The University of Great Falls announced the hiring of Anthony Owens as head men’s basketball coach at a press conference Wednesday.
Owens, 32, returns to his alma mater, where he led the Frontier Conference in rebounding and was an All-Conference selection for the Argonauts in 2003. He was also a two-time team MVP.
"We are excited to welcome Anthony back into the Argonaut family," said UGF women’s basketball coach Bill Himmelberg, who chaired the search committee. "Anthony knows both the school and community of Great Falls very well, and we’re confident he can take the success that the program experienced under Coach Silsby to the next level."
Owens comes to UGF from Portland State University of the Division I Big Sky Conference, where he served as an assistant coach under Vikings head coach Tyler Geving for five seasons. The program had a 69-84 record during Owens’ time on Geving’s staff, including a trip to the Collegeinsider.com Tournament in 2014 – the first postseason appearance for the program since the 2009 NCAA Tournament.
"I’m back home. This is where I matured and I’m excited about it all," Owens said. "The first order of business is to get an assistant coach in here and get the rest of the players here. We need to go get four or five more guys and work with the money we’ve got available."
Owens is renowned for his recruiting ties and his ability to sign quality student-athletes. He was instrumental in Portland State’s transition off probation and back into Academic Progress Rate compliance.
"We are very pleased to have Anthony back at our university," said Dr. Eugene McAllister, UGF President. "We know he is going to do a great job of recruiting young men who are intent on a great education, who will participate in our university community, and who will leave UGF with dreams and ambitions."
Prior to joining Portland State Owens was an assistant coach at the College of Eastern Utah. The Eagles went 25-7 during his year there (2008-09). Before coaching at CEU, he was an assistant coach for two years at Eastern Arizona College. EAC went 53-13 over those two years, reaching the Region 1 Tournament finals two years in a row, and advancing to the national tournament in 2007-08.
Before coming to UGF Owens played at Arkansas-Fort Smith Junior College, and was part of a team that compiled a 55-11 record over two seasons.
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