Bonners Ferry’s Adam Hiatt receives Frontier Conference Coach of the Year Award

Adam Hiatt, a 1997 Bonners Ferry graduate, received his second consecutive Frontier Conference Coach of the Year Award after leading the Montana Tech men’s basketball team to their third straight regular season and conference tournament titles this season.

“This is a year we were looking forward to,” Hiatt said. “We had some goals coming into the season … we knew that no other program in the Frontier Conference had won three consecutive regular season titles and three consecutive conference tournament championships; it’s hard to do. We knew it was going to be tough, but we were able to get it done. It was a remarkable thing for our program. For me, it was gratifying to see this history made in our conference. In this business, it’s tough, but these are the nice rewards you can get for accomplishing something as a unit.”

Hiatt said being named the Frontier Conference Coach of the Year is just a reflection of the teams’ great success — that is what means the most to him.

“It’s humbling because historically we have such great coaches and programs in our conference,” Hiatt said. “This is an award and honor voted on by your peers, so to be voted on that way by your peers is special. It’s humbling to know other coaches feel a certain way about you and your program.”

This year was Hiatt’s eighth season as head coach of the Orediggers and he received national attention for his leadership abilities. He was named one of the 100 Most Impactful Head Coaches in Men’s NAIA Basketball by Silver Waves Media. Hiatt is the first coach in school history to lead the Orediggers three straight regular season titles and the second to win three straight conference tournament titles — the last time three straight conference tournament titles happened was when current Houston men's basketball head coach Kelvin Sampson, who Montana Tech’s home court is named after, was in charge of the program.

“It’s been quite the building process over the last eight years here at Montana Tech,” Hiatt said. “Coach Sampson’s first coaching job was at Montana Tech; he spent five years here starting in 1982, one as an assistant and four as a head coach. He had great success which launched his career, but he is still very connected to our program … even calling it the most important job he has ever had. He has been so gracious to us.”

As for the season at hand, Hiatt’s Orediggers were an impressive 27-5 and made it to the NAIA Round of 32 where they eventually fell to Lewis-Clark State College by a score of 85-77. Last season, Montana Tech made a run to the Elite 8, setting a school record for most wins in a season with 29. Hiatt has now led Montana Tech to six straight consecutive winning seasons, which is another school record. Hiatt’s 2019 team also beat the University of Montana for the first time since 1945. Believe it or not, the Orediggers also received the program’s first ever national ranking in 2021-2022, finishing the season ranked No. 14 in the NAIA coaches’ poll under Hiatt. This all comes after a period of roughly 20 years where Montana Tech didn’t even have a winning season.

“Step-by-step and brick-by-brick, we finally got to a point where we got over the hump,” Hiatt said. “It’s been pretty awesome.”

Hiatt is ready to go for the 2024-2025 season, busy recruiting all over the country and picking up key players from the transfer portal. Speaking of, the Orediggers just signed University of Montana transfer Rhett Reynolds, a 6-9 redshirt freshman originally from Shelby.

“He’s a heck of a player, so that’s a nice get for us,” Hiatt said. “We have a couple of more recruits on the way. The lifeblood of a program is recruiting. You have to have the right types of players who are good fits for your program. We’re really fortunate to have a bevy of them.”

Hiatt said that after college his players are moving onto bigger things, noting one of his former athletes plays overseas and two of this year’s seniors are signing contracts to do the same.

Even though Hiatt is now in Butte achieving numerous historical feats and milestones at Montana Tech, he hasn’t forgotten the town in which he hails from … Bonners Ferry.

“I’m a super proud alumni,” Hiatt said. “Seeing Bonners’ first state title in basketball this year was great; I was super excited for them. I go back in the summertime, usually June or July, and do some workouts with the team and get familiar with the players. I’m super supportive of everything Coach Williams and his staff do up there. It’s always fun to see their success.”