Montana reportedly hires former Cal assistant Travis DeCuire as coach

After losing head coach Wayne Tinkle to Oregon State, Montana has hired former Cal assistant Travis DeCuire, according to CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein:

DeCuire was part of Mike Montgomery’s staff at Cal before Montgomery retired, and he wanted the job with the Bears — even getting an endorsement from Montgomery — but it was given to Tennessee’s Cuonzo Martin. Now he’s going back to Montana, where he starred as a point guard and earned All-Big Sky honors twice before graduating in 1994.

Before his stint as associate head coach under Montgomery at Cal, DeCuire was an assistant at Old Dominion during a successful run for the Monarchs. Before that, he was the head coach at Green River Community College in Seattle.

DeCuire faces a rebuilding job, as star senior Kareem Jamar graduates and rising senior Keron DeShields has opted to transfer. Only two starters return, but both Mario Dunn and Jordan Gregory are good ones. Under Tinkle, the Grizzlies had become the class of the Big Sky, advancing to three NCAA Tournaments in four years between 2009-10 and 2012-13 (along with a CBI berth) and finishing no lower than fourth in the conference during Tinkle’s entire tenure, which began in 2006-07.