The only head coach in Northern Illinois University men’s basketball history to lead the Huskies to both a postseason appearance and a victory over a ranked opponent, Mark Montgomery enters his 10th season as head coach at NIU in 2020-21, after leading the Huskies to a MAC West title a season ago.
Montgomery enters his 10th year at the helm in DeKalb with 123 victories, third-most in school history behind only John McDougal (136) and Chick Evans (125).
During his tenure, NIU has posted three seasons which rank among the top-seven for single-season wins at NIU, earning 21 victories in 2015-16 (tied for second-best), 18 wins in 2019-20 (sixth-best) and 17 wins in 2018-19 (tied for seventh-best) while his players have garnered three NABC All-District selections, six All-MAC honors and four MAC All-Freshman Team recognitions.
Over the past five seasons, NIU has recorded 84 wins, fourth-most among Division I programs in the State of Illinois, ahead of the likes of Bradley, Illinois and Northwestern. It is also the best five-year stretch in Huskie history.
In 2019-20, NIU captured a share of the MAC West Division title and a top-four seed in the conference tournament, earning the Huskies a first-round tournament bye for the first time since 2006. NIU was on target for just its fifth postseason appearance in school history before the season was prematurely ended by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Following a sixth consecutive winning record in pre-conference play, NIU earned 11 victories in the MAC, its most in 14 seasons. The Huskies won on the road in Buffalo for the first time since 2003 and swept a season series against Kent State for the first time since 1985-86. Montgomery mentored Eugene German to a remarkable senior season in which he led the MAC in scoring, became NIU’s all-time leading scorer with 2,203 points and became just the eighth player in program history to earn All-America recognition when he was named to the Lou Henson All-America Team. German also earned First Team All-MAC and First Team NABC All-District honors.
The cornerstones of Montgomery’s program, energy and effort, defense and rebounding, were on full display in 2019-20 as NIU ranked in the top-50 nationally in rebounding (35th), scoring defense (43rd) and field goal percentage defense (44th).
One year earlier, NIU advanced to the MAC Tournament Semifinals, its deepest run in the conference tournament in 16 years. As the No. 7 seed in the 2019 MAC Tournament, the Huskies dispatched of 10th-seeded Ohio in the tournament opener to advance to Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland. NIU then surprised second seeded Toledo, 80-76, in the quarterfinals before bowing out to third-seeded Bowling Green in the semifinals.
German was named to the MAC All-Tournament Team, becoming the first Huskie to receive that honor since 2003, and also earned Second Team All-MAC and Second Team NABC All-District recognition.
The 2018-19 season was also highlighted by a January 22 victory over 14th-ranked Buffalo, just the third win in program history over a ranked foe and the first since 1973. Two Huskies, German and Levi Bradley, passed the 1,000-career point plateau during the campaign and Montgomery earned his 100th career victory with a January 29 win Ohio.
The winningest five-year period in program history began in 2015-16, when Montgomery guided NIU to 21 victories while taking the Huskies to the postseason for just the fourth time in school history, and the first time in 20 years, as NIU accepted an invitation to the Vegas 16. Montgomery earned national coaching honors when he received the midseason Hugh Durham Award as the nation’s top mid-major head coach.
Three Huskies earned conference postseason honors, including Marin Maric who was named to the All-MAC Third Team; Aaric Armstead was named to the MAC All-Defensive Team and Marshawn Wilson was recognized on the MAC All-Freshman Team. It marked the first time since the 2002-03 season that NIU had three all-league honorees.
In 2016-17, Maric was again named to the All-MAC Third Team while German became the fourth MAC All-Freshman Team honoree of Montgomery’s tenure. The following season, 2017-18, German led the MAC in scoring while earning Second Team All-MAC and First Team NABC All-District honors.
The recent success of Huskie basketball is the result building blocks set in place during Montgomery’s first four seasons at the helm in DeKalb.
During his first season at NIU in 2011-12, Montgomery guided one of the youngest teams in the nation to the program’s first MAC Tournament victory since 2003, defeating MAC West Champion Eastern Michigan in the opening round of the conference tournament to advance to Cleveland. Abdel Nader became the first Huskie since 2009 to be named to the MAC All-Freshman Team.
Montgomery’s second season saw the Huskies continue to build the foundation of the program as they achieved a number of milestone victories, including the program’s first win at Miami (Ohio) since 1981, its first win at Central Michigan since 2006 and its first victory over Kent State since 2003.
During the 2013-14 season, his third at NIU, Montgomery engineered the largest single-season win improvement in school history, and the 10th-largest nationally that year. The Huskies recorded a 10-win improvement and their 15 victories was the most for the program since 2005-06. Montgomery finished second in the voting for MAC Coach of the Year and NIU earned the right to host a MAC Tournament first-round game for the first time since 2003. Jordan Threloff earned All-MAC honorable mention recognition and Aaric Armstead was named to the MAC All-Freshman Team.
Prior to his arrival at NIU, Montgomery was named one of the top five high-major assistant coaches in the country by FoxSports.com in 2010, while Rivals.com put him on its list of "10 Assistant Coaches Ready to Move Up." In addition, then FoxSports.com national college basketball writer Jeff Goodman named Montgomery the top assistant coach in the Big Ten Conference based on a poll of league coaches.
During his 10 seasons on Hall of Famer Tom Izzo’s staff at Michigan State from 2001-11, the Spartans made 10 straight trips to the NCAA Tournament and three Final Four appearances. He helped coach 26 All-Big Ten players at Michigan State and six players that went on to be selected in the NBA Draft, while on the bench for 235 MSU wins - an average of 23.5 victories per season.
In his first season as an assistant coach at Michigan State, Montgomery helped mentor First Team All-Big Ten honoree Marcus Taylor, who went on to be selected by the Minnesota Timberwolves in the 2002 NBA Draft. Despite losing 81 percent of its scoring from the previous season, the Spartans finished just one game out of first place in the Big Ten.
Montgomery helped the Spartans reach the 2005 NCAA Final Four, the sixth Final Four in school history. Along the way, MSU defeated top-seeded Duke and second-seeded Kentucky in the Austin Regional, becoming the only school to defeat the Blue Devils and Wildcats in the same year.
In May of 2007, Montgomery was elevated to associate head coach by Izzo. The Spartans returned to the NCAA Sweet 16 the following season before falling to national runner-up Memphis.
Michigan State won the Big Ten championship and made its second Final Four appearance of Montgomery's coaching tenure in 2008-09. The Spartans went 31-7, 15-3 in Big Ten play, and won the league by four games. MSU knocked off No. 1 seeds Louisville and Connecticut in the regional final and national semifinal, respectively, before succumbing to top-ranked North Carolina in the championship game in Detroit, Mich.
The Spartans again won the Big Ten championship in 2009-10, amassing a 28-9 overall record, 14-4 in conference, and returned to the Final Four for the third time in six seasons, making a run to college basketball's ultimate stage from the number five seed in the Midwest region.
During his 10-year coaching tenure with the Spartans, Montgomery mentored four players (Chris Hill, Kalin Lucas, Drew Neitzel and Travis Walton) that rank among the top-10 in career assists at Michigan State. In addition, Montgomery helped eight Spartan perimeter players reach the 1,000-point plateau in his time on the Michigan State staff and helped Lucas earn Big Ten Player of the Year honors in 2009 and Walton earn Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year recognition that same season.
Montgomery began his coaching career as an assistant coach at Central Michigan where he became a member of Jay Smith's first coaching staff in 1997-98. Following a 6-23 season in 1999-2000, the Chippewas made a worst-to-first turnaround the following season as they finished the 2000-01 campaign with a 20-8 record, winning the MAC with a conference mark of 14-4.
An outstanding player during his collegiate career, Montgomery was a four-year letterwinner for Jud Heathcote at Michigan State from 1988-92. A 1992 All-Big Ten Third Team selection, Montgomery ended his career as the then-career leader in games played at MSU (126). A four-year starter for the Spartans, he was part of the 1990 Big Ten Championship team, three NCAA Tournament teams and an NIT Final Four team. Montgomery ranks fourth on the career assists chart (561) after leading the team in assists as a junior (169) and senior (190). He also ranks fourth on the MSU career steals list (168).
Montgomery averaged 5.3 points and 4.5 assists in his four years as a Spartan. In 1991-92, he averaged 7.0 points and 6.3 assists as a senior co-captain, leading his team to a 22-8 mark and the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Montgomery was also a two-time Academic All-Big Ten honoree during his playing days as a Spartan.
Following his collegiate career, Montgomery played four years of professional basketball in Europe. He averaged more than 25 points a game during his time playing in Germany, Lithuania and Sweden.
Montgomery received his bachelor's degree in food industry management from Michigan State. He and his wife, Alexandra, have two sons, Nicholas and Mason.
