MISSOULA— Basketball season is back in Missoula, and the Montana Grizzlies officially begin their Big Sky title defense with a target on their back.
The Griz were picked as the preseason favorites to run it back and win it all again after winning the Big Sky and advancing to the NCAA Tournament back in March.
UM opened the season with a 106-41 victory over Northwest Indian College on Monday.
Watch the full story here:
"You're coming off of a championship and you return enough ammunition that people think you're still going to have a good team and then playing through expectation because that's the hardest thing to do," said UM head coach Travis DeCuire, who enters his 12th season leading the program. "I would much prefer to be picked fourth or fifth and have something to be mad about and not have to worry about motivating the guys to put in the work.
"So when you see banners and you hear people tell you you're good, you start to believe it. And so complacency has always been the one thing I've been afraid of and that's what the biggest thing we try to avoid. So we just find new ways to talk about things to get better at and show them every day what they're not good at, while patting them on the back when they make improvements, but just keep the hunger. And if we can do that, we'll be fine."
Montana's roster certainly has the weapons to do it again, starting with junior guard Money Williams, who was voted as the preseason MVP. The star guard shone as the sixth man for Montana down the stretch last year and now has the keys to the program.
"I feel very confident," Williams said. "The coaching staff believes in me, my teammates believe in me, and most importantly, I believe in myself that I can provide for this team at the point guard."
Williams is also joined by forward Te'Jon Sawyer, who was granted an extra year of eligibility thanks to the NCAA's junior college ruling, and returns to lead the front court.
"It's honestly great, I love teaching younger players because I know they look up to you," Sawyer said. "So you have to set like a standard, and it's been great, helping guys because I pretty much know everything in the system. So just them asking questions, just being like, showing that they want to learn, it actually inspires me more to teach."
From there, as is customary in college sports these days, there's a lot of new faces.
The Griz brought in eight new players to their roster, headlined by true freshman Kenyon Aguino, who has already turned heads in his short time at UM. Aguino arrived with plenty of excitement after he was the three-time Gatorade Player of the Year in the state of New Mexico.
Other transfers include UNLV guard Brooklyn Hicks, Colorado guard Courtney Anderson Jr., Minnesota forward Kadyn Betts, Chico State forward Trae Taylor and Citrus College addition and guard Tyler Isaak, and all figure to contribute immediately as the Griz figure out their roster and rotation.
"Just telling them you're here for a reason," Williams said of the new players. "You know, the coaches believe in you, we believe in you. Just buy into the culture and try your hardest. You know, nothing can beat effort and that's what they give every day."
But there's plenty of key returners too, including junior Amari Jedkins, sophomores Connor Dick and Chase Henderson and redshirt freshman Tyler Thompson, who all could figure into the mix on the court, as well as what they bring off it.
Starters in UM's opener were Williams, Isaak, Thompson, Aguino and Sawyer. Everyone who suited up got in the game as well.
"We returned six guys that understand what it is to be in this program on a day-to-day basis," DeCuire said. "The value of being in school and not having off-court distractions so we can talk basketball, the value of showing up every day prepared for film and learn from walkthroughs and conversations and understanding that those things are just as valuable as the sweat we break."
Last year's run was one to remember for the Griz, and the expectations are high once again as the page is now turned as they attempt a repeat run to the Big Dance and add to the program's history of the four previous times UM made back-to-back tournament appearances. That includes 1991-92, 2005-06, 2012-13 and 2018-19.
"It's definitely a standard here," Sawyer said. "The coaches preach it every day of how they want us to play and it works if we just listen and buy in, it all works. So, with the talent we got, I think we got a great shot."
Griz 2025-26 men's basketball roster in order by number
No. 0, Money Williams, JR, 6-foot-4, Oakland, CA
No. 1, Trae Taylor, SR, 6-foot-9, San Diego, CA
No. 2, Chase Henderson, R-SO, 6-foot, Des Moines, IA
No. 3, Brooklyn Hicks, JR, 6-foot-3, Seattle, WA
No. 4, Tyler Thompson, R-FR, 6-foot-6, Fairfield, CA
No. 5, Amari Jedkins, R-JR, 6-foot-7, Racine, WI
No. 7, Kadyn Betts, R-JR, 6-foot-8, Pueblo, CO
No. 8, Tyler Isaak, JR, 6-foot-4, Danville, CA
No. 10, Connor Dick, R-SO, 6-foot-3, Missoula, MT
No. 11, Grant Kepley, R-SO, 6-foot-4, Bellingham, WA
No. 13, Courtney Anderson Jr., R-SO, 6-foot-5, Vallejo, CA
No. 22, Luke Moxon, FR, 6-foot-3, Arcata, CA
No. 24, Kenyon Aguino, FR, 6-foot-7, Albuquerque, NM
No. 32, Te'Jon Sawyer, GR, 6-foot-8, San Francisco, CA
