browningmontana
Well-known member
For newbies, Bill Schwanke is a former UM Sports Information Director who is a local media person with a very nice Saturday morning sports radio show. I learned more from Bill's 5 year old article than I have reading other sources. Thanks Bill.
It is interesting to note that the last time we hired an assistant from the Pac 12 (then Pac 8), we got Jud Heathcote from WSU. At the time, Jud hadn't been a head college coach (TDC has).
Bill Schwanke article below:
Travis DeCuire was the ultimate point guard for the Montana Grizzlies, standing out on both offense and defense.
September 14, 2009 By BILL SCHWANKE
When Travis DeCuire played basketball for the Montana Grizzlies in the early 90s, he was the ultimate point guard - a patient, effective leader.
Now that he's making his way up through the coaching ranks, DeCuire continues to be patient as he waits for his turn to be a college head coach.
DeCuire took a big step in the right direction a week ago. With the help of one former Grizzly basketball head coach, Blaine Taylor, DeCuire landed an assistant's job with another former Griz mentor, Mike Montgomery, now the head man at Cal.
DeCuire killed two birds with one stone with his latest move. He moved to a much larger conference at one of the nation's top public universities, and he made it back to the west coast.
After five years assisting Taylor, whom he played for at Montana from 1991 to 1994, DeCuire was ready to move onward and upward, with Taylor's blessing.
Taylor arranged for DeCuire and Montgomery to meet at the Final Four. The two visited on the phone on April 13, and when Montgomery made an offer, the answer was easy.
"It was a no brainer," DeCuire, who was on the job three days later, said. "I'm very excited. This opportunity just helps me continue my growth."
Listen to Travis DeCuire's interview.
DeCuire, who left UM as the school's all-time assist leader (435) and top single-season assist man (199 in 1993-94), has taken a varied and winding path since he graduated. His path to UM was a little skewed as well.
Coming out of an outstanding program at Mercer Island High School, DeCuire was looking to play where the competition and exposure would be maximized. He chose Chaminade in Hawaii, largely because the school annually hosted two tournaments that always invited a bunch of nationally ranked teams and itself had designs on moving to Division One.
The result? The first losing season DeCuire had ever experienced, something he simply couldn't handle at that time in his life. He decided to look elsewhere.
As luck would have it Chaminade's coach ran into Taylor at a summer tournament and told him he had a point guard who wanted to transfer. Taylor and UM assistant Skip Molitor each saw DeCuire play a couple of times and he was invited to Missoula for a campus visit.
"Things work out," DeCuire said, adding that - prior to all of this happening - he knew virtually nothing about the University of Montana and its basketball program.
"I took a gamble and it was a great gamble," DeCuire noted.
In addition to holding assist records at UM, DeCuire twice won the C.R. Dragstedt Award as the Grizzlies' most valuable player, as a senior received the John Eaheart Award as the team's top defender, and twice was named to the all-conference team.
He said the statistics and honors are part of a package.
"When you win, everyone gets something," DeCuire pointed out. "The one that stands out to me the most would be the assists, because you have to play with good ballplayers in order to break those types of records.
"You have to play in a system that allows you to make the types of plays that I made," he added. "It's more descriptive of what I'm about - winning."
The system DeCuire described as "equal opportunity." The Grizzlies during his years at UM always had more than one player averaging in double figures. The guys he played with included league MVP Delvon Anderson and Roger Fasting,
"When you have two wings like that it's pretty easy to just penetrate the paint and kick," DeCuire said, "but the other thing is that I had the chance to play with really good big men."
Those big men included Daren Engellant and Nate Atchison followed by Shawn Samuelson and Matt Kempfert.
And then there were the shooting guards like Gary Kane and Jeremy Lake.
After graduation he returned to his home in Seattle, spending a year dabbling in marketing and trying to figure out what he wanted to do. As luck would have it he returned to his prep alma mater to coach freshman boys' basketball and assist with the varsity that winter.
Two years later he became Mercer Island's junior varsity head coach and top assistant for the varsity. That led to a head coaching job at rival Sammamish High School in Bellevue, where his team won two conference titles and made it to the state tournament.
DeCuire then took the reins at Green River Community College in Auburn, Wash., in 2001. It took him just two years to take the team from last place to a league championship while posting the school's first 20-win season in more than 20 years.
From there he headed east to assist Taylor at Old Dominion in Norfolk, Va.
During his time in Washington DeCuire had always been involved working with youth outside the realm of school basketball, doing some counsel and providing individual workouts. He learned that, because the AAU basketball circuit had become so competitive, a number of kids were being left out.
DeCuire rounded up some sponsors and, under the name Fastbreak Basketball Association, put together a team of 13 young men. The squad went to three national tournaments, winning one in Los Angeles. Problem was, he created a bit of a monster.
"Given the success, and given the fact that a number of the kids that I had on the team were from communities that hadn't had a lot of AAU exposure, (I) came back the next year and had 200 kids trying out for one team," DeCuire recalled.
So DeCuire, with some help, expanded the association to five age-group teams. A year later it grew some more, and other elements were added.
"We had a counseling program for young men from non-traditional settings," DeCuire said, "whether it was one parent, low income, anyone that had any kind of adversities in their life, we had counselors on call to spend time with those young men."
There also was an education component designed to help kids prepare for ACT and SAT testing while helping with core work and "getting their academics together."
So how did DeCuire turn a UM business marketing degree into counseling work? He says he just fell into it.
"My best friend had a friend that was doing some counseling, and they both had graduated from Washington State in sociology," DeCuire recounted. "The job was (at) a place called Ryther (Children's Center) . . . for (kids) ages 12 to 15."
Ryther, he said, was like a halfway house, and the job of counselors like DeCuire was to get the kids ready to be part of society again, including regular schools and extracurricular activities.
DeCuire enjoyed the part-time work so much he later hooked on full time with Echo Glen Children's Center in Snoqualmie. All told he spent eight years counseling young kids.
DeCuire's early exposure to coaching came from working at basketball camps during the summer, including a Grizzly Cage Camp while he was at UM. After that first year coaching high school freshman he had caught the bug that eventually set his career path.
DeCuire and Taylor resumed their relationship when they crossed paths at a tournament in Tulsa, Okla., that some Green River CC players were competing in.
"I honestly believe he was there to watch the team that I was playing against and happened to see me and then kind of followed me a little bit," DeCuire said. "We talked and caught up a little bit and he happened to have a job available."
The timing wasn't right for DeCuire to move right away, but a year later another assistant's position opened at Old Dominion, and he made the jump from West Coast to East Coast.
The cross country move wasn't as trying as it might have been for someone else since DeCuire had traveled widely as a high school player and as a coach at various levels. And he said Norfolk and Seattle had something in common, namely rain.
"I tell people it's Seattle without the hills," DeCuire laughed.
After years of being single it was in 2006 that he married Sabrina, the sister of his best friend. The two had never dated prior, and she had moved from Seattle to attend high school in Memphis, Tenn.
The two were reunited in Seattle after Sabrina returned there in the mid 90s, and things simply progressed from there.
"I was in the right place at the right time and I got lucky," DeCuire said.
DeCuire, regardless of where he lands, said he will always keep track of Grizzly athletics and basketball in particular. He said his days at UM were special.
"It was a great experience," DeCuire said. "I was fortunate to play in a system that is probably the most successful one out there when you look at Jud Heathcote, Mike Montgomery, Stew Morrill, Blaine Taylor, and you look at the wins versus the losses, when you look at the success of the people who've come up through (the) program and the people who have coached in (the) program.
"I have an advantage over most who have coached in it because I've played in it," DeCuire added. "For me, I've been blessed, and it was a blessed situation. There are so many programs out there that don't have the support that we had.
"I can't recall ever playing in that arena . . . if it wasn't sold out it looked sold out," DeCuire marveled. "The expectations were high, but that was what made it conducive for us to play at a high level.
"(And) for me to graduate from there in business, a very competitive department, I can walk around and hold my head high. I'm proud of the University of Montana, and if I had a choice to do this thing all over again, I'd walk the same path."
And for Travis DeCuire, that path seems to keep winding higher and higher.
It is interesting to note that the last time we hired an assistant from the Pac 12 (then Pac 8), we got Jud Heathcote from WSU. At the time, Jud hadn't been a head college coach (TDC has).
Bill Schwanke article below:
Travis DeCuire was the ultimate point guard for the Montana Grizzlies, standing out on both offense and defense.
September 14, 2009 By BILL SCHWANKE
When Travis DeCuire played basketball for the Montana Grizzlies in the early 90s, he was the ultimate point guard - a patient, effective leader.
Now that he's making his way up through the coaching ranks, DeCuire continues to be patient as he waits for his turn to be a college head coach.
DeCuire took a big step in the right direction a week ago. With the help of one former Grizzly basketball head coach, Blaine Taylor, DeCuire landed an assistant's job with another former Griz mentor, Mike Montgomery, now the head man at Cal.
DeCuire killed two birds with one stone with his latest move. He moved to a much larger conference at one of the nation's top public universities, and he made it back to the west coast.
After five years assisting Taylor, whom he played for at Montana from 1991 to 1994, DeCuire was ready to move onward and upward, with Taylor's blessing.
Taylor arranged for DeCuire and Montgomery to meet at the Final Four. The two visited on the phone on April 13, and when Montgomery made an offer, the answer was easy.
"It was a no brainer," DeCuire, who was on the job three days later, said. "I'm very excited. This opportunity just helps me continue my growth."
Listen to Travis DeCuire's interview.
DeCuire, who left UM as the school's all-time assist leader (435) and top single-season assist man (199 in 1993-94), has taken a varied and winding path since he graduated. His path to UM was a little skewed as well.
Coming out of an outstanding program at Mercer Island High School, DeCuire was looking to play where the competition and exposure would be maximized. He chose Chaminade in Hawaii, largely because the school annually hosted two tournaments that always invited a bunch of nationally ranked teams and itself had designs on moving to Division One.
The result? The first losing season DeCuire had ever experienced, something he simply couldn't handle at that time in his life. He decided to look elsewhere.
As luck would have it Chaminade's coach ran into Taylor at a summer tournament and told him he had a point guard who wanted to transfer. Taylor and UM assistant Skip Molitor each saw DeCuire play a couple of times and he was invited to Missoula for a campus visit.
"Things work out," DeCuire said, adding that - prior to all of this happening - he knew virtually nothing about the University of Montana and its basketball program.
"I took a gamble and it was a great gamble," DeCuire noted.
In addition to holding assist records at UM, DeCuire twice won the C.R. Dragstedt Award as the Grizzlies' most valuable player, as a senior received the John Eaheart Award as the team's top defender, and twice was named to the all-conference team.
He said the statistics and honors are part of a package.
"When you win, everyone gets something," DeCuire pointed out. "The one that stands out to me the most would be the assists, because you have to play with good ballplayers in order to break those types of records.
"You have to play in a system that allows you to make the types of plays that I made," he added. "It's more descriptive of what I'm about - winning."
The system DeCuire described as "equal opportunity." The Grizzlies during his years at UM always had more than one player averaging in double figures. The guys he played with included league MVP Delvon Anderson and Roger Fasting,
"When you have two wings like that it's pretty easy to just penetrate the paint and kick," DeCuire said, "but the other thing is that I had the chance to play with really good big men."
Those big men included Daren Engellant and Nate Atchison followed by Shawn Samuelson and Matt Kempfert.
And then there were the shooting guards like Gary Kane and Jeremy Lake.
After graduation he returned to his home in Seattle, spending a year dabbling in marketing and trying to figure out what he wanted to do. As luck would have it he returned to his prep alma mater to coach freshman boys' basketball and assist with the varsity that winter.
Two years later he became Mercer Island's junior varsity head coach and top assistant for the varsity. That led to a head coaching job at rival Sammamish High School in Bellevue, where his team won two conference titles and made it to the state tournament.
DeCuire then took the reins at Green River Community College in Auburn, Wash., in 2001. It took him just two years to take the team from last place to a league championship while posting the school's first 20-win season in more than 20 years.
From there he headed east to assist Taylor at Old Dominion in Norfolk, Va.
During his time in Washington DeCuire had always been involved working with youth outside the realm of school basketball, doing some counsel and providing individual workouts. He learned that, because the AAU basketball circuit had become so competitive, a number of kids were being left out.
DeCuire rounded up some sponsors and, under the name Fastbreak Basketball Association, put together a team of 13 young men. The squad went to three national tournaments, winning one in Los Angeles. Problem was, he created a bit of a monster.
"Given the success, and given the fact that a number of the kids that I had on the team were from communities that hadn't had a lot of AAU exposure, (I) came back the next year and had 200 kids trying out for one team," DeCuire recalled.
So DeCuire, with some help, expanded the association to five age-group teams. A year later it grew some more, and other elements were added.
"We had a counseling program for young men from non-traditional settings," DeCuire said, "whether it was one parent, low income, anyone that had any kind of adversities in their life, we had counselors on call to spend time with those young men."
There also was an education component designed to help kids prepare for ACT and SAT testing while helping with core work and "getting their academics together."
So how did DeCuire turn a UM business marketing degree into counseling work? He says he just fell into it.
"My best friend had a friend that was doing some counseling, and they both had graduated from Washington State in sociology," DeCuire recounted. "The job was (at) a place called Ryther (Children's Center) . . . for (kids) ages 12 to 15."
Ryther, he said, was like a halfway house, and the job of counselors like DeCuire was to get the kids ready to be part of society again, including regular schools and extracurricular activities.
DeCuire enjoyed the part-time work so much he later hooked on full time with Echo Glen Children's Center in Snoqualmie. All told he spent eight years counseling young kids.
DeCuire's early exposure to coaching came from working at basketball camps during the summer, including a Grizzly Cage Camp while he was at UM. After that first year coaching high school freshman he had caught the bug that eventually set his career path.
DeCuire and Taylor resumed their relationship when they crossed paths at a tournament in Tulsa, Okla., that some Green River CC players were competing in.
"I honestly believe he was there to watch the team that I was playing against and happened to see me and then kind of followed me a little bit," DeCuire said. "We talked and caught up a little bit and he happened to have a job available."
The timing wasn't right for DeCuire to move right away, but a year later another assistant's position opened at Old Dominion, and he made the jump from West Coast to East Coast.
The cross country move wasn't as trying as it might have been for someone else since DeCuire had traveled widely as a high school player and as a coach at various levels. And he said Norfolk and Seattle had something in common, namely rain.
"I tell people it's Seattle without the hills," DeCuire laughed.
After years of being single it was in 2006 that he married Sabrina, the sister of his best friend. The two had never dated prior, and she had moved from Seattle to attend high school in Memphis, Tenn.
The two were reunited in Seattle after Sabrina returned there in the mid 90s, and things simply progressed from there.
"I was in the right place at the right time and I got lucky," DeCuire said.
DeCuire, regardless of where he lands, said he will always keep track of Grizzly athletics and basketball in particular. He said his days at UM were special.
"It was a great experience," DeCuire said. "I was fortunate to play in a system that is probably the most successful one out there when you look at Jud Heathcote, Mike Montgomery, Stew Morrill, Blaine Taylor, and you look at the wins versus the losses, when you look at the success of the people who've come up through (the) program and the people who have coached in (the) program.
"I have an advantage over most who have coached in it because I've played in it," DeCuire added. "For me, I've been blessed, and it was a blessed situation. There are so many programs out there that don't have the support that we had.
"I can't recall ever playing in that arena . . . if it wasn't sold out it looked sold out," DeCuire marveled. "The expectations were high, but that was what made it conducive for us to play at a high level.
"(And) for me to graduate from there in business, a very competitive department, I can walk around and hold my head high. I'm proud of the University of Montana, and if I had a choice to do this thing all over again, I'd walk the same path."
And for Travis DeCuire, that path seems to keep winding higher and higher.
