Jerry Olson takes over Panhandle State University as coach.

mslacat · Post by **mslacat** » Tue Apr 27, 2004 7:03 pm

I was in Spokane most of the week-end and missed this when it came around Saturday, but I did not see any mention of this here. So I thought I might mention it.

Montana State assistant men's basketball coach Jerry Olson resigned Friday to take a job at Oklahoma's Panhandle State University.

Link:

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/wire?sec ... id=1788748

Jerry Olson was a great recruiter for the Cats lets hope Durham can keep up the recruiting with out him.

Note to Durham how about a new assistant over 5-11.

BelgradeBobcat · Post by **BelgradeBobcat** » Tue Apr 27, 2004 9:30 pm

I did see that a couple of days ago. That's a pretty big change for the men's program. Who might Durham bring in? Scott Halter isn't too tall is he? How about Danny Sprinkle-cept' I think he breaks the 6' barrier.

BozoneCat · Post by **BozoneCat** » Tue Apr 27, 2004 9:35 pm

Coach Olsen may have been a pretty good coach, I don't know. I have heard only good things, though. However, I think this presents Mick with a HUGE opportunity to bring in a coach with some size who will be able to work with our big men. I think lack of said coach has affected our recruiting in a big way. If you are a big man looking for a school, don't you think you might look for a school that has a reputation of fostering big men and has a coach that knows the inside game from experience?! It will be interesting to see who Mick gets, but I think this is a great chance to improve the quality and depth of our coaching staff's abilities!

BTW, best of luck to Coach Olsen. I wish him well down in Oklahoma, I am sure he will do very well. Bozeman will miss him as a coach, but even more as a valuable member of the community.

mslacat · Post by **mslacat** » Wed Apr 28, 2004 9:13 am

In my snooping around the net over the years you have very often heard recruits mention Olsons name as a positive reason as to why they came to MSU. Truth be told I am not sure what other responciblities Olson had, but he will be missed.

As to a replacement, yes I would really like to see Durham hire a true big man coach, but I really think Durham is pretty blind when it comes to hiring coaches by height.

I would, though, recind my wish for a tall assistant if it was possible to lure Sprinkle away from Northridge.

KSCAT · Post by **KSCAT** » Wed Apr 28, 2004 9:21 am

Coach Olsen will be missed badly. He was our top recruiter without question. I've heard a few people within the program tell me that Olsen was a better coach than Mick. My vote for his replacement is Sprinkle without a doubt.

Helcat72 · Post by **Helcat72** » Wed Apr 28, 2004 11:23 am

Mine too!

mslacat · Post by **mslacat** » Wed Apr 28, 2004 11:32 am

**********************RUMOR ALERT********************

I hear from a rumor that the two hotest canidates to replace Olson are Danny Sprinkle and Brad Huse. Huse is a Missoula guy who's been the head coach at Jamestown for the last eight years and has a splashy record.

Helcat72 · Post by **Helcat72** » Wed Apr 28, 2004 12:04 pm

Didn't he play at Tech?

mslacat · Post by **mslacat** » Wed Apr 28, 2004 12:11 pm

I believe you are right Helcat72. Huse also had a brush with cancer right after he got hired at Jamestown and beat it and also won his conference that year.

mslacat · Post by **mslacat** » Wed Apr 28, 2004 6:08 pm

Sprinkle is VERY interested in the possition