BOISE, Idaho — What's next for the Montana Lady Griz?
After an unexpected Big Sky Conference tournament run that led them to the brink of a championship on Wednesday, the Lady Griz and UM's athletic administration must now decide who will lead the program going forward as its next head coach.
Related: Marah Dykstra buzzer-beater lifts Montana State over Montana for Big Sky crown
It's not certain whether athletic director Kent Haslam and the decision-makers at the university feel interim coach Nate Harris did enough to win the job. From the outside looking in it sure seems he did.
There's a outward sense that it has to be Harris' job now. He did nothing to hurt his chances.
Thrust into a difficult situation when previous coach Brian Holsinger took personal time from the program and later resigned, Harris and the coaching staff did all they could to galvanize the team amid the turmoil.
Under Harris, the Lady Griz went 7-7 in the regular season and 2-1 at the Big Sky tourney, and perhaps more importantly the players found their joy. And they nearly upset powerhouse Montana State in Wednesday's title game, losing only on a buzzer-beater by Marah Dykstra to be denied the league crown.
After the game, Harris was asked about his thoughts on the situation going forward.
"I truly think this is one of the best mid-major programs in the country, and I'd love to lead it if that's the decision that's made," he said. "I don't know. I'm exceptionally thankful for the time I got with this team and the time I got with with these young women, and it's not up to me to make any of those decisions.
"But I love the state of Montana, I love the city of Missoula, I love these kids, I love this program, and I would love to keep leading it. But again, those are decisions above my pay grade, but it's a proud program. It's a program that deserves to be playing in these games every single year, and yeah, I'd love to be a part of that."
Whoever takes the reins will be next in a succession that has seen four coaches lead the program since legend Robin Selvig retired following the 2015-16 season. Selvig led the Lady Griz to 21 appearances in the NCAA tournament. They haven't been to one since his departure.
Harris, who was born in Sidney and raised in Ronan, will be closely considered, certainly. Other candidates? It's hard to say.
One option could very well be well-known former Lady Griz player Jordan Sullivan (now MacIntyre), who is an assistant coach and co-recruiting coordinator at Utah. She's also, by the way, Selvig's niece.
But we'll see if Montana casts a wide net in its coaching search or if it comes down to just a couple different applicants.
Under Selvig, Montana won 865 games with a .752 winning percentage and 17 Big Sky tournament titles in 38 years. In the nine seasons since, the Lady Griz have won at a .496 clip with no league championships. Harris guided UM to its first Big Sky tourney title game in 10 years.
MTN Sports talked to Haslam about the upcoming search, and he gave some insight into UM's thought process as it stands right now.
"We want to find somebody that understands the power of this program and the meaning of this program, and can build it in a way that's sustainable," he said, noting the revolving door since Selvig retired.
"Nate's absolutely a candidate for this head coaching job. You can't dismiss what he's done and what he stepped into. We can immediately see what he can do, and we can see how he interacts with everybody else. He's done an outstanding job. It would have been easy to just kind of quit, to roll over as a team and they didn't do that."
In the aftermath of the championship game, Harris and seniors Dani Bartsch and M.J. Bruno were still processing the swing of emotions at the end.
It was a Bartsch 3-pointer with nine seconds left that gave the Lady Griz a 57-56 lead. But it evaporated on a great individual play by Montana State's Dykstra to beat the buzzer and give the Bobcats the title.
Bruno, for one, gave a ringing endorsement for Harris.
"I'm going to be honest, the start of senior year was really hard," Bruno said. "Wasn't really sure what way it was going to go. And when things kind of hit the fan, Nate was the one that stepped up for us, brought a positive attitude every day, fought for us every day even when things didn't go our way.
"He never gave up on us. He stood by us. He believed in us even when other people didn't believe in us. And that is why we (were) here, playing in this game. It's because of him and because of our other (coaches).
"Nate is really humble. He doesn't like to take any credit. But we are this good, and we fought so much because of him and his belief in us, and the way that he backed us every day made us better every day.
"I personally am so blessed Nate let me have a good end to my senior year that I didn't think I was going to have. We're super lucky to have him. Whatever happens next, (the) program is blessed to have Nate as a coach."
We'll find out soon which direction Montana chooses to go.
