Montana men's basketball coach Wayne Tinkle is content where he is.
The Grizzlies' coach, who met with Fresno State at the end of March about the team's vacant head coaching position, opted to return for his sixth season at the helm of his alma mater.
"The people we have here and the team we know we have coming back kept me here," Tinkle said.
Tinkle is set to make a base salary of $122,596 for the 2010-2011 season, the final year of his contract, but school administrators hope to have him around longer than that. Montana Athletic Director Jim O'Day said the school is looking at signing Tinkle on for another three-year deal. A contract could be finalized by the end of the year, O'Day said.
"We'd like to have something by the end of the academic year but [discussions] could last through the end of the fiscal year," O'Day said.
A move to Fresno State, whose coach, Steve Cleveland, stepped down after a 14–17 season, would have moved Tinkle into the Western Athletic Conference for the 2010-2011 season. But the Bulldogs had agreed to join Mountain West the following year, a move that sparked Tinkle's interest in the opening, he said.
Tinkle served as an assistant under three head coaches before taking over the reins for the Griz. Prior to his coaching resume, Tinkle was a standout forward for the Griz from 1985-89 and is still among the school's career leaders in points and rebounds.
Qvale competes in tournament for NBA scouts
After impressing Big Sky Conference fans and players alike during his career at Montana, Brian Qvale attempted to do the same with NBA scouts last week.
Montana's center was one of 64 college basketball senior stars competing at the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament last week in Portsmouth, Va., in front of scouts from all 30 NBA teams and various overseas organizations.
The PIT is organized by the NBA as a showcase of future talent and is the oldest amateur basketball tournament in the country. The four-day tournament, which played out April 6-9, included eight teams of eight players each.
Qvale's team fell in the third-place game, its third contest of the tournament. In the three games, Qvale averaged seven points and better than five rebounds in 23 minutes. The 6-foot-11 North Dakota native put up a 10-rebound performance in the second game and also had 10 points in another match.
The PIT is the first of two NBA pre-draft camps and generally has a few NBA draft picks, most coming in the second round. The NBA draft will take place in June.
Griz assistant Hill interviews with Utah for same position
The hire of former Montana head basketball coach Larry Krystkowiak at the University of Utah may lure Montana's current assistant coach to the Beehive State.
Assistant coach Andy Hill met with Krystkowiak regarding the same position with Utah last week as the new Utes coach attempts to fill in his staff. Krystkowiak will lead a Utah team making the transition from the Mountain West Conference to the revamped Pacific-10 Conference.
Hill has served as an assistant with the Grizzlies for seven years, including two under Krystkowiak, current coach Wayne Tinkle's predecessor. The assistant coach's duties lean in the administrative direction, including game scheduling, camp coordinating and recruiting to go with on-the-court coaching.
"He and coach Krystkowiak have had a good relationship over the years," Tinkle said of Hill. "And Utah's move to the new Pac-12 could be a good opportunity."
Though Tinkle said no decisions had been made, Hill's nameplate on his office door in the Adams Center had been removed as of Monday. In its place was the name of the team's graduate assistant coach Kurt Paulson, hand-written on a piece of paper.