DAYTON, Ohio — Montana State men's basketball coach Logie he pulled his son, Luke, off the court of Idaho Central Arena to embrace him after winning the Big Sky Conference championship in Boise, Idaho, last week.
"We did it!" Logie exclaimed.
"We did it, Luke! C’mon, Luke," someone shouted from the group of Montana State players crowding around Logie and his son.
Redshirt senior guard Robert Ford III then hoisted Luke onto his shoulder, as they both took in the glory of the third-straight tournament title for the Bobcats.
"It’s full circle, you know," Logie explained of sharing the moment of the championship with his family in his First Four press conference on Tuesday. "The life lessons you learn from this game and being a part of a team, I don’t know that you can have a better platform as a father than that."
Logie and his wife, Julia, have two children, their daughter, Addy, and Luke.
Julia and Addy sit in the row right behind the team during home games in Worthington Arena, while Luke sits at the end of the bench for every home game. He even found his chair in Boise for all three MSU games at the Big Sky tournament. Luke sometimes offers insight about a play that just occurred or says a joke that gets the whole team to smile.
It's 'full circle' for Logie because when he was growing up, he sat on the end of the bench and was the ball boy for his grandfather, Ed Pepple — a late icon in the high school coaching realm.
Pepple spent 42 years at the helm for Mercer Island High School in Seattle, where he won four state titles in eight appearances, was voted Washington State coach of the year four times and won national coach of the year in 1998.
"While he’s not with me today in person, I know that’s he’s with me, definitely felt his heart and spirit in Boise last week, and it’s been really special to pay a lot of those lessons forward," Logie reflected.
Pepple instilled values in Logie that the Montana State coach now uses as his philosophy every day — the team and the culture he’s made is all built on family.
"I’ll never forget turning around on Wednesday night and seeing Addison waiting to hug me with tears running down her eyes," Logie recalled. "You can’t do this job without your family’s support. They’re a part of this journey, they’re a part of this story, just as much as any one of these players."
A Bobcat family support and culture so strong it’s prepared him for the biggest stage yet.
No. 16 Montana State takes on fellow No. 16 seed Grambling State at 4:40 p.m. (MDT) Wednesday on TruTV.
