The future: Derek Selvig and Brian Qvale a base to build from
Two straight NCAA Tournament appearances in 2005 and 2006 should've been enough of a base for the Montana Grizzly basketball program to build upon. It was not.
The legacy Larry Krystkowiak left behind before leaving for the NBA fizzled over the next two seasons, Wayne Tinkle's first as a head coach, as the Griz went 31-31 over that stretch. Only two seasons after Krystkowiak's departure, just a couple of his recruits remain with the program as numerous players transferred to play their hoops at schools in lower divisions, a sign to many that they couldn't cut it at this level.
Through the strife, clashes in chemistry and failure to meet expectations, Tinkle has found the team's foundation: a pair of near 7-footers ready to put the program on their backs.Derek Selvig and Brian Qvale are not the first prominent big-man tandem in the history of Griz hoops. Decades ago, Krystkowiak and Tinkle themselves led the Grizzlies. What recent success the program has seen is due, in large-part, to bigs Andrew Strait and Jordan Hasquet. Those four did great things for the program but none came in with the size, skill and history these two have.
Qvale and Selvig have known each other since they were in elementary school but were not always as buddy-buddy as they are now.
“We really did not like each other when we were growing up” said Qvale, the 6-foot-11 center from Williston N.D. “We were mortal enemies.”
Speaking not only of their familiarity, but also their ability and willingness to play at a higher level, the two first met in 3rd grade when their traveling select teams played regularly in weekend tournaments, usually in the championship game.
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While the two played each other numerous times during elementary and middle school—upwards of 20 games—their high schools teams only met once. Selvig's Dawson County High School beat Qvale's Williston High School by 13 during their senior years. Selvig remembers Qvale getting a technical for hanging on the rim. Qvale says he hardly touched it.
The two even faced each other in Little League baseball, with both Qvale and Selvig playing first base and pitcher. Selvig stopped playing after elementary school while Qvale continued through high school. He said his fastball eventually topped out around 85 mph.
Besides basketball and baseball, both lettered three times in football, but the pair never faced each other in a game. Qvale did receive offers to play college football as a tight-end and defensive end from North and South Dakota schools but most colleges shied away as they knew he would eventually choose hoops.
While the two played and saw each other often in both baseball and basketball, it wasn’t until they joined ECI Select—an AAU team out of North Dakota—following their sophomore year that they became friends.
“We were good for a bunch of western North Dakota and eastern Montana kids,” Qvale said. “We beat some highly recruited teams with Division I scouts all around them and us just playing against the world. We beat them and that got us some recognition too.”
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These two, a couple "big, giant, skinny white guys" as their coach Nathan Stover described them, would outwork other guys for wins over teams they weren't supposed to beat.
Stover tells of Selvig dropping 30 points on close to 10 3-pointers at a gym in Fort Wayne, Ind. This was in front of a Bob Knight assistant and with Selvig coming off a bad ankle sprain. Of course, "The General" offered him a scholarship to play at Texas Tech, one of the many universities interested in his services.
Qvale and Selvig spoke frequently throughout the recruiting process, discussing offers that came in, the merit of different colleges and how sick they were getting of the all the phone-calls.
Despite similar statistics and accolades, Selvig was the more highly regarded recruit. According to recruiting website Rivals.com, Selvig was a 3-star prospect coming out of high school while Qvale was only a 1-star.
Selvig eventually signed with Montana after limiting his choices to five schools: the University of Montana, University of Oregon, Washington State, USC and West Virginia.
“Derek was being recruited nationally and we knew that he was going to be a tough get, but we outworked everyone and won him over,” Tinkle said. “I think being a small town Montana kid helped our cause as well.”
He was right. Selvig, whose parents Doug and Anita Novak both played for the Griz while his uncle, Robin, also played and has now coached the Lady Griz for 30 years, was dedicated to staying close to home.
“It came down to family, just knowing people and staying in the state of Montana,” said Selvig, whose only school visit was to UM.
Even though family and tradition were a big part of Selvig coming to Montana, he was never pushed by his family to attend their alma mater.
“That was his decision, I basically wanted him to take his time and think about it,” said the elder Selvig, who even pushed for his son to visit a few more schools.
While the two were rated on different levels by some, they both received offers from a lot of the same schools including Washington State, who’s now ranked 21st in the nation.
The whole recruiting process got stale before Selvig told Qvale “I’m just gonna do it.” He committed to Montana in late October of 2006. Qvale committed two weeks later.
A lot of schools drool over 7-foot prospects, but they knew that while they were trying to get two guys similar in stature, they were also trying to pull in two very different players.
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With his developed perimeter game, Selvig is not the typical 7-footer. Think Dirk Nowitzki as far as style of play. As far as looks and build, think white Kenyan runner with 15 to 20 more pounds stretched over an extra foot. He's not built to play down low and tailors his around it.
"I could not get him to post up," said Stover, "I'd run isolation things where he'd put it on the floor then pull up and shoot over someone...He's kind of a floater, it's sort of annoying. Sometimes you thought he should get in there and be more of a physical presence and try to use his size to get easy baskets but it just never seemed to evolve that way and in the end he was still being pretty darn effective."
Coach Tinkle said he will start playing Selvig at the post, in the power forward and center positions, with the possibility of moving him out to small forward.
"I'll play wherever he puts me, I'm just happy to be on the floor and get some playing time," said Selvig, who spent the season practicing at power forward and center.
Derek’s father Doug said he also sees his son eventually playing out at the wing because of his ability to pass the ball.
"Derek has always seen the court very well and I thought that would be an advantage being as tall as he is," Selvig said.
Stover compared Selvig's ability to make an outlet pass to UCLA's Kevin Love.
"He'd get the rebound and throw a long outlet pass so as soon as Derek would get the rebound Brian Qvale would just start running the floor like a deer. Just one pass, lay-up."
Selvig also had other ways of getting Qvale the ball: through a lob play he'd drawn up. With his dad being his high school coach and uncle Robin Selvig one of the best college coaches in the nation, it was a skill he no doubt picked up from them. Stover said of the few plays his team ran that summer, the alley-oop was used the most. When you have a guy with Selvig's passing ability and Qvale's athleticism, of which Stover raves about, why wouldn't you?
Where Selvig is the gifted aberration, Qvale is the prototypical 7-foot shot-altering center.
"When guys get to the rim, he's there to block shots," Tinkle said.
Qvale established this from the beginning, starting in the preseason Maroon-Silver game.
In an early possession, senior forward Andrew Strait had Qvale on the low post and gave the true frosh a move Griz fans had seen hundreds of times: with his back to the basket, he'd make one short fake left towards the hoop, pivot hard to the right as if he was going up for a baby hook before going all the way back to the left and laying it up off the glass. Qvale bit hard on the ball fake to the right, but as Strait went back to the left for the up and under, Qvale was there. He smacked the ball hard the backboard.
Qvale said he learned a lot about playing the post from the veteran Strait but Strait called it a “two-way street” with the bigger Qvale improving his play as well. This was one of those times then the mentor gave the teacher a lesson.
For the many memorable blocks, there's one miss that stands out the most. In an early-season game against Gonzaga, guard Jeremy Pargo went up and over Qvale like a dunk competition finalist leaping over a ball cart.
Qvale said teammates still rib him about it every time the Bulldogs are on TV. "I'm just waiting for him to graduate so I don't have to see that anymore," said Qvale as he laughed about the incident.
Simply put: if the Gonzaga bookstore sold Jeremy Pargo posters, Brian Qvale's face would be on dorm room walls all over campus. Instead, he'll have to settle for Selvig mockingly putting the picture up on Facebook. That is, of course, what good roommates do.
The pair shares a dorm room on campus, where their cleaning habits tend to differ.
“I’m a little more messy,” Selvig said of their living arrangement. “Brian’s kind of a neat freak.”
Brian described it as a little more than that: “He’ll never do laundry, he’ll leave his shoes everywhere, just walk into the room and throw his stuff down and just leave it.”
Misty Atkinson, a friend of both and a freshman redshirting with the Lady Griz, agreed and added that Selvig likes to stay up until 3 a.m. doing homework and drinking Mountain Dew.
Atkinson also said that while the pair hangs out all they time they do have their disagreements as well: “They argue sometimes and Derek always thinks he’s right.”
Inside the dorm, the two spend time playing video games like Halo and College Hoops 2K8. In College Hoops, the two fair a little differently according to the game’s rankings. In the game, Selvig starts while Qvale is the self-proclaimed “worst player on the team.”
In real life, things were different.
Selvig decided, with input from coaches, to redshirt his first year on campus. Selvig sat out while Qvale played as a true freshman, cutting their years together in a Griz uniform from four to three before either had played a game.
“It would’ve been nice to have four years together,” said Selvig, “but I know I needed a redshirt year.”
Sitting out was hard on him at first but as it settled in, he and others acknowledged it was the best thing to do.
“I think it was tough at first just because anyone that competes would like to be out there playing,” said Doug Selvig “but I think it’s certainly going to help him.”
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While Selvig played only in practice, Qvale saw minutes in games early on and eventually started several games during Big Sky Conference play before an ankle injury sidelined him for a couple weeks. Even after the shin-high plastic boot came off, his playing time was hindered and he says he still hasn’t completely recovered.
As both Qvale and Selvig’s first years as part of the Grizzly basketball program were not what they might’ve expected, they and their coaches try to anticipate the impact they’ll have in the coming seasons.
“We play well together,” Qvale said. “We always know where each other are. If I roll [to the basket,] he’ll see me and if he throws it into me and he gets wide open on the outside I’ll kick it back to him.”
The duo’s presence will also alter the overall style of play: Tinkle said next season the team will “will spread the floor and play more motion next year with our improved skill and athleticism.” Exactly what Qvale and Selvig are looking for.
“More picks, more screens, get everybody involved,” Selvig said while Qvale agreed, saying he’d like to see the team get out and run more.
With established leaders already present in senior Jordan Hasquet and junior transfer Jack McGillis, their role right now may only be to play ball but they’ll be the ones leading this team in the future.
Their two styles of leadership may be different in the coming years. Selvig is the more laid-back of the two, with his attitude toward picking up his room reflecting his personality. It’s not laziness or carelessness; it’s just not being worried about it. He sits back in his chair and speaks quietly. He’ll be type of senior who offers tactics while leading by example, letting his game give the pep talks.
Qvale will be the motivator. He speaks with fire as he discusses playing and competing with teams like Washington State and Gonzaga, an atmosphere where AAU coach Stoven said he could play “on a different level.”
His tapping of fingernails stops, “It’s not that we can’t do it, it’s just mentally knowing we can.”
Just like the last few Griz basketball teams, the squads that come over the next couple years will be seen by many as some of the most talented in the Big Sky. It remains to be seen whether this base of Qvale and Selvig will prove sturdier than the ones that came before it. The duo is convinced it will.
“We’re going to play well.” Qvale said. “We’re going to be good later. We play well together. We’re definitely going to win some Big Sky Championships and head to the tournament and see what we can do there.”
The foundation is set. Now it’s time for them to build on it.
