Bill Speltz: Robin Selvig Court perfect salute for the Pride of Montana

I should know since I tune in late at night. That old black-and-white cowboy show helps me get to sleep when I'm stewing about some silly thing that never seems as important by morning.

Still, some sports stats carry a kick that rattles your teeth every time. In Robin Selvig's case, it's not just a rare basketball season or even a quarter-century odyssey. Perusing the numbers he piled up as coach of the Montana women's  team for almost four decades is like gazing up at Mount Rushmore and wondering how the hell it happened.

There's the 24 conference titles and 21 NCAA tourney berths and 21 times he was named conference coach of the year. Shouldn't a conference coach of the year award be named after a fellow if he wins it 21 times? I mean really, Vince Lombardi won the Super Bowl twice and the trophy is named after him.

On Friday, with many of his former players and fans on hand at Dahlberg Arena, the University of Montana will name its basketball floor in Selvig's honor in a free event at 6:30 p.m. From that point forward, we at the Missoulian will refer to that venue as Robin Selvig Court.

"My family is coming and a lot of my players will be here and I'm really looking forward to seeing everyone," Robin told me with his usual warm smile last weekend. "It's a special time."

Tears will be shed and there will be lots of hugs to go around. It promises to be a rare, unfiltered reminder of what is good in college athletics and the state of Montana.

To get a sense of Selvig's lasting impact, look at the faces in the crowd Friday. My guess is Robin will be happy as a buzzer-beating sharpshooter but would probably would rather not do much dwelling on his 865 wins. He never was comfortable with people calling him a legend, even if it's true.

What matters most here is not the spiffy new logo on the basketball floor but the impact Selvig has had on lives. He's the rarest of birds and I'm not sure they even make his kind anymore.

Personally, I miss his sense of humor. Couple that with his coaching prowess and, heck, I'd drop everything to go cover him even if he was skipper of a senior bowling team.

Robin's passion for basketball made me more passionate about the game. He made me want to be a better sports writer. Can you beat that?

You could go 100 years and never find another NCAA Division I coach with such a unique blend of success and humility.

"I'm going to miss riding on the bus with the players, walking out to practice with them, laughing with them, sharing their lives with them, battling in the games and going in and saying sorry I was so wacko," Selvig said when he retired seven years ago.

"But they know. You're going through it together. I've got lifetime friends I've coached." 

My guess is Robin will deliver some humdinger one-liners in his speech Friday night. Some old-timers around town tell me he's the most entertaining event emcee they've ever heard.

At some point this week, someone is going to bring up the fact Selvig is not in the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame. It's a nice sentiment and someday I'm convinced he will make it there.

But really, do most of us care much about the coaches in the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame and the Men's Basketball Hall of Fame? Nah, we care about where we live, and on Friday Montana's home floor will become just the fifth at the NCAA Division I level to be named for a school's women's basketball coach.

It's the ultimate historical win for Robin — at least when it comes to this marvelous state. One hundred years from now, sports fans will go back and read about Robin Selvig and why the basketball floor is named after him.

If that happens, a lot of us will have won. That includes all the former Lady Griz that poured out their hearts playing for him and all of us admirers that treasured his teams.