Montana knows its way around McKale Center with a little help from Arizona's former Pac-12 foes

The Pac-12 season still doesn’t start for another two weeks, but Arizona will get a preview of sorts Wednesday.

Montana (6-3) is good enough to significantly compete in the Pac-12, especially considering how woeful the conference has been so far this season. The Grizzlies also bring a distinct Pac-12 flavor into Wednesday’s game at McKale Center.

Standout guard Ahmaad Rorie spent a season at Oregon, while key reserves Kendal Manuel (Oregon State) and Donaven Dorsey (Washington) played two seasons in the conference. Then there’s Griz coach Travis DeCuire, who worked under coach Mike Montgomery at Cal for six seasons from 2008-14, including four years as as the Bears’ associate head coach.

They know the turf. And the overwhelming favorites to repeat as Big Sky Conference champions know they can play on it.

“There’s always expectations, when you’re coming off a winning season,” Dorsey said. “We’ve embraced them.”

DeCuire actually has more Griz blood running throughout him, having set the school’s assist record with 435 in just three seasons from 1992-94 as a player while being named All-Big Sky twice.

DeCuire was considered to take over for Montgomery after he retired at Cal in 2014, but the Bears hired Cuonzo Martin instead. DeCuire then headed to his alma mater.

The three Pac-12 alumni on DeCuire’s roster shared their stories with the Star:

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.”

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.”

Year: Junior

Position: Guard

Hometown: Billings, Montana

Pac-12 experience: Oregon State (2015-18). Sat out his first season with a broken leg, then started 25 games as a redshirt freshman in 2016-17, averaging 7.2 points and 2.4 rebounds. He averaged 2.6 points in 29 games last season. Over two seasons as a Beaver, he averaged 5.3 points and 38.4 percent 3-point shooting.

Against Arizona: He had nine points on 3-for-6 shooting from 3, and six rebounds in the UA’s 71-54 win at Corvallis on Feb. 2, 2017. He had two points and two rebounds in 11 minutes in the UA’s 62-53 win over OSU at McKale Center on Jan. 11, 2018, but was scoreless in the UA’s 75-65 overtime win at Corvallis on Feb. 22, 2018.

McKale memory: “Just the atmosphere there. It was a great time playing there and Arizona is a top-tier school as far as basketball goes, so it was fun.”

How he wound up at Montana: With his playing time having dipped last season, in part because the Beavers brought in Ethan Thompson, the little brother of standout guard Stevie Thompson, Manuel returned home to Montana despite a close relationship with OSU coach Wayne Tinkle and standout forward Tres Tinkle, with whom Manuel had played travel ball in high school.

“It was probably the hardest thing I’ve done to date,” Manuel said. “I mean, Tres is my best friend and we’ve been best friends since eighth grade. Coach Tinkle has always been like a father figure to me since I’ve been around their house. And mama Lisa (Tinkle’s wife) has treated me like one of theirs, too, so it was definitely hard to leave that and tell them I wanted to get a different opportunity but at the same time they welcomed it and were very understanding of my situation.

“I have goals and I’m trying to play after college, too, so I needed to be on the court to be able to have that happen. I just didn’t see that coming to fruition at Oregon State so I felt coming here would be a better opportunity for me.”

What he’s done at Montana: Manuel was initially expected to be sitting out the required redshirt season in 2018-19 but received a waiver to play immediately just before the season opened in part because he transferred close to home, he said. Manuel has taken advantage by averaging 20.2 minutes a game, scoring an average of 8.1 points and shooting 43.8 percent from 3-point range.

What he also found at Montana: “The snow. I haven’t been in Montana for over three years now, so it’s been an adjustment.”

Year: Senior

Position: Forward

Hometown: Lacey, Washington

Pac-12 experience: Washington (2014-16). He averaged 3.8 points while playing in 28 games as a freshman in 2014-15, starting eight games. He averaged 2.2 points while playing in 27 of 34 games as a sophomore in 2015-16.

Against Arizona: He started against the UA as a freshman in Seattle, with six points and two rebounds in the UA’s 86-62 win on Feb. 13, 2015. As a sophomore in 2015-16, he played just four minutes at McKale and did not play at all against UA in Seattle; the Wildcats won both games.

McKale memory: “I think the most vivid thing I remember was walking in and seeing the crowd. That crowd was huge. The whole crowd had on red shirts.”

How he wound up at Montana: With his average playing time having dropped from 14 minutes as a freshman to nine as a sophomore, Dorsey opted to leave Washington in 2016, a year before Huskies coach Lorenzo Romar was fired.

“I just felt I needed a bit of a change, just like to get myself right and the thought of having an extra year to work on my game while redshirting” was good, Dorsey said. “My old AAU coach, Rachi Wortham, coaches here (as an assistant) and I knew a bunch of the guys. It was kind good fit.”

What he’s done at Montana: Dorsey wound up spending two redshirt years after arriving in Missoula, sitting out 2016-17 as a transfer and last season after a benign tumor was found on the head of his femur just before practices began. Dorsey spent two months confined to a bed at his home near Seattle, then two more months in limited activity at home, then returned to Montana in January and gradually began practicing again in April. He’s averaging 5.3 points in 17.1 average minutes over eight games this season, starting two of them.

“I’m doing well now. It’s been tough,” Rorie said. “I’m just thankful to be there on the court and doing what I can to help. (In 2017), I had been in pain for about three to four months, and I just dealt with it, thinking if I got treatment on the area it would be OK. I came back to school after the summer and it was hurting, so the trainer said I needed an MRI. They did a biopsy to make sure it wasn’t cancerous and while doing that they removed the whole thing.

“It was pretty hard but I thank my parents and my family. They were always there for me. … I didn’t play the game for two years so it’s just relearning the system and getting that feel back. The game felt really fast when I got back.”

What he also found at Montana: “The biggest thing I like here is the scenery. It’s super-nice. It’s kind of next level. You have snow and everything but in the summer, it’s super-nice. It’s green. The mountains are beautiful. They’re vivid, and they’re everywhere. It’s really a good place to be. The people are really nice and they really support our team.”