Former M-ettes thank Coach Robin Selvig

Over 100 former University of Montana Lady Grizzlies basketball players showed up at Missoula's Ranch Club on Friday, October 14 to wish their head coach, Robin Selvig, a happy retirement.

Of the 100 former athletes in attendance in Missoula, six former Malta M-ettes who went on to play for Selvig and the Lady Griz were in attendance. Linda Mendel (1985-90) and continued with Greta (Koss) Buehler (1992-97), Skyla Sisco (1993-98), Linda Cummings (1996-01) and Cheryl (1998-02) and Juliann (2001-05) Keller all met up for a team photo with Selvig at the Ranch Club. Buehler, who inducted in the U of M Sports Hall of Fame early this month, told the Phillips County News how she decided on playing for coach Selvig.

"I went to basketball camp with Skyla Sisco and a couple other girls the summer before my senior year," she said. "That's when I met all of the coaches at U of M and then Rob (Lady Griz Head Coach Robin Selvig) started calling me and I committed early. It was kind of the place I wanted to go so there wasn't much of a question."

Selvig has coached about 150 players in his 38 years as head coach of the Lady Griz, accumulated 36 winning seasons, 24 Big Sky Conference Championships, 21 NCAA tournament appearances and was named Big Sky Coach of the year 21 times.

Malta High School "has been real good to us," Selvig told gogriz.com in 2015. Selvig's comments followed the signing of former M-ette Hailey Nicholson who is a freshman at the University of Montana.

"Ever since I was young and started basketball, my cousin Nikita (Nelson) was like, 'you're going to go play for the Griz,' and I would laugh but now that it's true, it's really cool," Nicholson told the PCN last December.

Following Nicholson to Missoula next year will be MHS senior and M-ette Sophia Stiles who verbally committed to the U of M last September.

"I've kind of talked to (U of M and Selvig) since my freshman year and I've been to their camp every summer since then," Stiles told the PCN in September.

Nicholson and Stiles will play for Coach Shannon Schweyen who takes over as Lady Griz head coach following Selvig's retirement. Schweyen was an All-American under Selvig as a player from 1988-92 and then joined the Lady Griz Coaching staff in 1993.