Reese leads Montana All-Big Sky selections

The University of Montana placed a total of 13 players into 14 All-Big Sky positions, and offensive tackle David Reese took home first team all-conference honors the league announced Tuesday.

In addition to Reese's first team accolades, the Grizzlies placed four players on the All-Big Sky second team, three on the third team and received six honorable mentions.

Reese followed up on his preseason All-Big Sky award with a first-team selection after earning second team all-conference honors in 2016. The 6-foot-7 senior from Happy Valley, Ore., has been a mainstay on Montana's offensive line since his freshman year, making 46-straight starts since 2014.

Sophomore Jerry Louie-McGee earned a pair of all-conference honorable mentions as both a wide receiver and a return specialist. This is Louie-McGee's second-straight season earning an all-conference honorable mention after a record-breaking freshman year that saw him finish seventh in the voting for the STATS FCS Jerry Rice Award.

Montana's defense led the way on the All-Big Sky second team. The Grizzlies finished the season with three of the top four conference leaders in tackles-for-loss, and all three were named second team all-conference performers.

Seniors Tucker Schye and James Banks tied for the most TFLs in the Big Sky this season and the twenty-third most in the nation with a total of 15.5.

Schye, a defensive end from Malta, Mont., finished his career with 26 TFLs, placing him in in the top-20 all-time leaders in Montana history.

Banks, a linebacker from Junction City, Ore., also led the league in tackles this season, averaging 10.1 per contest for a total of 111 takedowns. As a two-year starter, Banks totaled 154 career tackles.

Josh Buss, a finalist for the STATS FCS Buck Buchanan Award for national defensive player of the year and two-time Grizzly defensive MVP, was also a second-team All-Big Sky performer this season. Buss, a junior for Boise, finished the year with the fifth-most tackles in the league, and the fourth-most TFLs.

Sophomore linebacker Dante Olson is the two-time winner of Montana's Hauck Family Special Teams Player of the Year award, leading the Griz in special teams tackles this season and blocking a kick against Northern Colorado.

Third team All-Big Sky honorees included sophomore kicker Brandon Purdy who posted the nation's third-best field goal percentage this year at 88.2 percent. Purdy, a Kalispell native, went 15-17 on field goals and made 44 of 47 PAT attempts for a personal haul of 89 points.

Purdy's 89 points place him on Montana's top-25 list of top scorers in a single season at 22.

Senior Connor Strahm earned third team all-conference honors after playing in only nine games this season, giving all three of UM's starting linebackers an All-Big Sky nod. In that short time, Strahm averaged the third-most tackles per-game and earned a ROOT Sports Big Sky Defensive Player of the Week award with 16 tackles against Northern Arizona.

Strahm was also named to the All-Big Sky third team in 2015 as a special teams player.

Cornerback Ryan McKinley round out Montana's All-Conference team members after defending the 12th-most passes in the nation, averaging 1.4 per game, the best average in the Big Sky as well to land him on the third team.

Junior Keenan Curran earned an all-conference honorable mention after leading the Griz in receiving yards this season with 803, placing him among the top-25 receiving seasons ever at Montana. His career total of 1,548 yards also places him among UM's top-25 career receiving leaders.

Two more offensive lineman received all-conference nods, with seniors Robert Luke and Cooper Sprunk picking up honorable mentions.

Rounding out Montana's awards haul is honorable mention running back Jeremy Calhoun, who now sits at No. 5 on Montana's career rushing touchdown list with 25 to his name.

Montana is expected to return seven of its 14 all-conference performers in the 2018 season.

Montana Award Winners

First Team
David Reese – OT – Sr.

Second Team
Tucker Schye – DE – Sr.
Josh Buss – OLB – Jr.
James Banks – ILB – Sr.
Dante Olson – Special Teams – So.

Third Team
Brandon Purdy – K – So.
Connor Strahm – ILB – Sr.
Ryan McKinley – CB – Sr.

Honorable Mention
Keenan Curran – WR – Jr.
Jerry Louie-McGee – WR & Return Specialist – So.
Robert Luke – G – Sr.
Cooper Sprunk – C – Sr.
Jeremy Calhoun – RB – Jr.

Other Big Sky Awards
Offensive Player of the Year: Keelan Doss, UC Davis
Defensive Player of the Year: Taron Johnson, Weber State
Freshman of the Year: Troy Andersen, Montana State
Newcomer of the Year: Jake Maier, UC Davis

University of Montana Athletics

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Players Mentioned

James Banks

Josh Buss

Jeremy Calhoun

Keenan Curran

Jerry Louie-McGee

Robert Luke

Ryan McKinley

Dante Olson

Brandon Purdy

David Reese

Tucker Schye

Cooper Sprunk

Connor Strahm

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