Montana checked all of the boxes for Blakney

When Scott Blakney graduated from the University of Idaho earlier this spring and was looking for a graduate-transfer opportunity to play his final season of basketball, Montana wasn't initially on his mind.

Truthfully, no specific team was, but he was open to any opportunity. The 6-9 forward began talking with coaches throughout the country, and wasn't ruling anybody out.

He just had a few simple preferences: A connection with the coaches. A winning culture. A good business school. A great, outdoors location. And the chance to develop into a professional player.

As his search progressed, and Blakney ran down his list of requirements, it became apparent there was a top choice.

"After a few weeks, I had narrowed my list down to five or six schools, but then it quickly became one," Blakney said.

A connection with the coaches?

"Pretty much every day I was getting phone calls from Montana," Blakney recalled.

A winning culture?

"Montana has historically been at the top of the Big Sky for a reason. Winning is so important here, and it has been a part of the culture for so long."

An accelerated master's degree in business administration?

"The program here is really good," said the four-time Academic All-Big Sky selection. "I got to do a Zoom interview with a member of the MBA program before I committed, and I think getting a degree from Montana can really help me in the future."

An outdoors, college town?

"I could totally see myself living here permanently someday. As an avid fisherman and hunter, it has everything I want."

Professional development?

"Every year, Montana is sending guys overseas to play professionally. The coaches have put guys in position to do that here.

"When I really looked at the big picture, Montana filled all of my boxes."

Blakney made his commitment to Montana earlier this spring and moved to Montana shortly after. Over the summer, he's been busy in the gym, building a connection with his new teammates while already growing his game.

When asked to give a self-evaluation, Blakney talked about his low-block play, his ability to seal deep and get to angles, and to score around the basket. He's already seen growth in his ability to draw doubles in the post and then kicking out to one of Montana's many open shooters.

He also prides himself in his physicality and toughness.

"As an outsider, when I would think of Montana I would always think of those two words, and I want to now be part of that," he said. "Montana always has guys who play hard and are well-coached, and respect their coaches. You see them pride themselves on defense, flying around, trapping ball screens.

"I'm super excited to get out and play with this group this year."

Speaking of his new teammates, Blakney seems to already be fitting in.

On the court, they're getting after it in summer workouts, and Blakney praised teammate Mack Anderson for taking him under his wing and showing him the ropes, both on the floor and in the weight room. Away from the gym, they're connecting, too, with Blakney recently having the team over to his apartment to watch the NBA Finals (Suns in 5, by the way, was Blakney's prediction prior to Game 2).

Scott Blakney fishing

The only hiccup, so far, is that more of his teammates don't fish.

"I've done a lot of bass fishing my whole life, but have really started getting into fly fishing, with how big it is out here," Blakney said. "Aside from basketball, it's my favorite thing to do and you can catch me on the river all the time. I'm surprised more of the guys don't fish, but Mack just got a fly pole, so I'm trying to get him hooked."

Playing in the Big Sky Conference wasn't a deciding factor in Blakney's decision, but it was a bonus, giving the Prosser, Washington, native a leg up on traditional transfers who are unfamiliar with their new destination and the opponents inside the league.

Blakney had spent the previous four seasons at Idaho. He knows the league and what different teams and players try to run. He's played in Dahlberg Arena, and in fact, his final game as a Vandal came against the Grizzlies in the Big Sky Conference tournament.

Blakney, by the way, scored 17 points and pulled down eight rebounds that day in Boise, perhaps an early audition of what he is capable of doing in Maroon and Silver.

Over his four-year career in Moscow, Blakney played in 101 games, earning 78 starts. Over his final three seasons, he averaged 8.6 points and 4.2 rebounds per game, and has shot above .500 every season of his career, including a .591 clip in 2020-21.

"He's a guy with size, experience and strength, and will allow us to defend and man the post position with depth, along with Mack Anderson, who has showed a lot of growth and maturity," head coach Travis DeCuire said of Blakney, following his signing. "We essentially spent two straight weeks preparing for Idaho, so we watched a lot of film on him. As soon as we saw his name in the transfer portal, we knew that we wanted to go get him."

Blakney can confirm the early interest, noting that the day he put his name in the portal, assistant coach Zach Payne reached out to him, and continued to show interest over the coming weeks.

"Talking with coaches across the country, I learned quickly that if they're calling regularly, and their head coach is engaged, you're a piece of what they're looking for. That was something that made it easy to zero in on Montana."

Blakney first started playing basketball in the first grade. It was his father, John's, favorite sport, so naturally, it became Scott's, as well.

"As a kid, you always want to hang out with your dad," Blakney recalled. "It was never pushed on me, but it was always around."

His favorite team was the Washington Huskies, and his favorite player was Brandon Roy, who Blakney still has a signed jersey of back home. He and his dad would watch every Huskies game throughout elementary and middle school, and would frequently watch them play in person.

By then, Blakney was starting to find himself on the hardwood more, as well.

"I grew super fast, super early," Blakney said, "so it was a given that I was going to play basketball."

Growing up, he was almost always at least a head taller than his classmates. In fact, he didn't play against an opponent taller than him until a tournament in Las Vegas in the eighth grade.

By then, Blakney was 6-4. A year later, by the end of his freshman year of high school, he was 6-9.

That's when he really started to take his future seriously, transforming from a 265-pound 16-year-old to 205 pounds in a mere eight months.

"I wanted to get faster and really give myself a chance to play at the Division-I level," Blakney said. "I lost nearly 60 points in eight months, and then was able to start adding on a little bit of the weight, but this time in muscle.

"I put my heart to it and my mind to it and really focused on being a Division-I basketball player."

The work paid off, leading to a scholarship at Idaho and plenty of playing time on the court. After the Vandals went 22-9 during his freshman season, however, they struggled to secure wins over the past three years, making this year – Blakney's final collegiate season – even more exciting.

"Knowing the buzz that's around Missoula for all Montana sports, that was huge for me, knowing there's that backbone in Missoula," Blakney said. "People here love the Griz and love to support us, and I'm so excited to play in front of them. This being my last year, I want to win a lot of games for them."

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