Montana State’s search for a head men’s basketball coach continues to evolve with candidates coming to the MSU campus this week.
Tuesday night, Skyline Sports confirmed through sources with direct knowledge of the search that four candidates are in Southwest Montana for on campus interviews.
On March 17, MSU athletic director Leon Costello announced Brian Fish would not have his contract renewed after five seasons at the helm. During those five seasons, Fish went 65-92, including 42-50 in Big Sky Conference play.
“After a thorough review of the men’s basketball program, I met with Brian and informed him of my decision not to renew his contract; I also thanked Brian for his years of service to Montana State University,” Costello said in a statement issued by the school.
“This type of decision is always hard and one I do not take lightly. We are grateful to Brian for his dedication to Montana State University and the men’s basketball program. We wish Brian the best in his future endeavors.”
Danny Sprinkle, a former All-Big Sky guard at MSU and previously identified candidate, is on campus for an interview. Ryan Looney, the head coach at Point Loma Nazarene College who just led the Sea Lions to championship game of the NCAA Division II men’s national tournament, has also reportedly interviewed.
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Skyline Sports confirmed Xavier assistant Ben Johnson and Purdue assistant Steve Lutz are also on campus for interviews.
Johnson, 37, is in his first season on Travis Steele’s staff at Xavier after spending the last five seasons at his alma mater, Minnesota. He spent the 2012-13 season at the University of Nebraska.
Prior to Nebraska, Johnson spent four seasons at Northern Iowa from 2008 until 2012. Montana State athletic director Leon Costello was an associate athletic director for external relations at Northern Iowa from 2008 until 2010 during one of the greatest runs in UNI history.
During Johnson’s time at UNI, the Panthers reached the postseason in all four seasons, including a run to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament for the first time in school history in the 2009-2010 season.
That year, UNI won a school-record 30 games and upset top-seeded Kansas in the second round. During Johnson’s tenure at UNI, the Panthers boasted three First Team All-Missouri Valley Conference selections, including 2010 Missouri Valley Conference MVP Adam Koch.
Prior to his stay at Northern Iowa, Johnson served as an assistant coach for two seasons at the University of Texas-Pan American. He began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at the University of Dayton during the 2005-06 season.
Johnson started his collegiate playing career at Northwestern and played two seasons before transferring to Minnesota to finish his career. He was a two-time captain at Minnesota and finished with 533 points in 59 games. He scored a total of 1,202 career points in his four seasons of collegiate basketball.
Johnson, who was born December 23, 1980 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2005 with a bachelor’s degree in sociology.
Lutz, 45, has spent the last two seasons at Purdue, including a run to the Elite Eight this season that ended just last weekend. Last season, head coach Matt Painter and his staff including Lutz helped the Boilermakes to 30 wins and a berth in the Sweet 16 for the second straight year.
Carsen Edwards, who set an NCAA regional tournament record with 139 points to surpass Stephen Curry’s 128 points, earned All-Big Ten honors each of the last two seasons and All-American honors in both years with the help of Lutz’s tutelage. Edwards also earned the jerry West Award last season as the nation’s best shooting guard.
Purdue’s guards played a large role in the Boilermakers set a school record with 353 made 3-pointers while ranking second nationally in 3-point percentage (.420).
Prior to his arrival at Purdue, Lutz spent the previous seven seasons at Creighton. He helped the Bluejays to four NCAA Tournament appearances, a pair of conference tournament championships and a regular-season conference title. Creighton won a school-record 29 games in 2011-2012 season on the way to a Missouri Valley crown.
According to the Purdue athletics website, Lutz’s recruiting efforts were central in the Bluejays landing five-star center Justin Patton in the fall of 2015 as well as All-Big East guard Marcus Foster (Kansas State transfer).
Lutz also played a role in helping develop 2014 National Player of the Year Doug McDermott, a consensus first-team All-American and winner of the Wooden, Naismith, Associated Press, NABC, USBWA and Sporting News Player of the Year accolades. McDermott ended his Creighton career, the first four years that Lutz was in Omaha, as 1 of 3 players in college basketball history with 3,000 points and 1,000 rebounds while setting an NCAA record with 135 double-figure scoring games.
Lutz serves as the recruiting coordinator at Creighton and SMU before that. He began his 22-year career with four seasons at Incarnate Word in his hometown of San Antonio, Texas followed by a season at Garden City (Kansas) Community College and six years at Stephen F. Austin. He was also the recruiting coordinator at SFA.
His teams have totaled a 416-246 record for a .628 winning percentage.
Lutz played basketball for three seasons at Texas Lutheran and served as the team captain as a senior. He earned his undergraduate degree from Texas Lutheran in 1995 and his M.Ed., at Incarnate Word in 1997. Lutz played one season at Ranger Junior College prior to his arrival at Texas Lutheran.
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