Program shapers: All-time great senior class focused on and off the court

By Glenn Junkert
For GoGriz.com

Ahmaad, Bobby, Jamar and Mike. Record-setters. Pacemakers. Teammates.

These four 2019 Montana Grizzly hoopers – Ahmaad Rorie, Bobby Moorehead, Jamar Akoh and Michael Oguine – have distinguished themselves as senior leaders for one of the dominant, record-setting teams in Montana basketball history.

The team's final conference game of 2019 – a masterful 86-68 dismantling of Sacramento State – locked up a second consecutive Big Sky Conference title. The Grizzlies followed that win up with three wins in Boise, Idaho, repeating as Big Sky tournament champs, as well.

Previous teams to waltz back-to-back were the 1991 (coach Stew Morrill) and 1992 (coach Blaine Taylor) teams and the 2012-13 teams, coached by Wayne Tinkle. Current coach Travis DeCuire notched the distinction of being both a playing member of the 1991-92 team, and as coach of the current back-to-back champs.

Montana has a rich history, with 12 regular-season conference championships, 11 tournament titles and 12 NCAA tournament berths, but consider some of the notable statistics from the past four seasons.

Back-to-back Big Sky Conference regular-season and tournament champions, becoming the fifth program in league history to win both titles in consecutive seasons.
An impressive 89-44 record over four seasons, the second-most wins ever over a four-year period.
The best two-year stretch in school history, in terms of wins, posting 52 since the start of last season. The Grizzlies have won 26 games each of the past two seasons, tied for the third-most wins ever in a single season.
An appearance in three Big Sky tournament championships games (2016, 2018 and 2019), winning it all in 2018 and 2019
Back-to-back NCAA tournament appearances, in addition to a 2016 CBI berth vs. Nevada.

A 13-game winning streak in 2018 (second-best in school history), including a school-record seven consecutive road wins.
A 20-game home winning streak. Overall, Montana has won 26 of its past 28 home games and has averaged more than 4,000 fans each of the past two years, better than three Pac-12 schools.

The winning style has been a masterpiece of teamwork.

Though it seems hard to believe, no Grizzly ranks in the top five in Big Sky play for scoring or assists. No player ranks in the top 10 for steals or even top 15 for rebounding.

As a team, however, Montana has been simply dominant. The Griz have a league-best +9.8 scoring margin, also ranking first for rebounding margin, field-goal percentage and three-point shooting. Overall, Montana ranks in the top three for 14 of 21 statistical categories.

The Grizzlies have not relied upon individual feats or conference-best performances. Instead, their style has been a trademark of shared effort, often one where four or five players score in double figures.

Individual career stats are another story. Both Oguine and Rorie stepped into Montana's record books by surpassing 1,500 career points last month. They are two of just nine Grizzlies ever to reach that mark, and the only set of teammates to both be at that threshold at the same time.

Rorie is one of 16 active players across the entire country with 1,500 career points and 400 assists. His career 2.10 assist-to-turnover ratio is the 18^th-best in the nation. In addition to his scoring, Oguine is one of six active players across the entire country to boast 1,500 career points, 600 rebounds and 150 steals. He ranks third in school history for steals. Meanwhile, Moorehead, with his ironman-mentality, is a school-record-holder for most career games played (133), never missing a practice.

Rorie last week was named an All-Big Sky first-team selection for the second consecutive year. Oguine earned his second all-conference honor to add to his 2018 Big Sky Championships MVP trophy, while Akoh was recognized in 2018 and would have repeated if he had stayed healthy. Moorehead, playing a less-flashy role of a stout defensive player, has been praised by the coaching staff as the league's best defender.

The on-the-court accolades are there, but so are the academic accomplishments. DeCuire often boasts his program's 100-percent graduation rate, in addition to the NABC Academic Team Excellence award in 2017 for a 3.0 cumulative GPA. It's evident that for all of the athletic success the senior class receives, their focus on earning their degrees is uniformly impressive.

Oguine is a three-time member of the Big Sky Conference All-Academic team. Rorie has already earned his degree (communication studies), while the other three will obtain theirs this spring – including two for Akoh.

All four seniors spoke highly of classes and professors they have encountered at Montana.

Akoh, who will graduate with two degrees – business management and business marketing – credited two influential professors.

"I took a digital marketing class taught by adjunct professor June Moore," Akoh said. "I really enjoyed her class. It really changed my perspective on business. A couple of years ago, I took a class by a really good professor, Jason Trish. It was an Excel class, and he really taught me a lot."

As a sophomore, Oguine was accepted into Montana's Davidsons Honors College and successfully accomplished all basic courses and requirements of the college. He also was counseled for a time by Montana professor Ashby Kinch, the associate dean for the UM Graduate School.

"Mike was recommended to me as somebody who might be a good Rhodes (Scholarship) candidate when I was the Rhodes advisor on campus," Kinch said. "I think the world of him. Mike's a talented, intelligent, and curious person who will do great things in life. It was a pleasure getting to know him, and a delight to watch him play his craft."

Oguine added that the curriculum put together by Kinch impacted his area of study.

"I started taking a broader scope of classes, and one class I took was a philosophy class, Intro to Ethics, from Dr. Soazig Le Bihan. She is a great professor. That was not a required class for me, but that class was a big help for me, and influenced my further studies here."

Moorehead will receive a degree this spring in business management. He spoke highly of business law professor Dr. Michael Harrington.

"It was a really hard class, but he really took pride in his teaching, and I really respect that when a teacher really cares," Moorehead said. "When a teacher really cares it makes you care a little bit more. He was always a big fan of our team."

Rorie received his degree in communication studies this past December. He is only the second member of his family – along with his mother, Rhonetta Thomas – to earn his degree. It was Thomas who Rorie credited for motivating him to earn his degree.

"It really all started with my mom, because she was the first one in my family who graduated."

Despite their accomplishments on and off the court, Montana's four seniors are not finished etching their stories into the record books. After winning the Big Sky tournament last week, Montana is now gearing up to face Michigan in the NCAA tournament.

"Our goal is day-to-day and game-to-game," Oguine said. "We just want to put ourselves in the best position to win every night we're out on the floor. It's not going to be easy, but if we're able to appreciate every game as we get to it, I think we'll be happy with where we are."

University of Montana Athletics

Program shapers: All-time great senior class focused on and off the court

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