Wayne Tinkle, who led Montana to three NCAA Tournament appearances, has been named the head coach of the Oregon State men’s basketball team, Director of Athletics Bob De Carolis announced Monday.

Tinkle, 48, was the head coach at Montana for eight seasons and won 158 games, the second most in school history. He led the Grizzlies to Big Sky regular-season titles in 2010, 2012 and 2013 and Big Sky Tournament championships in 2012 and 2013. His 97 conference wins are the most by any Montana coach.

"Today, with the hiring of Coach Wayne Tinkle, Oregon State University begins a new era in Beaver men’s basketball of regularly competing within the top echelon of the Pac-12 for the conference championship and for postseason NCAA competition,” De Carolis said.

“The more I went through the process, the more recommendations I received about Coach Tinkle,” De Carolis added. “I met with Coach Tinkle for several hours last week and came away very impressed with him. His success on the basketball court as a coach and player is well documented, but even more so, I was impressed with his demeanor, family and philosophy. I think he is a perfect fit for our basketball program, Oregon State University, the community and this state.”

Tinkle led Montana to four consecutive postseason trips from 2010-13, including the NCAA Tournament in 2010, 2012 and 2013. He also went to the “Big Dance” three times during his five years as an assistant with the Grizzlies. He was named the Big Sky Coach of the Year after the 2011-12 and 2012-13 seasons and the NABC Division I All-District 6 Coach of the Year in 2012.

His Montana teams went 25-7 in both 2011-12 and 2012-13, the second most wins in a season in school history. The Grizzlies had a stretch with 25 consecutive Big Sky victories and set a conference record with 19 league wins in 2012-13.

Montana had winning records in seven of Tinkle’s eight years as head coach and won 20 or more games in four consecutive seasons (2010-13). He is the only coach in Montana history to lead his teams to the NCAA Tournament three times and be named the Big Sky Coach of the Year twice.

He served as an assistant coach for Don Holst, Pat Kennedy and Larry Krystkowiak, who is currently the head coach at the University of Utah. Other coaches who worked at Montana that went on to outstanding college coaching careers include Jud Heathcote and Mike Montgomery.

Tinkle was a standout forward for the Grizzlies from 1986-89 and a three-time All-Big Sky pick his sophomore, junior and senior seasons. He is fourth all-time at Montana in rebounds (836) and sixth in points (1,500). He was Montana’s Carl Dragstedt Award (MVP) winner in 1988 and 1989, and led the team in rebounding in 1987, 1988 and 1989, and in scoring in 1988 and 1989.

He played professionally for 12 years with stints in the CBA and in Sweden, Spain, Italy and Greece.

Tinkle, the 21st head coach in Beaver basketball history, earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Montana in health and human performance in 2005.

He was born on Jan. 26, 1966 in Milwaukee, Wis., as the youngest of 11 children (seven girls and four boys). He graduated from Ferris High School in Spokane, Wash., in 1984.

Tinkle is married to the former Lisa McLeod, who was a standout basketball player at Montana and was inducted into the Grizzly Sports Hall of Fame in 2011. They have two daughters, Joslyn and Elleson, and one son, Tres. Joslyn played in three basketball Final Fours during her four-year career at Stanford and Elleson just finished her sophomore basketball season at Gonzaga. Tres is a standout forward at Missoula’s Hellgate High School.

This appointment is contingent on Tinkle’s satisfactorily completing customary background checks required by the university.