(Editor's note: University of Montana media release)
MISSOULA — Third-year Montana women’s basketball coach Brian Holsinger announced this week two promotions and two additions to his staff as the Lady Griz move within a month of their opening game of the season in early November.
Nate Harris, who has been with Holsinger since his first month on the job, has been elevated from assistant to associate head coach. Joslyn Tinkle, also with Holsinger from the start, has added the role of recruiting coordinator.
Joining the program as assistant coaches are Lindsey Foster, most recently the head coach at NCAA Division II Academy of Art in San Francisco, and Tiffany Stubbs, who spent the last five years coaching high school basketball in Minnesota.
Harris, who was the head coach at NCAA Division II Angelo State before being hired by Holsinger, is entering his third year with the Lady Griz, his 17th as a college coach.
“I really appreciate his experience and his input. I have a lot of trust in him after two years,” said Holsinger. “He’s invaluable to our program in who he is as a dad, as a husband and how he treats the players and helps them grow. And then he just has a really good basketball mind.”
Harris has seen a bit of everything. He’s coached on both the women’s and men’s sides, from NAIA to Division I, from assistant to head coach. He’s coached in the Division II national tournament, the WNIT and the Division I national tournament.
He’s coached at Montana Tech, Fresno Pacific, MSU Billings, Montana State, where he was the associate head coach for two seasons, Angelo State, where he was the head coach, and now Montana.
“The timing wasn’t right (for the associate head coach title) when he got here,” said Holsinger. “Instead, he just did his job. I respect the humility in that. His experience is invaluable, so he’s earned it.”
Tinkle, who played in three Final Fours at Stanford under coach Tara VanDerveer and was a 1,000-point scorer for the Cardinal before playing professionally overseas, got her start as a collegiate coach when she was hired by Holsinger in the spring of 2021.
Her dad, Wayne, is the former men’s basketball coach at Montana and is now in the same position at Oregon State.
“Joslyn wants to be a head coach someday. Having the opportunity to organize and be a recruiting coordinator is really crucial in that development,” said Holsinger.
“She has proven to be an unbelievable relationship builder with people in general and with recruits specifically. Taking over the recruiting coordinator position will help her continue to develop toward her goals.”
Foster, who graduated from La Verne in 2015 after twice earning first-team All-Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference honors for the Leopards, already has eight years of college coaching experience.
She spent two seasons at Gonzaga as a volunteer coach and video coordinator, two at Saint Martin’s and three at Sonoma State as an assistant coach and associate head coach. She was the head coach at Academy of Art last season.
“I like her experience,” said Holsinger. “I think she’s meant to coach. I’ve really enjoyed her since she’s been here. She has a bright future.
“She was a head coach and when you’re a head coach, it’s on you, so she has a confidence to her in what she knows. In basketball and recruiting, she’s hit the ground running, which is what I wanted.”
Stubbs, originally from Ames, Iowa, played collegiately at Division III Northwestern-St. Paul from 2013-14 to 2016-17. She was three times named All-Upper Midwest Athletic Conference and was on teams that won 82 games as she totaled 968 points and made 211 3-pointers.
She coached three years at Concordia Academy, leading the Beacons to 55 wins and the program’s first-ever trip to the Minnesota state tournament. She spent the last two seasons at Southwest Christian. Last year she was named the Section 2AA coach of the year.
“I was looking for a young coach who shared the desire for relational coaching and for helping people grow,” said Holsinger, “and for someone who wanted to get into college coaching at the ground level.”
Enter: Jessika Caldwell, the head coach at Valor Christian in Colorado, who coached Haley and Macey Huard and has been friends with Holsinger longer than that.
He asked: Do you have anybody you’d recommend? She said: Do I ever. Caldwell has been mentoring Stubbs and told Holsinger he didn’t need to look any further.
“We talked two or three times and she was the obvious choice,” he said. “She is vibrant, has a ton of potential, loves people. I respect the relationships she has already built with our players. It’s been an awesome fit.”
Montana will make its public debut on Tuesday, Oct. 17, at 5:30 p.m. at the annual Maroon-Silver scrimmage.
The Lady Griz will host Saint Martin’s in an exhibition game on Nov. 1 before opening the season at home against Gonzaga on Monday, Nov. 6.
