2024 marks a significant milestone in the story of Skyline Sports. Although the official anniversary comes later in the year, we’ll be celebrating our 10th birthday all year long with special content and retrospectives — including in this series, where we’ll peruse Skyline’s deep archive, looking back at stories and games from the past. Here are some of the top stories published by Skyline Sports in the month of March.
SENIOR SPOTLIGHT: HOMMES HAS WRITTEN OWN CHAPTER TO FAMILY LEGACY AT MONTANA STATE
By Colter Nuanez (March 2, 2016)
Jasmine Hommes’ aunts, Brooke and Blythe, were Montana State basketball legends. Jasmine went on to follow in their footsteps with a Big Sky MVP honor as a senior with the Bobcats.
“Each time Jasmine Hommes walks the halls at Brick Breeden Fieldhouse, she is surrounded by the story her family has already written at Montana State.
In the 1990s, the Hommes sisters of Manhattan Christian became stars for the Bobcat women’s basketball team. Brooke Hommes helped Montana State hang a Big Sky Conference championship banner. Blythe Hommes is one of the greatest women’s basketball players ever at MSU.
Jasmine Hommes is reminded of the prestige of those who preceded her each time she walks throughout her home arena. The banner hangs from the ceiling above the court and a plaque commemorating Blythe’s All-America nod in 1997 graces the trophy case.”
SENIOR SPOTLIGHT: COLBERT’S TOUGHNESS KEY ELEMENT OF MEMORABLE BOBCAT CAREER
By Colter Nuanez (March 4, 2016)
Marcus Colbert, a warrior of a point guard from Post Falls, Idaho, battled through injury to become Montana State’s all-time leader in games played.
“Colbert has battled the lingering affects of the five bulging discs in his back that has afflicted him since he was a high school junior in Post Falls, Idaho. He has persevered through a coaching change that sent the coach that recruited him, Brad Huse, packing and sparked a total rebuilding project for MSU hoops. The 5-foot-11 bulldog has fought through his physical limitations to become one of the most unflappable, clutch point guards in the Big Sky Conference. On Saturday, his durability and talent will be celebrated in a tangible way as he celebrates his final home game as a Bobcat.
When Colbert’s name is announced as a starter for the final time at Brick Breeden Fieldhouse, it will mark Colbert’s 121st game as a Bobcat, breaking Bill Salonen’s 60-year-old record.”
TEN YEARS LATER, MEMORIES OF GRIZ 2006 NCAA TOURNEY WIN REMAIN STRONG
By Colter Nuanez (March 16, 2016)
Ten years after what’s still the Big Sky’s last win in the men’s NCAA Tournament, Colter Nuanez talked to players and coaches from the 2006 Griz team that knocked off Nevada.
Strait: “We certainly believed we could win the whole time. You get out there, you get over the jitters, the intimidation of the event itself and you just shake off the early set of anxiety and all that and you settle in. I knew if we came out and were able to overcome those early minutes of the game and play like we were capable of playing and how we had played all year, we wouldn’t waver.
“Our team was really solid. We knew how to win close games and we weren’t the type of team that didn’t show up from the start. Everyone being aware of the magnitude of the NCAA Tournament, the 12-5 matchup, who was in front of us, that’s what it came down to. We knew if we could overcome the nerves at the start of the game and play how we knew how to play, we’d have a good shot at winning.”
THE CATALYST: NORDGAARD PROVIDES THE EDGE FOR BOBCATS
By Colter Nuanez (March 2, 2017)
After transferring to Montana State from Division II, Riley Nordgaard became a defensive tone setter for the Bobcats — and an All-Big Sky selection.
“Nordgaard’s inspired play and her ability to set the tone, particularly on the defensive end, has proven crucial as Montana State has posted back-to-back 20-win seasons for the first time in school history. The 5-foot-10 slashing forward scored 11 points per game and led the team with 7.2 rebounds per contest (eighth in the Big Sky) last season as the Bobcats spurted to their first outright Big Sky title.
This season, the Canby, Minnesota native and former transfer from Division II Augustana — she sat out the 2014-15 season per NCAA rules — has been among the best two-way players in the Big Sky. Nordgaard is second on MSU with 14.1 points per game to go with a team-best 7.7 rebounds per contest. Tangible measurable like her two steals per game and statistically immeasurable skills like her ability to whip outlet passes to spark MSU’s top-notch transition offense have been key as MSU has won 14 Big Sky games for a second straight season.”
SHOOTER TURNED LEADER: DESPITE DWINDLING MINUTES, GFELLER CRUCIAL FOR GRIZ
By Kyle Sample (March 3, 2017)
Brandon Gfeller was a deadly shooter who assumed a variety of roles for the Griz over a decorated career.
“With as little as two games remaining in his collegiate career, Gfeller is poised to become the first four-time recipient of the Allan Nielsen Award, presented every year since 1979 to the player who best represents Griz basketball. It’s an honor that considers a player’s approach to the game, but also how he serves the program in the classroom and the community. When the team gathered at the home of program coordinator Julie Tonkin last May for its annual awards banquet there was little surprise when Gfeller was called up for the third time, joining Mike Warhank and Jeremy Lake as the only three-time winners.”
RELENTLESS ONWUASOR’S 43 LIFTS SUU PAST ‘CATS IN TRIPLE OT
By Colter Nuanez (March 8, 2017)
Despite being just a first-round matchup, the triple-overtime classic between Southern Utah and Montana State in 2017 was one of the finest and craziest Big Sky Tournament games ever. SUU’s Randy Onwuasor scored 43 points in the Thunderbirds’ win, which remains the Big Sky Tournament single-game record for points scored.
“Randy Onwuasor cut through Bobcat defender after Bobcat defender, sending Montana State’s defensive stoppers to the bench one by one. When the final buzzer finally sounded in a battle for the ages, the bullish Southern Utah guard played a hand in fouling out Everett, Devonte Klines, Zach Green and Harald Frey as the final first-round game of the Big Sky Tournament turned from war into battle of attrition.
Onwuasor, a Texas Tech transfer who earned the Big Sky’s Newcomer of the Year award by tying Montana State’s Tyler Hall for the league scoring lead, put forth a record-setting performance built on endurance. The 6-foot-3, 215-pound junior barreled his way into the lane over and over again, scoring a Big Sky Tournament single-game record 43 points in 53 grueling minutes to lead his 11th-seeded Thunderbirds to a 109-105 win in triple overtime over No. 6 Montana State.”
BOBCATS WIN BIG SKY TOURNAMENT, PUNCH NCAA TOURNEY TICKET
By Colter Nuanez (March 11, 2017)
Colter Nuanez and Skyline were in Reno, Nevada, to capture the scene as Peyton Ferris’ legendary Bobcat career ended with a Big Sky title.
“Montana State went toe-to-toe with Idaho State, the league’s most physical team, before slamming the door on its first Big Sky Tournament title since 1993. Behind Ferris’ timely scoring, Nordgaard’s passionate effort and contributions up and down the roster, the Bobcats are going dancing at long last following a 62-56 victory here on Saturday afternoon.
“This is my first career tournament win in my life, high school and college, and it feels good,” Ferris said. “I couldn’t be more excited to complete this final goal.”
PEERLESS DEFENSIVE EFFORT LEADS GRIZ PAST EWU, INTO BIG DANCE
By Colter Nuanez (March 10, 2018)
After a frantic last-minute comeback against Northern Colorado in the semifinals, Travis DeCuire’s Griz won the 2018 Big Sky title by stifling league MVP Bogdan Bliznyuk and Eastern Washington.
“As streamers fell from the Reno Events Center rafters, Montana head coach Travis DeCuire reached into the sea of Griz supporters who passionately cheered UM to three comeback victories in three days to grab his five-year-old daughter, Tamia.
The former All-Big Sky point guard presented a vision of unwavering toughness and effort when he took over the Griz program four years ago, a premonition he saw play out in front of his eyes as his team harassed Big Sky MVP Bogdan Bliznyuk into six second-half turnovers during what became a 26-4 run.”
DEVELOPMENT BY DEFENSE: MOOREHEAD MORPHS GAME TO FIND SUCCESS
By Colter Nuanez (March 5, 2019)
Bobby Moorehead, who came into Montana as a shooter and left as a tough wing defender, was part of one of the winningest classes in Griz hoops history.
“Moorehead has scored in double figures five times during his final season at UM. He is averaging 5.1 points per game. But he’s also the front-runner for Big Sky Conference Defensive Player of the Year honors, the top one-on-one defender for the league’s toughest defensive team. And he’s fully embraced his evolution.
“It’s rare that you have someone that owns that, that looks forward to that job,” DeCuire said. “That’s the biggest thing because there’s been times when someone else might’ve been a good matchup. But he will use all of his energy on that end where a lot of guys aren’t willing to do that. A lot of guys like to rest on defense to be productive on offense. Bobby has made that sacrifice for this team and that makes my job easy.”
FOR HIS FATHER: BLEVINS OVERCOMES TRAGEDY, PEAKS IN SENIOR SEASON
By Colter Nuanez (March 6, 2019)
Montana State’s Keljin Blevins, an athletic, physical power forward, went on to have multiple NBA stints after his time in Bozeman. Before all that, he had to deal with family tragedy.
“To this day, when Keljin Blevins takes the basketball court, he envisions his father sitting in the stands.
Before each game, Blevins says a prayer, holding an intimate conversation with the late James Blevins.
And every time he competes for the Montana State Bobcats, Blevins is striving to make his father proud.
“There’s no bigger motivation than what happened to my dad,” Blevins said. “He was my No. 1 fan, never missed a game, was always in the crowd. To this day, I think of him sitting up there and I imagine what he would think. Every day, I want to make him proud.
“He will forever be my biggest motivation, whether that’s in basketball or anything else in life.”
PEAK FINALE: NORTHERN COLORADO’S DAVIS DOMINATING IN FINAL SEASON WITH BEARS
By Andrew Houghton (March 10, 2019)
Jordan Davis was one of the most explosive players in the last decade of Big Sky hoops. Andrew Houghton examined the work ethic that carried him to a record-setting senior season at Northern Colorado.
“Walk into an early-morning practice of the Northern Colorado women’s basketball team, and you’ll see one of the best scorers in the history of Big Sky Conference men’s basketball wiping sweat off the floor and helping the team run through drills.
As part of his sports and exercise science major, Jordan Davis is interning with the women’s team this year, which means that he shows up to the gym at 7 a.m. every morning, just the same as the defending Big Sky Conference women’s basketball champions.
“I think he doesn’t love getting up so early in the morning, so that’s probably been good for him,” UNC women’s coach Jenny Huth said, laughing. “He’s been on time, except for one day he was late, and I got on him about it. But he’s a hard worker.”
SPLASH SISTERS: PIERCE, FERENZ THE MOST PROLIFIC DUO IN COLLEGE BASKETBALL HISTORY
By Colter Nuanez (March 10, 2019)
The style was unique. The stats were mind boggling. The legacy was exceptional. Colter Nuanez profiled Idaho’s Splash Sisters – Mikayla Ferenz and Taylor Pierce – in their final days with the Vandals.
“On the surface, comparisons of Idaho’s sharpshooting senior duo to the legendary Splash Brothers of the Golden State Warriors might seem like marketing ploy rather than real parallel.
Take a deeper dive into the world of the most unconscious shooting duo in the history of collegiate basketball, however, and you find that Mikayla Ferenz and Taylor Pierce, dubbed the ‘Splash Sisters’ first by Idaho head coach Jon Newlee, make up the most prolific pair to ever suit up simultaneously in the history of college basketball.”
ACTIONS SPEAK LOUDER THAN WORDS: HALL MARCHES TO BIG SKY SCORING RECORD
By Colter Nuanez (March 10, 2019)
Of all the great athletes in the last 10 years of the Big Sky Conference, Tyler Hall might have been the most iconic. Colter Nuanez’s brilliant, poetic prose captured the Montana State sharpshooter who was one of the brightest stars of the Skyline era.
“As Hall moves in Montana State’s wide open offense, his movements are flawlessly fluid, the way water avoids rocks in the nearby Southwest Montana rivers, picking up speed around each bend while displaying unparalleled pace in the calm straights of clear, quiet passages.
Nearly every time a down screen appears, Hall reads it effortlessly and accurately, breaking free regardless of which way his defender anticipates. When the ball finds him, an unmatched process unfolds. He squares up, catches, elevates and lets fly a jump shot equally unique as it is beautiful, the release one might expect from the son of two parents who have coached the art of the beautiful game for most of Hall’s life.
“He’s just magic, man,” MSU junior point guard Harald Frey said earlier this season. “It’s like watching TV. Sometimes, you get caught just staring at him, not moving at all because he so special.”
ONE OF A KIND: SMITH FINISHES UNC CAREER WITH MEMORABLE SENIOR SEASON
By Andrew Houghton (March 12, 2019)
To continue the run of players wrapping up their careers in a memorable 2018-19 season, Andrew Houghton wrote about Northern Colorado’s Savannah Smith, the one-woman equivalent of Idaho’s Splash Sisters.
“Smith’s game is defined by how she makes immense responsibility look easy. She handles the ball on every possession for the Bears and shoots more than anyone else in the country — she’s second in field-goal attempts this year behind Arizona’s Aari McDonald — but she never seems troubled by the defensive attention.
In pressure, she finds light, stepping back for a 3 on one possession, dropping the ball off perfectly to a rolling post player on another, and never, ever looking frustrated or out of control.
In the pick-and-roll, she’ll speed up here, slow down there, and somehow, always, get to the exact spot she wants, a masterclass in making subtle adjustments and controlling the game.”
A LIFE OF HOOPS: BASKETBALL HAS TAKEN RORIE FROM COAST TO COAST
By Colter Nuanez (March 15, 2019)
Ahmaad Rorie was the heart of Travis DeCuire’s back-to-back Big Sky title-winning teams in 2018 and 2019. Along the way, the uber-talented, iron-willed point guard from Tacoma became a Griz legend.
“Most of Rorie’s most dominant traits on the court go beyond statistical measure. The precision of his passes have indeed reached an elite level. His ability to control the tempo on both ends of the floor is second to none. And his steely demeanor trademarked by his cold stare is the steadying force for a team that thrives off of emotion and enthusiasm.
“I have been so impressed with his ability to totally buy in and be whatever they need him to be every single night,” Montana State head coach Brian Fish, an assistant at Oregon until the season before Rorie arrived in Eugene, said earlier this season. “He is their rock.”
HANSEN’S LAST-SECOND SHOT LIFTS VIKINGS INTO BIG DANCE
By Colter Nuanez (March 15, 2019)
In the end, it wasn’t the Splash Sisters or Savannah Smith capping their careers with a title in 2019. Instead, Portland State freshman Desirae Hansen buried a last-second, game-winning jumper, sending Lynn Kennedy’s Vikings to the Big Dance.
“We had three options and that wasn’t an option,” Kennedy said with a laugh. “A fade away jumper was not an option. But you have to understand that Des, we do last second situations all the time in practice and she hits more last second shots. We were saving it for the moment and she stepped up. She wasn’t a freshman today. She was a veteran player who stepped up and hit a big time shot a lot of pro players can’t make.”
GRIZ FULFILL EXPECTATIONS, PUNCH SECOND STRAIGHT NCAA TOURNAMENT TICKET
By Colter Nuanez (March 17, 2019)
The eventful 2019 Big Sky Conference basketball tournaments ended with the Griz beating back all comers as DeCuire, Rorie, Oguine and company clinched a second-straight title.
The pressure of a season filled with unparalleled expectations culminated in a perfectly fitting moment for a team that took every single team’s best shot all season long.
From Bobby Moorehead’s momentum-shifting block to Ahmaad Rorie’s steely demeanor on the way to earning Big Sky Tournament MVP honors and ability to steer the Grizzlies to Donavan Dorsey’s unbelievable ability to answer the bell, Montana found a way to endure and advance once again.
PATIENCE PAYS OFF FOR BINFORD AS BOBCATS RETURN TO BOISE AS BIG SKY FAVORITES
By Colter Nuanez (March 8, 2020)
Before it was canceled, the ill-fated 2020 Big Sky tournament was a homecoming for Montana State coach Tricia Binford, who brought her Bobcats to Boise as the favorites, decades after she played for Boise State.
“In 1999, Binford started her coaching career in Boise while her playing career continued professionally. And in 2001, the 1996 Idaho NCAA Woman of the Year was inducted into the Boise State Hall of Fame.
And the last two years, her life of basketball has come full circle. Binford has brought her Bobcats back to Boise, the place where she first made her name in the college hoops world.”
HARDING’S SCORING REMAINS PROLIFIC DESPITE INJURY-RIDDLED SENIOR SEASON
By Colter Nuanez (March 11, 2020)
Jerrick Harding – not Damian Lillard or any of the other legends to come through Weber State – holds the all-time scoring record for the Wildcats.
“Although he has been hurting, Harding has not stopped scoring the ball at a historic rate. Harding is averaging 23.2 points per game in league play and 22.2 points per game overall, both marks that rank among the Top 25 scoring seasons in terms of average in the history of the league.
With at least three games remaining in his college career, he needs just six more points to join the 600-point club in a single season for the third time in his career. If he scored 89 more points, he would break into the Top 25 single-season scoring totals in league history.”
ALLEN PLAYING FOR MORE THAN HIMSELF IN FINAL SEASON AT IDAHO
By Colter Nuanez (March 11, 2020)
As Idaho basketball fell off precipitously in the last years of the 2010s, Trevon Allen, a silky scorer who grew up on the Nez Perce Reservation, carried the torch.
“Allen grew up in Lapwai, Idaho on the Nez Perce Reservation nestled along the Idaho panhandle surrounded by many who shared his love of hoops. When the second generation Vandal arrived at the University of Idaho, following in his father Allen’s footsteps but in basketball instead of football, UI decided to institute a Native American heritage night as a celebration of Allen’s roots and commitment to the program.
Four years after the inaugural celebration of indigenous peoples, Allen got a chance to play in front of a large collection of family and friends as a senior. On February 8, Idaho hosted rival Montana. Allen, who is one of the last men standing from the Don Verlin era in Moscow, had one of the greatest games of his decorated college career.”
NAME ON THE FRONT: MANUEL TAKES PRIDE IN REPRESENTING HIS ROOTS
By Colter Nuanez (March 12, 2020)
Sharpshooter Kendal Manuel had quite the career path – from Billings Skyview to Oregon State and then back to the Treasure State for two years with the Griz.
“At each of his stops, beginning by chasing state championships at Billings Skyview High School, continuing with a three-year stint playing for the Oregon State Beavers, a transfer back to the Treasure State and a stop playing for the Mozambique national team, Manuel’s infectious smile and quite yet noticeable drive have helped endear him to teammates. And his smooth shooting stroke has helped him achieve accomplishments both as an individual and with his teams.”
BIG SKY, NCAA TOURNAMENTS CANCELLED AMID COVID-19 PANDEMIC
By Colter Nuanez (March 12, 2020)
With Montana State and Idaho locked into the women’s title game and the top contenders in the men’s bracket getting set to take the court, the world stopped. COVID-19 would cause tragedy and change lives across the country. In Boise, people tried to take stock of the sudden upheaval.
“Montana State’s five seniors — Big Sky MVP Fallyn Freije, second-team all-league guard Oliana Squires, the center platoon of Blaire Braxton and Madeline Smith and starting guard Martha Kuderer — will not get a chance to play for the Bobcats again. The group helped MSU to 26 victories, tying a 33-year-old school record. Montana State won 17 games in a row to reach the Big Sky Tournament championship game.
One Big Sky official said if MSU had won the Big Sky championship game, the league champion would have an inside track on a seed as high as No. 10 or No. 11 in the Big Dance. Instead, Tricia Binford’s best team will be left wondering what might have been.”
ACROSS THE GLOBE: FREY LEAVES INDELIBLE MARK ON MONTANA STATE
By Colter Nuanez (March 13, 2020)
The senior profiles released after the Big Sky tournaments were cancelled in 2020 carried an extra tinge of sadness, as the players profiled would no longer have a chance to end their careers on their terms. That included Montana State point guard Harald Frey, the lefty point guard from Norway who became a Bobcat icon.
“On the afternoon Harald Frey played his final game at Brick Breeden Fieldhouse, Montana State honored the native of Oslo by playing the Norwegian national anthem before The Star Spangled Banner. As the tune played, Frey’s eyes welled with tears, the magnitude of the moment washing over him.
But the senior point guard was not the only one crying. Up and down press row, administrators, scorekeepers, marketing experts, most could not hold back their emotions. In the stands, fans at all corners of one of the oldest wooden domes in the country could be seen wiping their eyes.
A lefty with boyish looks who came to America to prove to his country that Norwegians in fact could play Division I basketball has left an indelible mark on the Montana State campus community and the city of Bozeman.”
WON’T BACK DOWN: PRIDGETT’S CONSTANT EVOLUTION TRADEMARKS MEMORABLE GRIZ CAREER
By Colter Nuanez (March 13, 2020)
Sayeed Pridgett was one of the most unique, fun-to-watch players of the Skyline Era – a 6-foot-5 point forward who was automatic in the post. Like Frey, his career ended without getting to take the court in Boise.
“As a senior, Pridgett has been one of the most important and diverse players in the league, picking his spots to take over games as a scorer while also serving as the best facilitating point forward in the conference. If Montana could have avoided a sweep the final weekend of the regular season, Pridgett likely would’ve earned Big Sky Player of the Year honors.”
BIG SKY MEN’S TOURNEY CHAMPIONSHIP — EASTERN WASHINGTON GOING DANCING
By Colter Nuanez (March 14, 2021)
Danny Sprinkle started breaking through at Montana State in 2021, taking the Bobcats to the conference title game — but they were brushed aside by an Eastern Washington team that went on to scare Kansas in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
“As Legans could feel the Eagles had a punched ticket to the Big Dance in hand, he pulled away from the scrum of his players, turned to the smattering of Eastern Washington fans on hand at Idaho Central Arena, passionately screamed to them, then twice more by himself before opening up his arms for another hug, this one with Montana State head coach Danny Sprinkle.
The Eagles are going dancing for the first time since 2015 thanks to a lightning-fast start and a gritty finish to outlast the upstart Bobcats, 65-55, in the Big Sky Tournament championship game on Saturday night in Idaho’s capital city.”
INTERNATIONAL FLAIR: IDAHO STATE’S STARS COME FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD
By Colter Nuanez (March 21, 2021)
The other Big Sky basketball champion in 2021 was similarly iconic – an Idaho State women’s team that featured starters from France, Spain, Croatia and Australia and destroyed Idaho in the conference title game. Before they played Kentucky in the NCAA Tournament, Colter Nuanez examined the Bengals’ international brigade.
“Idaho State’s core four come from all over the planet. And this season in Pocatello, the Bengals came together like never before, completing one of the great seasons in the perennially successful program’s history thanks in large part to the meshing of young women from countries as far as 8,500 miles away from Idaho State’s campus.
The brilliance of the cultural convergence came together in one moment earlier this month, fully displaying the singular unit this Idaho State women’s basketball has become as ISU punched its ticket to the Big Dance.
As confetti fell from the rafters of Idaho Central Arena, the Bengals celebrated a drubbing of a rival to extend a thoroughly dominant season during unorthodox times.”
JACK OF ALL TRADES: WHITE DOES IT ALL FOR MONTANA STATE WOMEN’S HOOPS
By Colter Nuanez (March 9, 2022)
From her very first year, when she ran the court for a Montana State team that was robbed of a Big Sky title shot by the COVID-19 pandemic, Darian White dominated in Boise. In 2022, the all-around point guard was at the very peak of her powers.
“To watch White pick up the opposition full-court or guard doggedly in the half-court or use her phenomenal explosion to break off defenders when she’s running the show offensively is a stark dichotomy to watching her carry herself off the court. The 5-foot-6 junior is demure and reserved when she doesn’t have a basketball in her hands and her constantly cheerful demeanor seems to belie the aggressive competitor she transforms into when she hits the hardwood.”
ELUDING GHOSTS: DECUIRE FINDS OWN PATH LEADING GRIZ BASKETBALL
By Colter Nuanez (March 10, 2022)
Travis DeCuire has been an ever-present figure in the Skyline Era, leading a succession of contending teams at Montana. Eight years into his now decade-long stint, Colter Nuanez profiled the man continuing the Grizzlies’ legacy of coaching greatness.
“And while he played for Morrill and Taylor, learned under each as coaches and also has experience coaching high school and junior college hoops on the West Coast, DeCuire knew right away he had to put his own stamp on Griz basketball when he initially took the reins.
“When I took this job, I wanted to do some things different and try to put a fingerprint on it that separates me from everyone else, as opposed to chasing the ghosts,” DeCuire said as he sat in the head coach’s office at the Adams Center, a room that’s adorned with trophies and nets and pictures and jerseys of the legends of the past.”
FINALLY GOING DANCING: ‘CATS EARN REDEMPTIVE CHAMPIONSHIP GAME WIN
By Colter Nuanez (March 12, 2022)
Two years after their shot at a Big Sky crown was taken away by the pandemic, Tricia Binford, Darian White and the Montana State Bobcats broke through by beating Northern Arizona in the title game.
“As the confetti poured down from the rafters of Idaho Central Arena, Blaire Braxton and Katie Bussey met in an exuberant embrace, Bussey the former shooting guard jumping into Braxton the former center’s arms as symbolic music echoed throughout the arena.
After a few seconds, Darian White interrupted the celebratory hug, turning the two-person squeeze into a trio of joy. Those close enough could see the tears in all of their eyes.
This celebration meant more than just the singularity of the moment. The Montana State women’s basketball team is going dancing. And that’s significant because of the accomplishment over the last months, but also because of the endurance of the last few years.”
PARTY LIKE IT’S ’96: SPRINKLE’S VISION COMES TO FRUITION, ‘CATS GOING DANCING
By Colter Nuanez (March 14, 2022)
Danny Sprinkle, one of Helena’s favorite sons, led Montana State to the NCAA Tournament as a player in 1996 before embarking on a West Coast coaching odyssey. Three years after he returned to Bozeman as the head coach, he led the Bobcats to the Big Dance for the first time since he graduated.
“When Sprinkle was first introduced as Montana State’s head coach on April 5 of 2019, he spoke his dream of the program he once starred for as a slick-shooting, smooth-talking guard from Montana’s Capital City into existence.
And on Saturday evening in Boise, Idaho, Sprinkle and the Bobcats completed their coronation as Big Sky Conference champions.”
MONTANANS IN MADNESS: WELCOME TO THE MOST UNIQUE BIG DANCE EVER (PART 2) (PART 3) (PART 4) (PART 5)
By Colter Nuanez (March 2022)
With the NCAA Tournament taking place in one location in 2021, Colter Nuanez set off on one of Skyline’s most-ambitious projects ever — taking in as many games as possible over the opening weekend during the unique event. A year later, Skyline published his five-part opus, a travel journal full of great basketball, new friends and – even half the country away – plenty of connections to the Treasure State.
“The attendance at the first-ever single-site NCAA men’s basketball tournament isn’t what it might be if not for a global pandemic. For a pair of Montana natives on site to take in a truly once in a lifetime spectacle, the scene is a bit overwhelming at first as we realize very quickly we are about to worship at the great tabernacle of basketball.
While basketball was born in Kansas, it’s a religion to Hoosiers, a fact instantly apparent as we begin a weekend with an itinerary that includes covering the best in the Big Sky Conference along with attending games featuring a few of the most successful basketball figures to come out of Montana since the turn of the 21st century.
Strange life circumstances aside, Indianapolis is a city that takes great pride in hosting events that draw visitors in from coast to coast. This weekend, one of America’s most central capital cities is abuzz for the first time in a long time.”
BOBCAT SENIORS ETCHED UNFORGETTABLE CAREERS DESPITE DISAPPOINTING FINAL BIG SKY EXIT
By Colter Nuanez (March 5, 2023)
Despite all technically having another year of eligibility, it was clear in the aftermath of a disappointing loss to Portland State in the 2023 Big Sky tournament that the game served as a requiem for Montana State’s highly-decorated senior class of Darian White, Kola Bad Bear and Madison Jackson.
“When the trio of MSU seniors were freshmen, they were the only three underclassmen in a rotation that included six seniors. That squad rolled to a league-record 19 conference victories and seemed a sure bet to advance to the NCAA Tournament for the second time in three seasons.
Instead, the global pandemic cost them a trip to the Big Dance, giving White, Bad Bear and Jackson new motivation as they grew older.”
THE TIE THAT BINDS: GFELLER LEADS LADY GRIZ INTO ANOTHER BIG SKY TOURNAMENT
By Andrew Houghton (March 6, 2023)
As Robin Selvig’s last years at Montana receded further into the past, the Lady Griz’s connection to their storied history faded. In 2023, the player most responsible for carrying on that legacy was Carmen Gfeller, Montana’s all-conference stretch forward.
“There are no players left in the program who intersected with anyone who played on the 2014-15 championship team, and only two who played with anyone who was on the team in 2015-16, Selvig’s final year coaching.
And given Sammy Fatkin’s jagged career trajectory – starting at Arizona only to transfer to Montana as a sophomore, sitting out the entire 2020-21 season only to come back to the team for her final two years of eligibility – the one player who now carries that legacy on her shoulders, the Lady Griz’s strongest link back to the past, is Gfeller, the fifth-year senior from Colfax, Washington.”
RUNNING IT BACK: BOBCATS HAVE REVELED IN REPEAT BIG SKY TITLE QUEST
By Colter Nuanez (March 7, 2023)
A year after climbing the mountain to the Big Sky championship, Danny Sprinkle’s Montana State Bobcats quickly adapted to the role of top contenders.
“Montana State entered the season with a target on their backs, and that target is as big on the formidable back of Jubrile Belo as anyone in recent memory in the Big Sky. The 6-foot-9, 250-pound Belo is bigger and stronger than pretty much every player in the league, which leads to unique treatment from officials, bespoke game plans from opposing defenses and sky-high expectations internally and externally.
After all, Shaquille O’Neal and Wilt Chamberlain always had to live up to their larger than life powerful reputations. Despite his formidable power, Belo remains about the ultimate prize, Sprinkle said.
“We could win it again and Jubrile would want to run it back. That’s just the type of kid he is,” Sprinkle said.”
BOOMER BANNAN: AUSSIE GRIZ CHASES DREAMS WHILE STANDING OUT FOR UM
By Andrew Houghton (March 8, 2023)
Josh Bannan, an industrious, awkward-looking post when he arrived at Montana from Australia’s highly-regarded youth development pipeline, embraced the offseason grind and turned himself into a modern power forward and Grizzlies’ highest-producing player.
“Now a junior, Bannan’s year-round work over the three years he’s been at Montana hasn’t just grown his game – it’s completely transformed it, turning him into one of most unique players in the league and the focal point of a re-made Griz roster.
Once a rugged rebounder and low-post banger, he’s evolved over the last two offseasons, methodically targeting the weak spots in his game and molding himself into a devastatingly versatile new-age power forward who’s capable of bringing the ball up the floor, stepping out to hit 3-pointers or orchestrating the offense from the high post.
The focus of his offseason work is clearly evident in his stats, the residue of summer workouts as distinct a visual signature in his statline as his corkscrewing, low-slung lefty jumper, released a beat after the apex of his jump, is on the court.”
POINT PERFECTION: CONFERENCE MVP DEAN LEADS UNORTHODOX HORNETS TO CONFERENCE TITLE GAME
By Andrew Houghton (March 8, 2023)
Mark Campbell’s two-year experiment at Sac State was fascinating to follow as the former Oregon assistant attempted to transform the Hornets into contenders with an extreme offensive philosophy. In his second year, he succeeded, with point guard Kahlaijah Dean putting up unbelievable offensive stats and Sac making the NCAA Tournament.
“Dean, who was named the Big Sky Conference MVP late last week, is the latest evolution of a team-building strategy that wouldn’t have been possible even 10 years ago – a lab experiment playing out in real time.
Campbell, who was a long-time assistant coach at Oregon and was instrumental in recruiting Sabrina Ionescu and Satou Sabally to Eugene, has used the transfer portal to try to speed-run the Hornets into contention, starting with Natabou and Tillman and continuing this year with Dean.”
FOR HIS PEOPLE: BATTLE IS LONE NATIVE AMERICAN MAN PLAYING IN BIG DANCE
By Colter Nuanez (March 16, 2023)
After RaeQuan Battle led Montana State to its second-straight Big Sky title, Colter Nuanez profiled the sky walking star from the Tulalip Tribe in a poignant, emotional story that’s one of the finest pieces put on Skyline in recent years.
“As Battle takes the court for his second NCAA Tournament contest, he represents something much bigger than himself. He is not only an ambassador for his tribe and his people, he’s an advocate and icon for Native peoples across the Northwest and across America.
According to NDN Sports, the leading resource for Native America sports news and stories, Battle is the lone male Native American playing in this year’s Big Dance.
Battle has not only embraced the pressure that comes from emerging from the reservation into the Division I spotlight; he’s also done it in Montana, a state that boasts seven Indian Reservations and a rich history of Native American basketball.”
MONTANA STATE FALLS TO K-STATE IN NCAA TOURNAMENT, 77-65
By Andrew Houghton (March 18, 2023)
Although we didn’t know it at the time, Battle’s time at Montana State – and Sprinkle’s as well – ended with a first-round loss in the NCAA Tournament. Andrew Houghton was in Greensboro, North Carolina, to cover the game.
“RaeQuan Battle, back straight as a plumb line, rose above Kansas State’s defense for another dead-eye jumper, then turned to shush the Wildcats’ bench.
A year after losing their first-round NCAA Tournament game 97-62 to Texas Tech, the Montana State Bobcats – and especially Battle – left a much stronger impression of themselves at the Big Dance.
Against another 3-seed from the Big 12, though, it wasn’t quite enough in a 77-65 loss to Kansas State at the Coliseum in Greensboro on Friday night.
Battle finished with 26 eye-catching points, launching off the floor to get his jump shot away like a space shuttle headed for orbit. But Kansas State answered every Montana State punch in the second half, letting the Bobcats close to within single digits multiple times but never closer than four points.”
WEBER STATE SENDS JONES AND SENIORS OUT IN STYLE WITH BLOWOUT WIN OVER NAU
By Andrew Houghton (March 2, 2024)
Weber State’s physical forward Dillon Jones turned himself into an NBA prospect over his four years in college. Andrew Houghton went to Ogden to witness the final two home games of his decorated career.
“With his rare productiveness, his bullying style and his decision to stay at Weber State after drawing NBA interest last season, Jones has crafted a truly unforgettable career with the Wildcats.
In front of 5,681 fans who braved a late-winter snowstorm to mark the occasion, Jones and his fellow seniors Steven Verplancken and KJ Cunningham went out with a win as Weber State stifled NAU in the second half.”
AVALANCHE HOOPS: ‘CATS BLITZ GRIZ, MAKE BIG DANCE FOR 3RD STRAIGHT YEAR
By Colter Nuanez (March 14, 2024)
After two straight titles, Danny Sprinkle left Montana State for Utah State, and first-year head coach Matt Logie went just 14-17 before the Big Sky tournament. But in Boise, the Bobcats ripped off three straight wins – burying both Weber State and Montana with second-half runs – and the tournament ended with the familiar image of MSU on top.
“But nobody thought Logie would be cutting down the nets here at Idaho Central Arena after his first Big Sky Conference tournament after a tumultuous first season that started with one of the most challenging rebuilds in all of college basketball. It’s even more wild when one considers Montana State basically didn’t have a team when former head coach Danny Sprinkle bolted for the Mountain West Conference.
As confetti poured from the rafters of the arena usually inhabited by the Idaho Steelheads hockey team, and Logie’s team celebrated as exuberantly as any in this tournament’s nine-year history being played at a neutral site, a wide-eyed, almost stunned Logie stood with Big Sky Conference media personality Alex Eschelman waiting to do his post-game interview.”
FORD III MORPHS INTO SUPERMAN, LEADS ‘CATS BACK TO BIG DANCE FOR THIRD YEAR IN A ROW
By Andrew Houghton (March 14, 2024)
The Bobcats’ latest Big Sky title run was driven by Robert Ford III, a diminutive, soft-spoken point guard with a winding backstory whose passion, determination, skill and smarts made him the unlikely heart of an NCAA Tournament team.
“More than the numbers, he’s been an inspiring figure on the court, with his stature, his career path and his unceasing hustle combining to make him the perfect avatar of Montana State’s underdog personality in Logie’s first season.
Nobody in the conference hits the floor harder or more often than Ford, who’s never afraid to throw his 6-foot, 180-pound frame into a mess of bigger bodies in the paint to grab a rebound or spin in a tough layup. On defense, his quick feet and gunfighter’s hands – some of the fastest I’ve ever seen – make him a constant menace, picking opposing point guards, lurking behind bigs to steal their offensive rebounds, apparating into passing lanes and being first to the floor to secure any loose balls his activity creates. He had four or more steals in 13 games, including the Bobcats’ two final contests at the conference tournament.”
