About

Griz Greats: The Coaching Tree brought to you by Blackfoot Communications is an interview series hosted by Ryan Tootell and Colter Nuanez from ESPN Missoula. University of Montana basketball has an illustrious reputation for producing some of the best college basketball coaches that the game has ever seen, and it can be traced back to legendary Michigan State head men's basketball coach Jud Heathcote, who got his first college head coaching job at the University of Montana. The coaches that have followed him have gone on to make their own significant marks in college basketball at places like Stanford, Old Dominion, and Utah to name a few. Ryan and Colter sat down with every Montana head men's basketball coach who followed Jud Heathcote to talk about what makes Montana basketball and Missoula special. Bonus episodes include interviews with some former Montana basketball players and other significant influences on the program. The first episode will be released on Wednesday, January 15th with Jim Brandenburg, who coached the University of Montana men's basketball team from 1976-1978 before leaving to take the head job at the University of Wyoming in Laramie. After that, new episodes will be released every Tuesday evening with bonus episodes dropping on Fridays.