BUTTE — When Adam Hiatt accepted the role of head coach of Montana Tech's men's basketball program in 2016, he wanted his lead assistant coach to be someone with deep roots in Treasure State basketball.
Derek Selvig fit the bill.
"I wanted a guy who was connected in Montana," said Hiatt. "And you're not going to find a name in the state of Montana more connected to the basketball world than the Selvig name."
A Glendive native and former Montana Gatorade Player of the Year, Selvig went on to have a standout career as a forward at the University of Montana during which the Grizzlies made consecutive NCAA tournament appearances.
HEAR FROM DEREK SELVIG:
He graduated from UM in 2012 and then in 2016 Hiatt reached out to Selvig — who had played overseas in Germany and also coached at Billings West — who accepted the assistant coach role with the Orediggers which he held for four seasons. During that span, Tech went from winning one conference game in the 2016-17 season to earning 10 league victories in the 2019-20 campaign.
"We weren't great those first couple of years but we had kids that played hard," said Selvig. "I think the biggest thing was just hearing from people in the community that the program and the way the kids played was a little different from years past."
Then in the summer of 2020 he interviewed for the open head coaching position at Dickinson State in Bismarck, N.D., expecting to earn some valuable experience but not necessarily thinking he'd get the job.
"Kind of crazy how it all happened," he said. "Kind of went there expecting to get some experience out of an interview process. Kind of unbelievable and I feel very fortunate for the opportunity."
Like at Tech, he helped turn around a program and it culminated in the Blue Hawks winning the North Star Athletic Association tournament in the conference's final year before its teams joined the Frontier Conference this season.
He's now in his sixth year guiding DSU, and was in Butte last week coaching against his former team as the regular season nears its conclusion.
Selvig spent four seasons with Tech and said that there's a lot he learned in the Mining City and a lot of friendships he built that he's carried over to his current role with the Blue Hawks.
"It's just the people I met here, they're fantastic people," he said. "Just the way that people treat each other, it's something I've tried to take forward. The relationships you build I think that's the biggest thing. You get lost in the wins and losses and championships but the relationships are the one thing you have forever."
His time with Tech preceded the Orediggers winning four straight Frontier Conference regular season and tournament championships. But the work he did before heading for Dickinson State helped set the stage for Tech's future success.
"He was here during the foundation years and building the culture," said Hiatt. "He never got to see the fruits of all those efforts but he did from afar and he knows that he's as much a part of this as anyone else that's come through."
There are four games remaining in the Frontier Conference regular season and the Frontier tournament is set to run from Feb. 27 through March 2 at the Butte Civic Center. The top eight teams advance to the tournament. Valley City State (N.D.), Providence and Dickinson State are currently tied for that final spot with identical 5-12 Frontier records.
