Billings Gazette Article - Justin Wetzel

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From the Billings Gazette -

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Justin Wetzel likes coming to the office in the early morning.

With requisite cup of coffee in one hand, he might browse the Internet for a while. He’ll read the newspapers from around the state, check for any news about upcoming opponents or update information on potential recruits.

Currently, he’s helping set up on-campus visits this fall for the 2014 class of men's basketball players.

Wetzel might even make a few phone calls. No one works the phones harder than assistant basketball coaches.

It’s a quiet start to what will be another long day.

“You have to work hard in this profession or you won’t win,’’ Wetzel says, putting himself with the hundreds of college assistants across the country.

But sitting in an office at Brick Breeden Field House surrounded by quiet means a little more to Wetzel than his peers at other schools.

The 33-year-old Wetzel was hired by Montana State head coach Brad Huse in June.

The Cut Bank native had spent the previous five seasons at Montana State Billings.

“I looked at this opportunity,’’ said Wetzel of moving up to the NCAA Division I level. “I would want to be a Division I coach anywhere.

“And for this to be a Montana school and me being a Montana guy, as hokey as it sounds, this is unbelievable.

“The first time I walked into Brick Breeden Field House, it was, ‘Wow, I get to work here.’ If you would have told me 10 years ago I would have this chance, I would have thought no.

“It’s very humbling … all of those things. Especially being a Montana guy, this is kind of a special deal.”

And on many of the same days when Wetzel is the first to arrive, he is also the last to leave, long after the sun has dropped behind the mountains.

“I don’t want to let people down,’’ Wetzel said. “This is a small way to honor my family. My mom, dad, brothers, all sacrificed to give me this opportunity. Not giving my all would be cheating them.”

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Wetzel was the player always looking for a game.

A heady guard for Cut Bank High School — he graduated in 1999 — he was the guy who would drive to Augusta for a co-ed tournament, then head to Scobey the same weekend for another.

“I was always looking for a pick-up game,’’ he said.

But even when playing, Wetzel knew his future.

“I knew at a very young age, I knew in high school, I wanted to be a coach,’’ he said.

Wetzel played two seasons at Dawson Community College and was considering an offer from Valley City State in North Dakota.

But family, and fate, put him on faster path to coaching.

Wetzel is the third son of William and Grace Wetzel, all members of the Blackfeet Tribe in northwest Montana.

Times were not easy for the Wetzel family.

“We didn’t have a lot of money,’’ Justin Wetzel said. “A lot of people, where I come from, have it tough.”

Grace Wetzel, according to her son was a kind soul. Along with four sons, she had 11 sisters and four brothers. There was always a grandchild, niece or nephew in her arms.

“She always thought of others. I remember my mom spending her last 50 dollars to buy my basketball shoes,’’ said Justin Wetzel.

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Grace Wetzel also battled an addiction to prescription drugs. She was incarcerated in Billings at the women’s prison when her son was deciding his future after DCC.

“She was another reason I chose (to attend) Montana State Billings,’’ Wetzel said.

When Grace Wetzel was released, it was Justin who was there to take her home.

“As we drove back home, we had a talk,’’ Wetzel remembered of the emotional drive back to Cut Bank. “I told her, ‘You’ve got to promise me you’re done with this.’

“She gave me her word. She cried. I cried.”

Grace Wetzel died in an early-morning single-vehicle accident on Aug. 21, 2011.

Every photo the family had, she was holding a child.

Wetzel received a toxicology report at the end of September.

“It said she was clean,’’ said Wetzel. “It was the proudest moment of my life.

“She kept her promise.”

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Wetzel began his career as a high school coach in 2002 as an assistant at Joliet. That was followed by coaching jobs at Ryegate and Broadview-Lavina.

He then joined the Great Falls Explorers of the CBA in 2006 and got to work with former NBA player Scott Wedman as an assistant coach the next season.

In midseason of 2008, Wetzel became the head coach of the Butte’s CBA team. At 27, he was the youngest head coach in professional basketball.

“That’s the way we promoted it anyway,’’ he said with a good laugh.

Wetzel returned to MSUB as an assistant coach in the fall of 2008 with then head coach George Pfeifer. He stayed when Jamie Stevens took over the program in 2011.

In 2012, Wetzel helped the Yellowjackets win their first Great Northwest Athletic Conference title and return to the NCAA Division II national tournament in a decade.

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Vocal on the bench, Wetzel is the first to applaud a good play and the first to agonize over a blown defensive assignment.

“I’m pretty competitive, first and foremost,’’ he said. “I want to win.

“Practice is what I really enjoy. With the games, the hay is already in the barn. I like practices and going over scouting reports.”

Huse contacted Wetzel the Tuesday before the Memorial Day weekend about joining the Bobcats.

“We have a lot mutual friends. We know each other,’’ Wetzel said of the connection.

Wetzel came to Bozeman on a Wednesday and took the job later that evening. His last day with MSUB was on a Friday and on Saturday morning, he was officially a Bobcat.

“We started that weekend with camps,’’ said Wetzel. “We did team, individual and elite camps all within a one-week span.”

With no time to search for a place to live, Wetzel spent some time in the dormitories.

“I hadn’t done that since I played at Dawson,’’ he said with another laugh. “It wasn’t too bad, the school had a lot of conferences going on. But I had a whole wing to myself.”

He also lived out of a suitcase, traveling to St. Louis, Dallas and Las Vegas in July. Wetzel spent almost half the month sleeping in hotel beds.

“One thing about coach Huse, he said we’re going to recruit a certain type of player,’’ said Wetzel. “He’s going to be an academic-based guy.

“I’m kind of like the utility guy on the staff. I’ll help with some scheduling, recruiting and camps … a little bit of everything.”

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In May of 2012, nine months after his mother’s death, Wetzel showed up during children’s day at the women’s prison with some basketballs and T-shirts.

He put the kids through some drills and set up some games on a court located at the facility.

“We had a little fun. It was a chance to give them something positive,’’ he said. “Just a small opportunity to give back.

“I think my mother would have loved it.”

[SonomaCat]

I am now officially a huge fan of this guy.