Ahmaad Rorie in a game with Montana against Pittsburgh last season, left, and with Oregon in 2015.
Year: Senior
Position: Guard
Hometown: Tacoma, Washington
Pac-12 experience: Oregon (2014-15). Played in all 36 games, starting 15, averaging 4.1 points, 2.8 rebounds and 1.8 assists.
Against Arizona: During the 2014-15 season, he had seven points on 3-for-5 shooting in the UA’s 80-62 win at Eugene. He went 0-for-4 with one point in UA’s 90-56 win at McKale, and was scoreless in UA’s 80-52 win in the Pac-12 Tournament final that season.
McKale memory: “The first thing I remember was that that crowd wore all-red, it was sold out, good game, great atmosphere. I remember they jumped out to a big lead (24-13) and we had to figure out how to get things going.”
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How he wound up at Montana: In part because of a close relationship with DeCuire, Rorie initially signed with Cal but was released from his letter of intent after Montgomery retired. After Cal hired Martin instead of DeCuire, Rorie decided to commit to Oregon — only to watch DeCuire get hired at Montana.
A year later, the Ducks brought in well-regarded guards Dillon Brooks and Tyler Dorsey. Rorie said their impending arrival wasn’t a factor in his decision to leave. DeCuire was.
“I had already signed when he got the job at Montana, so I knew I had to play one season” at Oregon, Rorie said. “I had a pretty good season but after that season I wanted to go play for Trav, just being a little more comfortable with him as a coach.”
What he’s done at Montana: Rorie was a second-team all-Big Sky pick as a sophomore in 2016-17, a first team pick last season and was named the league’s preseason MVP pick this season. He’s averaging 17.0 points, 3.7 rebounds and 3.4 assists over his two-plus seasons in Montana so far.
“I wanted to win a (Big Sky) championship and we did that, got to the tournament. I wanted to make all conference,” Rorie said. “So everything I did was kind of real good. That’s the type of stuff I expected, with my training and my coaches letting me play my game.”
What he also found at Montana: “It’s just real outdoorsy. Lot of mountains and stuff. I never really grew up around that so I think it’s real cool, just living in a different environment. And fans here are really good. They like football and basketball a lot.”
