Michigan State assistant Mark Montgomery hired as new Detroit Mercy head coach

Detroit Mercy has found a new head coach and didn’t have to go far to find him, hiring Michigan State assistant Mark Montgomery to run the men’s basketball program, according to multiple reports. Montgomery had previously been the head coach at Northern Illinois prior to rejoining Tom Izzo’s staff.

The Titans had been in the market for a new head coach since early March, when the program let go of head coach Mike Davis after six seasons. The Titans went 1-31 this past season.

Montgomery is a Michigander through and through. Coming out of Inkster, Michigan, as a preps player, he spent four years playing for Jud Heathcote at Michigan State before playing professionally overseas.

He began his coaching career as an assistant on the Central Michigan staff in 1997 and joined Izzo’s staff for a first stint in 2002. He would serve on staff in East Lansing until 2011, when he took over the head job at Northern Illinois.

In more than nine seasons leading the Huskies, Montgomery could never get them over the hump and into the NCAA Tournament. The best teams he had were a 21-win outfit in 2015-16 and an 18-13 team that finished near the top of the conference in 2019-20. But after a 1-7 start in 2020, Montgomery was fired. He went 124-170 during his tenure as head coach.

He spent 2021 as an assistant at Detroit Mercy before eventually rejoining the Michigan State staff.

And now Montgomery is back in Detroit, this time as the man in charge of a program with a lot of work to be done.

The Spartans are in on a notable transfer prospect

A talented Pac-12 transfer met with two teams virtually on Monday, with Colorado‘s J’Vonne Hadley revealing to On3’s Joe Tipton that he will speak with both Iowa State and Michigan State.

Those two programs are involved in his recruitment, as is Michigan.

The skilled Colorado guard is coming off a season in which he averaged 11.6 points, 6.0 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.2 steals per game as his team reached the NCAA Tournament and won its opening game. He’s reportedly looking to make a decision in the next week or so.

Hadley hit the NCAA transfer portal following his senior season with the Buffaloes. He has had a considerable journey during his college basketball playing days.

He began his career at Northeastern, where he appeared in just 13 games for the Huskies. He totaled 11 points and 13 rebounds.

From there, J’Vonne Hadley went to Indian Hills CC. He earned NJCAA Division I first-team All-American honors there after averaging 10.9 points and 6.2 rebounds. From there he made a major jump, going to Colorado prior to the 2022-23 season.

During his junior season he averaged 8.0 points and 5.9 rebounds for the Buffaloes.

He’ll offer whichever program gets him an elite shooting presence from the wing. He shot 41.7% from 3-point range this season.