Since making his debut as a Southern Utah Thunderbird in mid-November, Randy Onwausor has scored point at a rate rivaled by few in Division I basketball. A sturdy 6-foot-3 transfer from Texas Tech, Onwausor had scored at least 30 points five times and was the division’s seventh-leading scorer prior to his first game against Montana.
Onwausor had become the focal point of Southern Utah’s offense, scoring off isolations, ball screens, out of offensive sets and in transition. But midway through the Grizzlies’ win over the Thunderbirds, first-year Montana assistant Marlon Stewart noticed a weakness in Onwausor’s scoring ability.
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“In the second half coach (Marlon) Stewart noticed he really did not want to go to his left hand,” Griz head coach Travis DeCuire told KGVO Radio in a postgame interview. “ … We told (Bobby Moorehead) to just go ahead and side him, which is not typical of what we would do. He sided him and pushed him left and held him scoreless for a long period of time.”
The defensive adjustment helped Montana to a road sweep of the Thunderbirds and Northern Arizona that vaulted the Griz into a tie for fourth place in the conference standings with five games remaining in the regular season. Had DeCuire not highlighted his assistant’s acute observation, it would have been just the latest in a series of enhancements first-year assistants Marlon Stewart and Rachi Wortham have brought to the Montana bench to go unnoticed.
“Having guys that have known me long enough that can respond to my crazy ways is beneficial because when they go and communicate it to the team they have a full understanding of what I’m trying to get out of them and what buttons I’m pushing,” DeCuire said in early January.
With the regular season winding toward its conclusion, the fruits of DeCuire’s offseason decisions have already been realized.
“He’s just another voice telling us what we need to do, what we’re messing up on and what we’re doing great,” senior guard Mario Dunn said of Wortham. “I mean, the biggest thing I got from coach Rachi is energy. Everyday he is in there. Everything he does he does with a passion and that leads over to the team.”
Added senior wing Brandon Gfeller on Stewart, “Marlon is a very fundamentally sound coach. He emphasizes defense and rules. I think he has really worked hard to ingrain those habits into us.”
Wortham was brought aboard in early May to fill the vacancy created when former associate head coach Ken Bone resigned. Stewart was then promoted in late June after former assistant Jono Metzger-Jones accepted a similar position at UC Davis. The hiring of Wortham and the promotion of Stewart completed a turbulent offseason for the coaching staff that also included the promotion of Chris Cobb to associate head coach and the hiring of Jay Flores as Director of Basketball Operations.
While the shuffling of the staff raised questions within the fan base, it was intended to create a more cohesive group.
DeCuire’s relationship with Wortham dates back more than two decades, as does his connection to Stewart, whom DeCuire first met when Montana’s head coach was a high school basketball player at Seattle’s Mercer High helping out with a local basketball camp Stewart attended. DeCuire was also familiar with Stewart’s work from their days at California where DeCuire was an assistant and Stewart a video coordinator.
So when the two spots came open, DeCuire wasted little time in filling them with two personalities he knew would bring a new element to the program. Stewart, who served two seasons as Montana’s DBO, was well versed with Montana’s defensive scheme and even helped teach aspects of the Pack Line to the previous staff. Wortham had played for DeCuire in AAU and understood the coach’s personality traits and the system he wanted to implement in his third season at his alma mater.
He also brought an energy to the bench and the coaching offices that wasn’t always provided last season. Wortham is oftentimes seen on his feet and clapping, coaching, or encouraging players during games. His office banter with the staff members, Montana’s student assistants or program coordinator Julie Tonkin is endless. And the mentality he espouses transcends what is and what isn’t happening on the court.
“I think we always talk about what a great opportunity we have,” Wortham said in January as the Griz were preparing to head to Eastern Washington, where Wortham played for two seasons and was an assistant for four. “We’re playing basketball when there are other guys over there fighting wars. There are other people in the world that have struggle, they don’t have a rough over their head, they don’t have food to eat and we get to play basketball where everything is paid and we get to travel across this country. It’s a great opportunity. If we just keep that in perspective.”
Stewarts approach is slightly more scaled back than Wortham’s. A self-proclaimed morning person who grew accustomed to completing most of his DBO responsibilities before coming into the office, Stewart has had to readjust his daily structure. But his familiarity with the the staff has made for a smooth transition.
“I’ve always been one to listen just because of the roles I’ve had for so long,” Stewart recently said. “But I was pretty quick to step in in areas that I was confident I could have a positive impact on the program in.”
Wortham — and Cobb — have helped Stewart ease into his duties as a recruiting making daily contact with prospects throughout the Pacific Northwest and a few overseas. But while he has absorbed knowledge from the others on staff, Stewart hasn’t stopped sharing his deep understanding of Montana’s schemes and how to adjust them for Montana’s undersized roster.
Prior to his time at California and Virginia, Stewart was a student video coordinator for a similarly undersized Washington State team that used the same defensive system. His experience with that team gave Stewart some insight how to adjust what the Griz, who are currently leading the conference in points allowed, were doing.
“We’ve had to get creative with the size,” Stewart said. “Our team is a lot different. I think a lot of what we do naturally and with the basis and the kind of the blueprint, the skeleton of what we do has had to change based on our personnel.
“That part has been fun, but it’s been a challenge and a different experience for me in terms of obviously putting it into action.”
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Photos by Jason Bacaj. All Right Reserved.
