BUTTE — Caleb Bellach joked that his hiring as the next Manhattan High School boys head basketball coach was so recent he hasn't received any team gear yet.
The former Manhattan Christian Eagle, Montana State Bobcat and Montana Tech Oredigger was in Butte on Saturday with the Tigers for a summer tournament and noted that it felt a little different guiding a team from the bench rather than playing himself.
"It's kind of weird, a little surreal, but I'm enjoying myself," said Bellach, whose All-America career at Tech helped power the Orediggers to three straight Frontier Conference regular-season and tournament championships and three consecutive trips to the national tournament.
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After graduating in 2024, he played professionally in Germany for three months before conceding that it just wasn't a good fit.
"It was super cool to see and experience a new culture, but the basketball wasn't what I expected it to be," he said. "It wasn't as enjoyable and you kind of have those thoughts of maybe it's time to hang it up."
He returned to Montana last November, briefly coached in Wyoming and then was hired at Manhattan, the crosstown rival of his alma mater Manhattan Christian, in May.
"Being able to coach at a school that I played against in high school, seven miles away from where I grew up, I couldn't be more stoked," said Bellach.
And he credited his high school and college coaches with helping prepare him for this next step in his basketball journey that saw him win a state championship when his father, Jeff Bellach, was head coach, play two seasons under Danny Sprinkle at MSU and then spend three memorable seasons at Tech with Adam Hiatt.
"Three different coaching styles, but three really good coaches and I was fortunate enough to play for all three of them," said Bellach. "I feel like I can take something from each of them and apply it in my own way to this team."
School's out and the real grind is a few months out. Bellach brought a mixture of freshman, junior varsity and varsity players to Butte to give them a chance to compete and said providing more opportunities like that for his players is the main goal as he gets set for his first season leading the Tigers.
"I think it'll be more of a challenge when we get to the fall, but for the summer I'm really just looking to push the pace and play fast," Bellach said.
