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Has Hopkins been fired yet?
no_uh
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As long as answer is no, Jen's gotta go.
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Travis DeCuire continues to rewrite Montana's record books as he enters his seventh season as head coach in 2020-21. During his first six seasons, the former Griz player has led Montana to four postseason appearances and 20-win seasons, including back-to-back Big Sky Conference regular-season championships, Big Sky tournament titles and NCAA tournament appearances.
Among a string of prominent Montana coaches – including George Dahlberg, Jud Heathcote, Larry Krystkowiak, Mike Montgomery, Stew Morrill, Blaine Taylor and Wayne Tinkle – DeCuire is the best in many ways.
DeCuire (pronounced: duh-CURE) has won 127 games as head coach of the Grizzlies, more than any Montana coach through his first six seasons. He is also the only Griz coach to lead Montana to three Big Sky Conference regular-season championships during their career.
On a conference level, he is the fastest Big Sky coach ever to win 50 league games, needing just 69 games to do so, and his current .759 winning percentage ranks third in league history and first among those who have coached more than three seasons. Overall, only two Big Sky coaches have ever averaged more than DeCuire’s 21.2 wins per season, and both coached three or fewer seasons.
In five full seasons – excluding the 2019-20 campaign that was shortened due to COVID-19 – Montana has played in the Big Sky tournament championship game four times, and the team’s 52 wins from 2017-18 to 2018-19 are the most ever over a two-year stretch.
Off the court, DeCuire proudly boasts a 100-percent graduation rate, in addition to earning the NABC Team Academic Award in 2016, 2017 and 2020.
In 2018-19, Montana won 26 games, tied for the third-most in school history. During non-conference play, the Grizzlies beat a pair of NCAA tournament teams in Georgia State and North Dakota State, and snapped South Dakota State’s nation-leading 26-game home winning streak. After beginning Big Sky Conference play just 3-2, Montana won 16 of its next 18 games to repeat as Big Sky Conference regular-season and tournament champions.
Montana was one of 20 schools nationally to rank in the top 100 for both scoring offense and defense, and was incredibly efficient, making 49.2 percent of its shots (10th in the nation), including 37.6 percent from beyond the arc (38th).
DeCuire was tabbed as coach of the year by the Big Sky Conference and NABC (District 6) in 2018, and it’s easy to see why. The 2017-18 season was historic on many levels, with the Griz winning 26 games, and like 2018-19, winning Big Sky Conference regular-season and tournament titles and advancing to the NCAA tournament. The team’s record included a perfect 14-0 mark on its home court.
The Grizzlies got off to a strong start, posting their first winning non-conference record in six seasons, including a signature victory at Pitt of the ACC. Montana then won its first 13 Big Sky games, the third-longest winning streak in school history and the third-longest active streak in the NCAA at the time. The stretch featured a program-record seven consecutive road victories.
Montana used the same starting lineup for all 34 contests, leading to a balanced effort. The Grizzlies led the Big Sky in five statistical categories and ranked in the top three in 14. On defense, the Grizzlies ranked in the top 30 nationally for turnovers forced, steals and turnover margin.
DeCuire has coached seven first-team All-Big Sky Conference selections, in addition to three second-team honorees, plus the Big Sky Defensive Player of the Year, Freshman of the Year, Newcomer of the Year (twice) and Big Sky tournament MVP (twice). Over the past two seasons, he has developed three of the top eight scorers in school history.
In his first season at the helm of a program with a rich history of success, DeCuire’s Griz started the year picked to finish eighth in the conference. Led by Gregory, Montana would go on to defy expectations and win the Big Sky regular-season championship and advance to play Texas A&M in the National Invitational Tournament (NIT). At the time, DeCuire became only the second coach in Montana history to notch 20 victories in his first season – a feat also accomplished by his former coach Blaine Taylor in 1991-92, when DeCuire was a player for the Griz.
In DeCuire’s second year, he posted another 20-win season and another trip to the Big Sky championship game, this time led by Breunig. DeCuire’s Grizzlies would once again advance to the postseason, competing in the first round of the CBI tournament against Nevada, finishing with a 21-12 record. He is the only coach in Montana history to win at least 20 games in each of his first two seasons.
Paced by 10 underclassmen and just two seniors who played significant time, the Grizzlies went 16-16 in 2016-17, earning a first-round bye in the Big Sky tournament. The 2016-17 season was also the second consecutive year in which the Grizzlies posted a team grade-point average above 3.0, earning NABC Team Academic Excellence recognition both seasons.
Following back-to-back championship seasons in 2017-18 and 2018-19, the Grizzlies won 18 games in 2019-20, despite returning just four letterwinners. Montana had a trio of freshmen start a school-record 40 combined contests, including Big Sky Conference Freshman of the Year Derrick Carter-Hollinger. The Grizzlies led the Big Sky Conference for field-goal percentage (.498), 3-point field-goal percentage (.394) and turnover margin (+3.5), and ranked in the top three for scoring (74.1), scoring margin (+6.4), free-throw percentage (.745), field-goal defense (.436) assists (13.3), steals (6.3) and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.2). On a national scale, Montana ranked 21st in the NCAA for shooting and 55th for 3-point accuracy.
Prior to returning to his alma mater as head coach, DeCuire spent six seasons (2008-09 through 2013-14) on the University of California coaching staff – including the final four as associate head coach. Regarded as one of the top tutors in the game, DeCuire helped former Montana mentor Mike Montgomery – a member of the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame – transform Cal into one of the winningest programs in the Pac-12 during his time in Berkeley. The Bears reached the postseason all six years he was on the staff, including the NCAA tournament four times. The Golden Bears boasted 130 wins in his six seasons – the best six-year stretch in school history – winning the 2010 Pac-10 championship. He coached numerous all-conference selections, including conference players of the year Jerome Randle (2010) and Jorge Gutierrez (2012).
DeCuire spent five seasons (2003-04 through 2007-08) as an assistant coach at Old Dominion, under former Griz head coach and player Blaine Taylor. There, he helped the Monarchs to a combined record of 117-53. The mark included 94 wins during his final four seasons – the most in school history over a four-year period. Old Dominion reached the postseason each of those four seasons and advanced to the NCAA tournament in both 2005 and 2007 – winning a school-record 28 contests in 2005. Additionally, the Monarchs reached the NIT semifinals in 2006 and the quarterfinals of the College Basketball Invitational in 2008.
In 17 seasons as an assistant or head coach at the Division-I level, DeCuire is 374-197, a .655 winning percentage.
DeCuire’s roots remain in the Seattle area, where he grew up, started his non-profit and broke into the coaching profession. He served as the head coach at both Sammamish High School and Green River Community College. At GRCC, DeCuire took over a last-place program and guided it to a conference championship and its first 20-win season in more than 20 years, earning league coach-of-the-year honors in 2003 – his second season. At Sammamish High School in Bellevue, DeCuire led his team to a pair of conference titles, a state tournament appearance and three consecutive trips to the district tournament.
As a point guard for Montana from 1992-94 DeCuire was named All-Big Sky Conference as a junior and senior. He set a school record, despite playing just three seasons, with 435 career assists – a mark which still stands today. He also established Montana’s single-season mark with 199 assists as a senior in 1993-94, when he ranked 12th in the nation, averaging 7.1 assists per game. He was the recipient of the Grizzlies' Carl Dragstedt Award (MVP) as a junior and senior, and received the John Eaheart Award (Outstanding Defensive Player) following his senior year. Montana won a pair of Big Sky Conference championships during his Griz career, advancing to the NCAA tournament in 1991 and 1992.
As a freshman at Chaminade-Hawaii, he was a starter and team MVP in 1990. He then transferred to Montana and redshirted in 1991. As a prep, DeCuire starred in the Rainier Valley and at Mercer Island High School, where he was a three-year starter and all-state, team MVP, and a McDonald's All-America honorable mention pick.
He has a strong commitment to community service and founded and acted as president of the Fastbreak Basketball Association – an organization that assists in teaching life lessons and building self-esteem through basketball to more than 500 students in the Seattle-Tacoma area. Additionally, he has extensive experience in counseling at the Echo Glen Children's Center in Snoqualmie, Wash., from 1996-98, and with the Ryther Children's Center in North Seattle, from 1995-97.
DeCuire graduated from Montana in 1994 with a degree in business marketing.
Decuire seems like the best logical outcome.
Bring on the BRoy era at Montlake ASAP!!!!!!!!!!!
Clean house.
Jenn is worse than Todd fucking Turner.