MISSOULA — A familiar face in the Montana coaching scene is returning to the 406.
Lindsay Woolley, the longtime head basketball coach of the Montana Western women's program, has been hired to become an assistant coach for the Montana Lady Griz.
Skyline Sports first reported the news Wednesday afternoon, and a source confirmed the hire with MTN Sports. Woolley is still going through the hiring process at UM and the move has not been made official or announced by the school.
Woolley, a Missoula native and Big Sky High School graduate, returns home to the Garden City with the Lady Griz. Woolley spent last season as an assistant coach and the recruiting coordinator at Utah State.
Prior to his one year in Logan, Utah, Woolley was the head coach at Western for 11 seasons where he compiled a 215-129 record leading the Bulldogs. In 2019, Woolley and the Bulldogs reached the mountaintop as Western won the women's NAIA national championship — which was played in Billings — and Woolley was named the NAIA national coach of the year.
Before joining Western in 2012, Woolley spent the previous eight seasons as a men's and women's basketball coach at Miles Community College.
Woolley now returns to his alma mater to work. He graduated from UM with a degree in mathematics in 2004. Woolley also holds a Master's degree in health and human performance and physical education from Adams State, which he earned in 2012.
Woolley's addition to the UM staff is the latest in a number of coaching moves made by the Lady Griz program. Former assistant Joslyn Tinkle left for an assistant job at Pepperdine after spending three seasons at Montana. Tiffany Stubbs also left UM after one season as an assistant coach to become an assistant coach at NAIA Dordt.
Woolley's hiring comes after Montana announced the hiring of Emma List as an assistant coach on Monday.
