MSU-N's Mouat, Huse named Top 50 influential coaches

Montana State University-Northern head basketball coaches Chris Mouat and Shawn Huse have been honored by Silver Waves Media. The website recently announced its 50 most impactful head coaches in NCAA Division II and NAIA men’s and women’s basketball and both Northern mentors made the list.

Mouat is entering his 17th season as head coach for Montana State University-Northern. In 2017, Mouat became the all-time winningest coach in program history and he has amassed over 298 career wins. Under Mouat, the Skylights have led the country in free throw percentages twice, once in the 2005-2006 season and again in the 2010-2011.

He earned the Frontier Conference Coach of the Year honors in 2016, and In 2017, Mouat helped found the Hoops for a Cause campaign with other Frontier Conference coaches, which has raised over $50,000 in five years for worthy causes throughout Montana.

Huse is the the winningest coach in Montana State-Northern history, Huse owns a 372-203 (.647) overall record in 18 seasons that ranks him 17th in wins among active NAIA Division I men's basketball coaches, and 5th among that group in active winning percentage. He has led the Lights to five NAIA National Tournaments, five Frontier Conference titles (league or tournament), eleven 20-win seasons, and NAIA Top 25 rankings in 14 of his 17 seasons. Huse was also a successful assistant coach prior to his time at Montana State Northern. At Nebraska-Kearney, he helped lead the team to two Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) Tournament Championships, two regular-season titles, and a school-record 18 consecutive games won in two seasons. He was able to do the same in two seasons at Montana Tech where the Orediggers enjoyed back-to-back conference tournament championships and national tournament appearances in 1998 and 1999.

The Lights and Skylights will begin their new seasons in October with Mouat and Huse once again at the helm of their programs.