Basketball lifer Scott Hatler to enter Bobcat Hall of Fame

Scott Hatler was riding the Great Falls High bus before he was a Bison.

“I grew up watching Tom Corontzos, Brad Salonen, Brian Salonen, Justin Franjevic,” he recalled. “This was back in the early ’80s when the Bison were really, really good. And I’d go on the bus with them.”

Roger Hatler was an assistant coach in the GFH boys’ program in those years.

“My dad would pull me out of school, you know,” Scott laughed. “And I’d go on the bus. It was so great.”

And so was Scott Hatler.

On Friday, the former Bison point guard will be among several Montana State superstars to be inducted in Bobcat Athletic Hall of Fame. He set records as a playmaker while leading the Cats to the Big Sky Conference championship and the NCAA Tournament in 1996.

“Honestly, I’m very honored,” he said. “It’s nothing I thought would ever happen. But when you’re around the teammates that I had and accomplished what we were able to …

“I’ll be able to see family and friends and teammates, you name it. It will be a blast.”

Basketball has always been nothing but fun for him.

“I was introduced to it as far back as I can remember,” Hatler said. “At 4 or 5 years old I was going up to the gym with my dad, who was the biggest basketball influence in my life, for sure.”

Back in those days, the Bison boys’ basketball coaching staff consisted of head coach Gary Turcott, and assistants Roger Hatler, Dave Taft and Bob Dickenson.

That meant Scott and his older brother, Brett, were buddies with the Taft boys, Tim and Jon, and the Dickenson brothers, Craig and Dave.

“We all grew up together and all lived kind of close to each other and went to Sacajawea (Elementary),” said Hatler. “We played a lot of sports and were outside all the time, really spent a lot of time together.”

One thing he didn’t do very often, though, was cut the grass.

“When we lived on the northeast side of town my dad took most of our front yard away and made like a half court for basketball,” Scott laughed. “Then when we moved across town he did the same thing with the backyard. So there wasn’t much grass to mow.”

Hatler, 46, graduated from Great Falls High in 1991. And that was certainly a memorable year for Electric City athletes.

The Bison Class of ’91 includes such legendary athletes as Yohanse Manzanarez, Dennis Black, Bill Zadick and Jeff Thompson. Manzanarez and Dickenson starred on great Grizzly football teams, including one that won a national championship. Black became an Olympic-caliber track athlete in the shot put and Thompson achieved wrestling stardom at the University of Minnesota.

Zadick became a world champion in wrestling and now coaches the United States freestyle team.

The CMR Class of ’91 included Dave Dickenson, Jeff McElroy, who went on to star on the football field at North Dakota, and Jon Knutson, who became a starting linebacker at national power Colorado.

Dickenson recently was named to the prestigious College Football Hall of Fame.

And now Hatler has been afforded elite status among former Montana State stars. He stood tall at about 6-2 and was an adept passer who made excellent decisions with the ball. 

Plus he could hit from downtown. On coach Mick Durham's Bobcat teams that included such talented performers as swingman Nico Harrison, power forward Quadre Lollis and deadly 3-point threat Danny Sprinkle, Hatler was undeniably important.

The ball was in his hands most of the time, which was a good thing for the Bobcats.

“Basketball,” Hatler said, “was always my passion.”

He has a little coaching background, having led a short-lived professional team in Billings called the RimRockers. Hatler is now in business in Billings and lives with his family, which includes daughter Kendal, 16, and Gabe, 13. His wife, Becky (Tholen), is also a Great Falls native.

Scott’s mother, Daphne, and father, Roger, will be at the banquet in Bozeman on Friday.

Roger Hatler, however, has a schedule conflict.

“Did you hear he’s coaching again out at Cascade, the boys’ team?” Scott laughed.

Roger Hatler has been a basketball coach at various levels for many decades in Great Falls. Though the Badgers have a game on Friday, Scott said his dad will turn it over to his assistants. That way Roger and longtime pal Tom Storm, a former GFH hoop star who’s also in the Bobcat Hall of Fame, can be in Bozeman for the function.

If you’re looking for a hardcore hoops man, Roger Hatler is your guy.

“I agree,” Scott said. “Between him and Storm … they’re both great guys and nobody loves basketball more than they do.”

The Hall of Fame banquet is Friday night. Also entering the Bobcat Hall are volleyball star Brandy Anderson Archdale, football standouts Brent Swaggert and Corey Smith, skier Rusty Squire and tennis great Federico Ueltschi.

This weekend the Bobcat-Grizzly rivalry resumes in Bozeman with a Saturday doubleheader. The women’s game is at 2 and the men’s clash is at 7.

The men’s game features a Bobcat team led by Tyler Hall against a first-place Grizzly outfit.

“The Bobcats are coming,” said Hatler. “They’re getting better. The Griz are an awful good team, though. I was there last year when they sold out (Brick Breeden Fieldhouse). I anticipate it being another great environment.”

As great as Friday night?

Not for Scott Hatler. Because for the former Montana State basketball superstar from Great Falls, the Bobcat Hall of Fame is as good as it gets.

“It’s just an honor,” Hatler said. “I’m super excited about it.”

Scott Mansch can be reached at 791-1481 or smansch@greatfallstribune.com