Weird and awkward were the words Montana coach Wayne Tinkle used to describe what it has been like sharing his Missoula offices with coaches trying to recruit his daughter -- Joslyn Tinkle, ranked No. 9 nationally in the class of 2009 by Scouts, Inc.
When the calls from women's basketball powers Stanford, Texas, Duke, Oklahoma, Georgia, Cal and USC come in, Tinkle said he has to close his office door so the women's assistants don't hear him talking. Women's head coach Robin Selvig is Tinkle's good friend, and his 7-foot nephew,
Derek Selvig, is a redshirt freshman on the Grizzlies.
"All [Robin] wants is a fair shake," Tinkle said. "That's all he can get and all he can ask for. It will end up being who [Joslyn] feels most comfortable with."
The men's and women's program share administrative assistant Julie Tonkin, too.
Joslyn Tinkle, a 6-3 forward, averaged 7.2 points and 5.8 rebounds for the gold-medal winning U.S. Under 18 national team that competed in Buenos Aires, Argentina last month.
Tinkle's wife and Joslyn's mother, Lisa McLeod, is a former Lady Griz basketball star and can sift through the phony talk on the phone with coaches, too.
"They're all pretty smart when they call and skip the song and dance," Tinkle said of high-profile women's coaches like Stanford's Tara VanDerveer, Texas' Gail Goestenkors, Duke's Joanne McCallie and Oklahoma's Sheri Coale.
"They just get to the nuts and bolts," Tinkle said. "They all understand my job and understand if I can't answer the phone or email right away that they don't put a lot of pressure on me. They understand that I'm going through the same things on my own team. My priorities are the men's team."
Tinkle said academics are a big priority for his daughter, and if she wants to leave the area then Stanford or Duke could certainly be a major player in the decision.
As for his team, Tinkle thinks the Grizzlies should be back in Big Sky-title form next season. Montana took a dip last season, falling to 14-16 overall, 8-8 in the Big Sky. Tinkle went 17-15 in his first season after replacing Montana legend Larry Krystkowiak. Tinkle was an assistant to the other coach K when Krystkowiak's Grizzlies went to consecutive NCAA tournaments, including a first-round win over Nevada in 2006 (only the second time the Griz had won an NCAA game).
The Griz have solid bloodlines on the roster with the aforementioned Selvig, who shined in an appearance at the ABCD camp in New Jersey two summers ago but redshirted to add strength, and
Shawn Stockton, a 6-1 guard out of Spokane, Wash. Stockton is the nephew of former NBA star point guard John Stockton. The addition of Oregon State transfer
Jack McGillis, a 6-6 junior forward, 6-4 Eastern Washington transfer
Michael Taylor -- who played in the backcourt with the Detriot Pistons' Rodney Stuckey two seasons ago -- and the return of 6-11 sophomore
Brian Qvale from a high ankle sprain that limited him last season makes the Griz a formidable player in the Big Sky with last season's champ Portland State. Tinkle said Qvale and Selvig have pro potential.
• The Syracuse Post-Standard reported Monday that the judicial affairs panel cleared men's basketball players
Jonny Flynn,
Antonio "Scoop"
Jardine and
Richard Jackson of sexually assaulting a female student last fall. The paper reported that "the university put them on probation through the spring semester and ordered to perform 30 hours of community service on campus and participate in gender-sensitivity and domestic violence educational programs, undergo evaluation to determine if counseling is needed and stay away from the female student who no longer attends Syracuse." There was a concern among the SU staff that dismissal could have occurred, which would have obviously crushed the Orange next season. Flynn will be counted on to be the team's leader at the point.
• Patrick Beverley's ineligibility at Arkansas for the season means the SEC West is even more wide open. Ole Miss coach Andy Kennedy said every team in the SEC West has question marks. "There are a number of quality players returning but it's hard to project how the new players will do in SEC basketball," Kennedy said. He mentioned LSU, Alabama and Ole Miss as teams that return some key players but all will be relying on young players to contribute right away. The SEC West may be as wide open as it has been this decade.
• Realization hit Illinois State coach Tim Jankovich when he looked at the numbers of at-large bids for the NCAAs. There are 73 teams in the ACC, Big East, Big 12, SEC, Big Ten and Pac-10 combined. The number of Division I teams keeps growing, creeping up close to the mid 300s. "Only six (teams in the rest of Division I) received at-large berths last season, seven the year before and eight the year before that," Jankovich said. "So all you have to do is beat 260 schools to get in. If you're in one of those BCS leagues you just have to beat half your league. It's humbling, and it's motivating. The margin of error is thin if you don't win your conference tournament. It's an amazing number. It adds to the motivation and how tight and how small the margin of error is."
Illinois State finished second to Drake in the Missouri Valley Conference last season. The Redbirds (25-10) went to the NIT and lost in the second round at Dayton.
• Gardner-Webb coach Rick Scruggs is still getting mileage out of the Runnin' Bulldogs' win over Kentucky Nov. 7, 2007. Scruggs is speaking at the Kentucky High School association clinic in September. "I'm not sure if they're going to boo me or be glad to see me," Scruggs said. But that's just one event. Scruggs said recruiting has gone well for the Bulldogs the past year because of instant name recognition. "We don't have to explain who we are anymore," Scruggs said. "It gave us an advantage going into homes. So many people saw it on TV. It's amazing how many strangers will bring it up to me, still today." Scruggs said his autograph requests had quadrupled and now he said he gets recognized in airports -- which had never happened before in his career. Scruggs is looking for another magical moment. The win over Kentucky put the Runnin' Bulldogs in the Coaches vs. Cancer semifinals against Connecticut in Madison Square Garden in New York. The Bulldogs lost that game and then fell to Oklahoma the second night. Gardner-Webb finished 16-16. Gardner-Webb, which moved from the Atlantic Sun to the Big South this season, will play Virginia Tech, South Carolina, Oklahoma, Kansas State and Wichita State all on the road. None of those road games are as daunting as winning at Rupp Arena. "We'll see if lightening can strike twice," Scruggs said. "If I could just pick one game to get last year, then it would be the one we got."
• New Mexico State has decided against hiring former Connecticut, South Florida, and Long Beach State assistant and one-time Pitt forward Clyde Vaughan as an assistant coach. Vaughan resigned from his position at UConn after he was arrested in 2004 on a solicitation charge. That arrest continues to haunt him. Virginia Tech coach Seth Greenberg has long been a proponent of giving Vaughan a second chance, but Greenberg said he hasn't had a recent opening on his staff for Vaughan.
• An impressive coaches clinic is being put together at Manhattan College's Draddy Gym on Friday, Sept. 19. The event, organized by legendary Five-Star camp director Howard Garfinkel, has quite a lineup: Louisville's Rick Pitino, Florida's Billy Donovan, Memphis' John Calipari, former NBA coach Hubie Brown, St. Anthony High (N.J.) coach Bob Hurley Sr., and trainer Joe Stolzer.
Andy Katz
