Michigan State men's basketball assistant coach Mark Montgomery has accepted the head coaching job at Detroit Mercy, sources have confirmed to Spartans Illustrated on Wednesday.
Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports was the first to report the news. Shortly after, Rothstein's report, Tony Paul of the Detroit News also confirmed the news.
Later, on Wednesday afternoon, Detroit Mercy officially announced the hiring of Montgomery as the men's basketball program's 23rd head coach in school history.
Montgomery was hired by University of Detroit Mercy President Donald B. Taylor and Athletic Director Robert Vowels. According to UDM's press release, Montgomery was chosen from a pool of more than 100 national candidates. That pool was later narrowed down to nine semifinalists, and then four finalists, and Montgomery was ultimately the hire.
"I would like to thank President Taylor, Robert Vowels and everyone on the search committee for giving me this opportunity to be the new head coach at University of Detroit Mercy," Montgomery said in a statement. "Growing up in the area, you heard about the history of the University, the great players, the atmosphere and historic Calihan Hall. Those teams were nationally known and they played the best and beat the best. I am so honored and humbled to lead the program back to where it was."
Michigan State men's basketball head coach Tom Izzo fully supports the move and is ecstatic for Montgomery to become a head coach once again.
"I'm thrilled for Monty and very excited for the opportunity he has as the head coach at University of Detroit Mercy," Izzo said in a statement. "Monty returned to Michigan State three years ago and has been an important part of my staff and our recruiting. He is one of the best and brightest coaches I've worked with during my career.
"Monty has a great understanding of the game, he's called our offensive sets and is an incredibly hard worker who is very organized and knows how to run a program. Monty played at Michigan State and has spent a good part of his career with our program and while I'm sad to see him leave, I'm happy for him, his wife Alex and their family. I think this is a great opportunity for Monty to run the program in Detroit and look forward to seeing the success he has there."
Montgomery praised Izzo and thanked him for being a great teacher, confidant and friend.
"To Coach Izzo, I thank you for always being there for me and guiding me through the coaching realm and helping me to get to where I am today," Montgomery said. "You have been not only a teacher and mentor, but a friend and I thank you for always being there for me."
The Titans went 1-31 overall and 1-19 in conference play this past season. They mutually parted ways with previous head coach Mike Davis earlier this month, who spent six seasons coaching Detroit Mercy.
The Titans were 60-119 in six seasons under Davis, including 44-65 in the Horizon League.
Montgomery, an Inkster, Michigan native, played at Michigan State under Jud Heathcote from 1988 through 1992.
As a player, Montgomery ended his career at MSU as the all-time leader in games played (125). He was part of the 1990 Big Ten Championship team, and three NCAA Tournament teams. He ranks in the top-eight on MSU’s career assists chart (561) and fourth in steals (168). Montgomery was also an All-Big Ten third-team selection as a senior in 1992.
After playing professional basketball overseas for four years, Montgomery returned to the state of Michigan to start his coaching career as an assistant coach for Central Michigan from 1997 until 2002.
He returned to East Lansing to coach under Izzo from 2001 until 2011. Michigan State made 10-straight NCAA Tournament appearances and three Final Four appearances during his first stint as an assistant under Izzo.
Montgomery was hired for his first head coaching job at Northern Illinois in 2011. Over his 10 seasons in charge of the Huskies, Montgomery went 126-179. After being fired midway through the 2020-2021 season, Montgomery spent the latter stretch of that season coaching for Detroit Mercy as an assistant.
He returned to East Lansing for his second stint coaching under Izzo in the summer of 2021. He initially joined as the program’s recruiting coordinator, but was moved into an assistant coaching role in October 2021.
Montgomery spent three total seasons back with Michigan State before reportedly accepting the vacant head coaching position with the Detroit Mercy Titans in the Horizon League.
Izzo and Michigan State will now have a vacant assistant coach role to fill.
- DT
- RB
- WR
- CB
- OLB
- PRO
- OLB
- CB
- OT
- TE
