Montana hires Travis DeCuire as basketball coach

MISSOULA, Mont. (AP) — Former Montana point guard Travis DeCuire returned to the Grizzlies on Saturday as basketball coach.

“I am excited to have Travis return to the University of Montana and lead the Griz men’s basketball program,” athletic director Kent Haslam said in a news release. “I identified Travis as a very strong candidate early in the search process. The more time I spent with him understanding his vision not only for our program, but for the student-athletes he will mentor, the more impressed I became with him as a person and a coach.”

DeCuire set school career and single-season assists records at Montana from 1992 to 1994. He will be formally introduced at a news conference Monday.

His hiring is pending approval from the Montana Board of Regents.

DeCuire replaces Wayne Tinkle, who left to coach Oregon State.

DeCuire spent the last six seasons as an assistant at the University of California. Previously, he was an assistant to former Montana coach Blaine Taylor at Old Dominion.

He also was head coach at Green River Community College in Seattle for two years.

According to his biography, DeCuire 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. In addition, he has extensive experience in counseling with the Echo Glen Children’s Center in Snoqualmie, Washington, from 1996 to 1998 and with the Ryther Children’s Center in North Seattle from 1995 to 1997.

DeCuire graduated from Montana in 1994 with a degree in business marketing.

As a player at Montana, DeCuire earned All-Big Sky honors his junior and senior years. In addition to being a two-time team MVP, he set the school’s career assist record with 435 and the single-season mark with 199 in 1993-94.

He and his wife, Sabrina, have two daughters.

Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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