BUTTE — When University of Houston head men's basketball coach Kelvin Sampson visited his old stomping grounds in August, he had a few parting words for Montana Tech's current head coach.
"One of the last things he said to us, he's like, 'Hey we'll see you in a few weeks,'" said Adam Hiatt at a scrimmage Wednesday evening. "And I open up my calendar and was like holy cow that's only six weeks away. It's come up on us really fast. But it's going to be an incredible game."
Coming off a season that saw the Orediggers advance to the national tournament for the fifth straight season and win their opening round game, Tech will open its 2026-27 campaign against Sampson and the Cougars at Houston's Fertitta Center on Oct. 15.
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"You don't get too many opportunities to go play a Final Four team every year," said senior guard Brayden Koch. "To go play a D-I team, it'll be a lot to come with but it'll be a fun experience for sure."
The Orediggers graduated all-conference forward Hayden Diekhans and Cam LaRance and brought in a handful of transfers including former Montana Western guard Alan Kane.
Last season saw Tech make a run at a Frontier Conference tournament five-peat before a miracle three-quarter-court shot at the buzzer from Rocky Mountain College's Omari Nesbit brought that to a stunning halt.
"Crazy ending to that one," said Hiatt. "One in a million shot but that stuff happens. But we felt like we needed to make some changes. We're really looking forward to this group. It's been an amazing four weeks of practice. Just the competitive nature of this group, the energy on a daily basis, the camaraderie of this group, we're really enjoying being with them."
After Houston, Tech will play six non-conference game before opening Frontier play at Montana Western on Nov. 27.
