beyond stupid. High school basketball in Montana is not good.

The Cats tried this formula. Of the MT guys they recruited on a scholarship, all but one ended back at the NAIA level. Do Royce Robinson, Caleb Bellach, and Alex Germer ring a bell? They didn’t stick at the D-1 level, and they were better prospects than everyone but Lincoln Rogers in this class. They all would have been the top prospect last year.

Idaho just beat us with idaho kids in the chipper. Guess what? They outworked us and wanted it more than the Montana grizzlies. Visibly looked like they wanted it more.

Obviously, some will drop off, transfer out, etc. But you'll have plenty that thrive. And you'll have way more support along the way. This isn't rocket science. Some of our historical best teams have several montana kids. All of them, almost!

 

[UMGriz26]

Idaho just beat us with idaho kids in the chipper. Guess what? They outworked us and wanted it more than the Montana grizzlies. Visibly looked like they wanted it more.

Obviously, some will drop off, transfer out, etc. But you'll have plenty that thrive. And you'll have way more support along the way. This isn't rocket science. Some of our historical best teams have several montana kids. All of them, almost!

Thats a false equivalence. Idaho produces Div. 1 quality basketball players. The Boise area has regionally respected basketball programs and “Select” basketball - regionally respected in the AAU world - is run out of Idaho. Meridian high school alone produces more D-1 products than all of MT combined. The best athletes in MT, with little exception, play football.

Just to demonstrate how ludicrous this take is. Take the best basketball rosters in recent Griz memory and imagine you replaced half these guys with MT kids. Montana doesn’t produce Rories, Oguines, Pridgetts, Akohs across even 3 classes. You have to go elsewhere.

The 18/19 b2b championship core was:

Oguine (CA)
Rorie (WA)
Moorehead (WA)
Pridgett (CA)
Akoh (CA)
Krslovic (AU)
Falls (CA)
Manuel (MT)

Both editions won 26 games - including wins over P5 programs and regional mid-major powers. And, FWIW, they kicked the teeth in of any MT NAIA they played.

The 25 core was
Money (CA)
Kai Johnson (WA)
Malik Moore (CA)
Te’Jon Sawyer (CA)
Joe Pridgen (MA)
Brandon Whitney (CA)
Austin Patterson (CA)

And again, this team beat the breaks off of Tech.

I for one don’t want to sacrifice good basketball simply to appease MT tribalism. Montana kids should be used to supplement - where appropriate - talent gathered from around the greater PNW and California, not vise versa.

 

[Griz til I die]

Do you know the full story? I do. He was basically persuaded to not come. I am fully aware of the situation. Whereas, my wish list is that we had the recruiting culture in Montana where we went aggressively at t he top talent in the state every year. Absolutely zero reason to not have 4-6 montana guys on our roster on any given year. At minimum. Which means we go get 1-2 montana guys each recruiting cycle.

Just returning from the state AA state championship, speaking to a AA high school head coach, it should be embarrassing for UM & MSU to not be recruiting in state kids more.

If we had 4-6 MT kids every year on the team, we’d be a perennial mediocre program. You wanna know who used to do that? Shannon Schweyen, and how’d that work out for her?

There are not that many D1 caliber kids in MT. UMGriz26 is absolutely right. Look I feel bad for Rogers and do think he should be suiting up for the Griz next year but comparing MT kids to ID kids is an apples to oranges comparison. Idaho regularly produces D1 caliber players and they’re able to get to the MWC and even the P4. Who’s the last P4 player from MT? Raequan Evans at Florida State? And that was like 5 years ago. I’m sorry Tabs but you’re just wrong on this one. I’m all for Football taking as many MT kids as possible because there are D1 caliber Football players in state, but Basketball is a completely different story.

 

[nicktaber58]

Thats a false equivalence. Idaho produces Div. 1 quality basketball players. The Boise area has regionally respected basketball programs and “Select” basketball - regionally respected in the AAU world - is run out of Idaho. Meridian high school alone produces more D-1 products than all of MT combined. The best athletes in MT, with little exception, play football.

Just to demonstrate how ludicrous this take is. Take the best basketball rosters in recent Griz memory and imagine you replaced half these guys with MT kids. Montana doesn’t produce Rories, Oguines, Pridgetts, Akohs across even 3 classes. You have to go elsewhere.

The 18/19 b2b championship core was:

Oguine (CA)
Rorie (WA)
Moorehead (WA)
Pridgett (CA)
Akoh (CA)
Krslovic (AU)
Falls (CA)
Manuel (MT)

Both editions won 26 games - including wins over P5 programs and regional mid-major powers. And, FWIW, they kicked the teeth in of any MT NAIA they played.

The 25 core was
Money (CA)
Kai Johnson (WA)
Malik Moore (CA)
Te’Jon Sawyer (CA)
Joe Pridgen (MA)
Brandon Whitney (CA)
Austin Patterson (CA)

And again, this team beat the breaks off of Tech.

I for one don’t want to sacrifice good basketball simply to appease MT tribalism. Montana kids should be used to supplement - where appropriate - talent gathered from around the greater PNW and California, not vise versa.

Montana basketball is far better than obviously some here are giving credit. Looking at your rosters from last years' championship. You listed 7 guys. We had one more kid on the bench, Tyler Thompson, who contributed this year. The rest of last year's squad is GONE. Because they were random dudes that were not good. Why wouldn't you want a bench that cultivated Montana talent.?

Of the guys you mentioned:

Joe pridgen: literally fell into the coached lap because his wife is from Kalispell. Would not have been on his radar otherwise. But he was certainly a GREAT player.

Kai Johnson: great player, had for one season.

Malik moore: one season and gone to the portal.

The rest of the roster was highly mediocre.

Look at the last ncaa winning team from 2006. 3 main contributors from Montana.

If you'd rather cycle through random dudes on the end of the bench that have zero connection or passion, rather than cultivating a culture of bringing in top Montana talent every year, congrats, because thats what you currently have.

I'd prefer having a culture of bringing in Montana studs that play their assessment off and have more sticking power and resistance to the portal. By the way, before travis, its ALWAYS been this way. Have 3-5 Montana studs and bring in out of state talent as well. Hell... Travis played with several Montana studs himself!!!