Wayne Tinkle

Wayne Francis Tinkle II (born (1966-01-26)January 26, 1966) is an American college basketball coach. He is currently the head men's basketball coach at Oregon State University. Before coming to Oregon State he was the head coach at Montana for eight seasons. He played professionally for 12 seasons until 2000, including stints in the Continental Basketball Association (CBA) and International Basketball League (IBL) and in Sweden, Spain, Italy and Greece.

Early life and college

Tinkle was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. His family later moved to Spokane, Washington. Tinkle graduated in 1984 from Ferris High School in Spokane.

Tinkle played college basketball for the University of Montana from 1984 to 1989.

Professional playing career

Tinkle played professionally for 12 years, spending most of his time in Europe playing for teams in Sweden, Italy, Spain, and Greece. The Topeka Sizzlers selected Tinkle in the second round, 26th overall, in the 1989 CBA draft. Tinkle played in 12 games for the Sizzlers and averaged 19.0 points and 10.4 rebounds. Later in his first season, Tinkle signed with Liège Basket of Basketball League Belgium and averaged 24.1 points and 11.5 rebounds. In the 1990–91 season, Tinkle played for the Solna Vikings of the Swedish Basketligan, averaging 21.3 points and 11.0 rebounds.

From 1991 to 1993, Tinkle played for the Tri-City Chinook of the CBA. He played in the CBA All-Star Game in 1993. On February 19, 1993, Tinkle signed with Juver Murcia of the Spanish Liga ACB. In 5 regular season games, Tinkle averaged 15.4 points and 7.6 rebounds.

Tinkle began the 1993–94 season with the CBA's Rapid City Thrillers, until he signed with Onyx Caserta of the Italian Lega Basket on December 28, 1993. In 9 games with Caserta, Tinkle averaged 18.7 points and 6.8 rebounds. On March 4, 1994, Tinkle re-signed with Rapid City.

In the 1994–95 season, Tinkle began with Pagrati B.C. of the Greek Basket League, before signing with Somontano Huesca of Liga ACB on November 25. In 21 regular season games, Tinkle averaged 12.5 points and 6.9 rebounds. He remained with the team the following season, when the team became Grupo AGB Huesca. Tinkle improved to 16.8 points and 7.2 rebounds.

For Covirán Granada in the 1996–97 season, Tinkle averaged 16.2 points and 9.8 rebounds in 34 regular season games. The following season with Fórum Filatélico Valladolid, Tinkle averaged 14.1 points and 7.0 rebounds in 34 regular season games. With Cáceres CB in the 1998–99 season, Tinkle averaged 10.3 points and 6.6 rebounds.

After sitting out the 1999–00 season due to injuries, Tinkle signed with the Las Vegas Silver Bandits of the International Basketball League in January 2001, in what would be his final time playing professionally and the final season of the team. In 17 games with Las Vegas, Tinkle averaged 11.4 points and 5.1 rebounds.

Personal life

Wayne is married to Lisa McLeod, a former University of Montana women's basketball player. Wayne and Lisa have two daughters; Joslyn, who plays for the Sydney Uni Flames professional women's basketball team, and Elle, a senior for Lisa Mispley Fortier's Gonzaga Bulldogs women's basketball team; and a son Tres, who plays for the Oregon State Beavers men's basketball team.

In 2014, Tinkle was named the Sexiest Man in College Basketball by CollegeInsider.com.

Coaching career

Montana

Wayne Tinkle was named the 8th (26th) head men's basketball coach at his alma mater in the summer of 2006.

The University of Montana's Tinkle is one of the winningest coaches in school history, boasting an overall record of 158–89.

Coach Tinkle is the first mentor at Montana to take his team to the NCAA Tournament three times. His 158 career victories are the fourth most ever at Montana. He is 97–39 in Big Sky Conference games, which are the most league wins by any coach at UM. Last season he led the Grizzlies to their second straight trip to the NCAA tournament, as UM played 19th-ranked Syracuse in a second round contest in San Jose, California. Montana's NCAA tournament berth last season was its third trip to the Big Dance in the last four seasons, and its 10th in school history.

With its NCAA berth a year ago, Montana has now advanced to post-season play a school-record four straight seasons. Montana went 19–1 last season en route to winning the conference's regular-season title, and those 19 victories are a Big Sky record. He was tabbed the Big Sky's "Coach of the Year" in the 2012–13 and 2011–12 seasons. He is the first coach in Montana history to be named the Big Sky's coach of the year twice. Last season he was a finalist for the Hugh Durham Award, presented annually to the mid-major coach of the year.

In 2011–12 Tinkle guided the Grizzlies to the NCAAs, as the 13th-seeded Grizzlies played the fourth-seeded and 14th-ranked (Associated Press) Wisconsin Badgers in a second-round NCAA Tournament game in Albuquerque, N.M. The Grizzlies were 25–7 last year, and tied a school record with their fourth 20-win season (UM has gone 25–7, 25–7, 21–11, and 22–10 during that span) in a row. The Grizzlies were ranked 14th in the final Mid-Major Top 25 Poll following the 2012–13 season. Montana's 25 wins last season tied Tinkle's 2011–12 team for the second-most ever in school history. (UM's 1991–92 and 1949-50 squads are tied for the most victories ever at UM).

When the Grizzlies defeated Weber State on March 16, 2013, it was their 93rd win over the last four seasons – a school record. He was recognized for the Grizzlies' success in 2012, as he was named the NABC Division I All-District 6 "Coach of the Year" by NABC. In 2010–11, Tinkle guided Montana to a 21–11 record and a berth in the College Basketball Invitational (CBI) Tournament. In 2009–10, the Griz went 22–10, won the league's post-season tourney, and advanced to the NCAAs, losing (62–57) to New Mexico.

Coach Tinkle has now been to the NCAA tournament a total of six times: three as the head coach and three times as an assistant coach at Montana. As an assistant coach he was with the Grizzlies on three NCAA tourney teams: 2001–02 against Oregon (head coach Don Holst); and also in 2004–05 vs. Washington and the 2005–06 season against Nevada and Boston College with mentor Larry Krystkowiak.

Oregon State

On May 19, 2014, Tinkle was named the head men's basketball coach at Oregon State.

Head coaching record