Congratulations Wayne Tinkle (if final)

[Proud Griz Man]

Congratulations Wayne Tinkle!

We appreciate everything that you have done for the Griz.

 

[mtgrizrule]

Ironic? The picture you posted has him dressed in colors close to Oregon State colors.

 

[Proud Griz Man]

“We’d love to have kept Wayne Tinkle forever, that’s for sure,” Montana Athletic Director Kent Haslam said. “From a personal standpoint he’s been a great mentor, a great coach, a great person who I’ve relied heavily on. I wish nothing but the best for him and Lisa. They’ve done great things for Missoula and we look forward to tracking his career now that he’s at Oregon State.”

Tinkle takes over an OSU program depleted by departures. Six OSU seniors from this past season have graduated or will soon, the Corvallis Gazette-Times reported Monday. Junior forward Eric Moreland is leaving with the hopes of playing in the NBA. Freshman point guard Hallice Cooke has said he will transfer to Iowa State. Junior point guard Challe Barton decided to return home to Sweden and play professional basketball in Europe.

“It’s a fresh start and we’ve just got to make the most of it,” sophomore center Daniel Gomis said. “We have a hard-working group and we just want to do our best.”

***

Tinkle had one year left on his contract that paid him just under $140,000 a year in base salary. Tinkle – or Oregon State – owes that amount to UM as a buyout.

“When these things were happening we wanted Wayne to know that we’d do what we could do that was prudent to keep him here at Montana, but eventually you look and say you just can’t compete at that level,” Haslam said. “There are times when you take great pride that your current coach is going to the Pac-12 and the one he replaced (Larry Krystkowiak) is at Utah in the Pac-12. You take pride in what you’re able to do and be the very best where you’re at.”

Haslam said a national search would be conducted to find Tinkle’s successor, but that he does not have a definite timetable for naming a replacement.

. . . The fan base was so apathetic this past season that fewer than 4,000 fans on average attended a home game. When told that many students on campus said they paid little attention to the sport, De Carolis quipped: “Well that must mean they’re going to class and that’s a good thing.” But he also stated that having student support is important.

“It needs to be a top-tier sport and it will be a top-tier sport and we need to do a better job of marketing and getting those kids engaged and we need to give them a product they can rally around and we need to get connected with them,” De Carolis said. “I’m sorry to hear that but it gives us a great opportunity to make an impact.” To make an impact, De Carolis must make an impressive hire. That will likely come without the services of a search firm unless “it gets out of control crazy we might look at that but I think we can handle this one ourselves.” De Carolis said he wants “to act quickly but make the right choice.”

There are two parts to making a good hire, De Carolis said. The first is to find a coach who can win and do it the right way, while the second is to win the press conference. “But the first thing is get the coach that can win and do it the right way,” he said. “And if you win the press conference, great.”

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